Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809 –
1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was
a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of
the early romantic period. Mendelssohn wrote
symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano music and
chamber music. His best-known works include his
Overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's
Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the
overture The Hebrides, his mature Violin Concerto, and
his String Octet. His Songs With...(+)
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809 –
1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was
a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of
the early romantic period. Mendelssohn wrote
symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano music and
chamber music. His best-known works include his
Overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's
Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the
overture The Hebrides, his mature Violin Concerto, and
his String Octet. His Songs Without Words are his most
famous solo piano compositions. After a long period of
relative denigration due to changing musical tastes and
antisemitism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
his creative originality has been re-evaluated. He is
now among the most popular composers of the romantic
era.
Mendelssohn enjoyed early success in Germany, and
revived interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach,
notably with his performance of the St Matthew Passion
in 1829. He became well received in his travels
throughout Europe as a composer, conductor and soloist;
his ten visits to Britain – during which many of his
major works were premiered – form an important part
of his adult career. His essentially conservative
musical tastes set him apart from more adventurous
musical contemporaries such as Franz Liszt, Richard
Wagner, Charles-Valentin Alkan and Hector Berlioz. The
Leipzig Conservatoire, which he founded, became a
bastion of this anti-radical outlook.
Songs Without Words (Lieder ohne Worte) is a series of
short lyrical piano works by the Romantic composer
Felix Mendelssohn written between 1829 and 1845. His
sister, Fanny Mendelssohn, and other composers also
wrote pieces in the same genre. The eight volumes of
Songs Without Words, each consisting of six songs
(Lieder), were written at various points throughout
Mendelssohn's life and published separately. The piano
became increasingly popular in Europe during the early
nineteenth century, when it became a standard item in
many middle-class households. The pieces are within the
grasp of pianists of various abilities and this
undoubtedly contributed to their popularity. This great
popularity has caused many critics to under-rate their
musical value.
The first volume was published by Novello in London
(1832) as Original Melodies for the Pianoforte, but the
later volumes used the title Songs Without Words.
The works were part of the Romantic tradition of
writing short lyrical pieces for the piano, although
the specific concept of "Songs Without Words" was new.
Mendelssohn's sister Fanny wrote a number of similar
pieces (though not so entitled) and, according to some
music historians, she may have helped inspire the
concept. The title Song Without Words seems to have
been Felix Mendelssohn's own invention. In 1828, Fanny
wrote in a letter "My birthday was celebrated very
nicely ... Felix has given me a 'song without words'
for my album (he has lately written several beautiful
ones)."
Mendelssohn himself resisted attempts to interpret the
songs too literally, and objected when his friend
Marc-André Souchay sought to put words to them to make
them literal "What the music I love expresses to me, is
not thought too indefinite to put into words, but on
the contrary, too definite". (Mendelssohn's own
italics) Mendelssohn also wrote other Songs Without
Words not collected in volumes, and published only in
recent years. Furthermore, original drafts exist for
many of the 'Songs' many of which differ quite
substantially from the eventually published versions.
In 2008, the Italian pianist Roberto Prosseda recorded
a collection of Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words for
Decca Records totalling 56 Lieder, some of them never
recorded before.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_Without_Words).
Although originally composed for Solo Piano, I created
this Interpretation of "Volkslied" (Folksong) from
"Lieder ohne Worte" (Songs without words Book 4 Op. 53
No. 5) for Flute & Piano.
PARTITION