4th Symphony (Mendelssohn)

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The symphony No. 4 in A major op. 90, "Italian" ( MWV N 16 ) by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was written in 1833 and is now one of the composer's most popular and most frequently performed orchestral works . The playing time is depending on the interpretation of about 28 to 34 minutes.

Historical background

After Mendelssohn had traveled to the British Isles in 1829, he set off on another educational trip to Italy in May of the following year , which was to last almost two years. The route went through Venice , Florence , Rome , Naples , Pompeii , Genoa and Milan . Goethe's Italian Journey served as a literary travel guide . Under the diverse impressions, Mendelssohn began to conceive the symphony, which he then completed in Berlin in 1832/33.

The first performance took place on May 13, 1833 in the Philharmonic Society in London under the direction of the composer. The premiere was a resounding success with both audiences and critics, but it was the only performance during Mendelssohn's lifetime.

After the first performance, Mendelssohn put the work on hold for a revision, which he worked on in the summer of 1834, but which he never completed. Overall, the symphony is available in three versions, none of which was brought to print by the composer. The work is actually the third in the series of Mendelssohn's symphonies, but was only moved from the estate in 1851, ie posthumously and after the "Scottish" , and was therefore given the higher numbering and opus number. The score was edited by Julius Rietz , who largely stuck to the last version chronologically, but also made his own adjustments.

construction

  1. Allegro vivace
  2. Andante con moto
  3. Con moto moderato
  4. Saltarello. Presto

occupation

2 flutes , 2 oboes , 2 clarinets , 2 bassoons , 2 horns , 2 trumpets , timpani , 1st violin , 2nd violin, viola , cello , double bass

Work description

The first movement in A major is in sonata form and is characterized throughout by the lively main theme , while the secondary theme remains short and episodic. In performing Mendelssohn breaks through the strict formal scheme of the classical symphony by firstly introducing it a third subject, and secondly, the implementation work almost exclusively on contrapuntal founded Topics treatment.

While Mendelssohn had announced the symphony in a letter in 1831 as the “funniest piece I have ever done”, he only maintains this light, southern character in the corner movements. The middle movements of the symphony, on the other hand, breathe a clearly more melancholy, "Nordic" character.

The second movement in D minor is also a sonata movement (but without development) of a cantable character. Mendelssohn composed the movement under the impression of the death of his teacher Carl Friedrich Zelter and Goethe, who both died in the spring of 1832 in quick succession; melodic similarities between the main theme of this movement and Zelter's setting of the ballad The King in Thule are therefore possibly to be understood as an homage.

The third movement is a calm minuet movement in A major .

The concluding seven-part rondo in A minor is headed Saltarello , the name of an Italian jumping dance in fast six-eighth time. Mendelssohn used original Neapolitan folk tunes for this sentence.

It is noteworthy that Mendelssohn's 4th Symphony begins in a major key and closes in a minor key. No other classical or romantic symphony is known in which the composer notated in the same way.

Audio samples

Admission of the Skidmore College Orchestra.

1st movement: Allegro vivace
2nd movement: Andante con moto
3rd movement: Con moto moderato
4th movement: Saltarello. Presto

literature

  • Rudolf Kloiber : Handbook of the classical and romantic symphony. 2nd expanded edition. Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden 1976, ISBN 3-7651-0017-X .
  • Wulf Konold : Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 “The Italian” (= masterpieces of music. Issue 48). Fink, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-7705-2454-3 .
  • Wulf Konold: Symphony No. 4 in A major op.90 Italian. In: ders. (Ed.): Lexicon Orchestermusik Romantik I – R. Schott / Piper, Mainz / Munich 1989, ISBN 3-7957-8227-9 , pp. 475-479.
  • Wulf Konold: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's symphonies. Investigations into the shape and structure of the work. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 1992, ISBN 3-89007-232-1 , pp. 213-354.

Web links

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