Mendelssohn: from the Wedding March to the Violin Concerto

About Felix Mendelssohn

Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg on 3 February 1809, the grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, and grew up in Berlin after the family moved there in 1811. His 1829 performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion, the first outside Leipzig since Bach's death, did much to restart the Bach revival. He conducted the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig from 1835 and founded the city's conservatory in 1843. He died in Leipzig on 4 November 1847, a few months after the death of his sister Fanny.

The works behind the catalogue entries are the familiar ones. The Violin Concerto, Op. 64, was written for Ferdinand David and first played in Leipzig on 13 March 1845. The Midsummer Night's Dream overture dates from 1826 and the incidental music, including the Wedding March, from 1842. The eight books of Songs Without Words were written between 1829 and 1845, though the last two appeared posthumously, in 1850 and 1868. The Lobgesang, later numbered Symphony No. 2, was written for the 1840 printing anniversary in Leipzig.

Of the 163 entries, 147 sit at complexity index 0, which reflects how much of the catalogue is short: hymn tunes, part-songs, the easier Songs Without Words. The choral material is substantial, with 104 scores carrying lyrics, among them the eight-part motet Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen, written in 1844 for the Berlin Cathedral choir and later folded into Elijah. Three separate Wedding March entries appear in different scorings, so check what you are downloading.

Listening and playing notes

Mendelssohn's writing is polite on the surface and demanding underneath. In the Songs Without Words the melody has to stay afloat over a steady accompaniment figure, and the pedal should not blur the harmony beneath it. The Venetian Gondola Song depends on a rocking 6/8 that must feel unhurried rather than sluggish. Choral entries are mostly homophonic and need clean tuning more than dramatic contrast, and the Wedding March only works if the repeated chords stay crisp.

Selected scores

1. Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64 (First Movement)

   The opening allegro, with the soloist entering almost at once instead of waiting for an orchestral exposition.

2. Wedding March (Quartet)

   The march from the Op. 61 incidental music arranged for four players and much used at weddings.

3. Lied ohne Worte, Op. 109

   A song without words for cello and piano, written around 1845 for the cellist Lisa Cristiani and published after his death.

4. Venetian Gondola Song, Op. 19b No. 6

   The first of the three Venetianisches Gondellied pieces, in G minor, with a rocking 6/8 accompaniment.

5. Symphony No. 4 "Italian", First Movement (Piano Four Hands)

   The opening movement of the 1833 Italian symphony in a four-hand arrangement, useful for reading the score away from the orchestra.

6. Hymn of Praise (Lobgesang), SATB Full Score

   Choral movements from the 1840 Lobgesang, a symphony-cantata written for the 400th anniversary of printing.

7. Wedding March

   The march in C major, the most familiar of the three Wedding March entries on the page.

8. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (SATB)

   The carol on Mendelssohn's melody from the 1840 Festgesang, as adapted for congregational singing.

9. Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen, Psalm 91:11-12

   An eight-part a cappella motet of 1844 setting Luther's German text of Psalm 91.