Miss Jacobson's Music: MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2015

QUOTE:
"Musical compositions, it should be remembered,
do not inhabit certain countries, certain museums,
like paintings and statues. The Mozart Quintet is
not shut up in Salzburg: I have it in my pocket."
AUTHOR: Henri Rabaud

MEANING OF THE QUOTE:

"Music is an art form that can

be appreciated everywhere."

COMPOSER

MENDELSSOHN

VIOLIN CONCERTO

IN E MINOR OPUS 64

John Gulich: A Violin Concerto, 1898

VIOLIN CONCERTO

IN E MINOR OPUS 64

Isaac Stern, Violin

Eugene Ormandy, Conductor
Philadelphia Orchsta, 1958

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwW4oruwyJU

http://www.omifacsimiles.com/brochures/mendel_vc.html

This piece is one of the most frequently performed
of all violin concerti in violin literature.

I. Allegro molto appassionato

The opening of the Violin Concerto

Mendelssohn dispenses with the extended
orchestral introduction that was then the norm
and instead launches straight into the turbulent
first movement's soaring, passionate main
theme after just three beats of a quiet,
throbbing vamp in the orchestra. This main
theme is written in classic sonata form having
a variety of thematic expositions, a development,
and recapitulation of the themes.

From the Cadenza
Most concertos include cadenzas, unaccompanied sections in
which the soloist demonstrates his or her technical prowess
through the challenging manipulation of themes from the
body of the piece. In the 18th and very-early-19th centuries,
these spans were usually improvised (at least ostensibly)
by the soloist, but in the course of the 19th century it became
normal for composers to write out their suggestions for
cadenzas, with soloists deciding whether to
follow those ideas or invent their own.

Rather than bringing this movement to a
defined close after the coda, Mendelssohn
has a single bassoon playing a sustained
tone provide the bridge to the overall restful
mood of the second movement.

II. Andante

The main theme of the Andante

This slow movement, which is simple in form but
profoundly expressive, is in ternary (ABA) form.
The principal theme is noble, and the violin
develops it through the whole range of the

instrument in several minutes of unbroken melody.

Again eliminating the standard moments of

silence between movements, Mendelssohn

immediately starts the third movement.

III. Allegretto non troppo-Allegro molto vivace

The opening theme of the Allegro molto vivace

Composed in hybrid sonata rondo form,
Mendelssohn concludes the concerto with
sprightly, high spirited, vibrant music. The
first theme scampers and flutters; the second
is like a fairy's wedding march. Both main
themes are developed ingeniously ending in
a bustling coda where the music
attains a real noble feeling.

Evidence from Mendelssohn’s correspondence
suggests that he connected the movements into
an uninterrupted span of music because he, as
a performer, found mid-composition applause
to be distracting. It is in part because of
Mendelssohn that the modern tradition of
holding applause to the end of a work came
to be standard practice.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/629700/Violin-Concerto-in-E-Minor-Op-64
http://www.tso.ca/en-ca/Discover-the-Music/Programme-Notes/Violin-Concerto-in-Minor-Op-64.aspx

FROM THE WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_(Mendelssohn)

Following his appointment in 1835 to principal

conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,

The First Gewandhaus Building
This was the first concert hall for the orchestra
located under the roof of the Trading Halland
the guildhall of Leipzig's cloth merchants.

The Original Gewandhaus Building
A watercolor painted by Mendelssohn

when he was just 26, Mendelssohn
named his childhood friend
Ferdinand David

Ferdinand David

as the orchestra's concertmaster.

Hall of the Leipzig Gewandhaus, 1845

The work's origins derive from this professional
collaboration. In a letter dated 30 July 1838,
Mendelssohn wrote to David:

"I should like to write a violin concerto for

you next winter. One in E minor runs through my

head, the beginning of which gives me no peace."

The concerto took another six years to complete.

There are many possible reasons for the delay,

including self-doubt, his third symphony and an

unhappy period in Berlin after work requests from

his patron King Frederick William IV of Prussia

took up much of his time.
Neverthe-less, Mendelssohn and David
kept up a regular correspondence during
this time, with Mendelssohn seeking
technical and compositional advice. Indeed,
this violin concerto was the first of many to
have been composed with the input of
a professional violinist, and would influence
many future collaborations.

The autographed score is dated
September 16, 1844, but Mendelssohn was still
seeking advice from David until its premiere.
The concerto was first performed in Leipzig on
March 13, 1845 with Ferdinand David as soloist.
Mendelssohn was unable to conduct due to illness
and the premiere was conducted by the
Danish composer Niels Gade.

Mendelssohn first conducted the concerto
on October 23, 1845 again with
Ferdinand David as soloist.

An Anecdote:
About a month after this
second performance,
Clara Schumann

Clara Schumann (1840)

was scheduled to play her husband Robert's
piano concerto in Dresden, but fell ill
and was unable to take the stage.
Ferdinand Hiller

the conductor,
substituted the Mendelssohn
violin concerto. David had a prior
engagement, however, and sent a
pupil, the prodigy, 14-year- old
Joseph Joachim, who had been
studying the work in his stead.

Joseph Joachim:

Early Daguerreotype ca. 1844

He performed masterfully in this outing,
beginning a career that was to make him
the undisputed king of Europe's
19th-Century violinists.

http://josephjoachim.com/

Since Joachim,

Joachim

this work, with its frequent
lyric and virtuoso passages providing ample
opportunity for a young star to show off
his or her technique and interpretive

talents, has been used to introduce

many talented young violinists.

Mendelssohn's piece is so important to the
violin teaching repertoire that the famous
violinist/teacher Otakar Ševčík

wrote a set of studies called
Analytical Studies for
Mendelssohn's Violin
Concerto, Op.21

specifically for violinists learning this
concerto. These exercises give a walk-

through of all the technical issues the

player will face, with exercises based

on every phrase in the work.

VIOLIN CONCERTO

IN E MINOR OPUS 64

"Finale"

Eugene Ysaye, Violin

(One of the first recordings of

the Mendelssohn Concerto)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsxWiH67j14

LINKS

http://imslp.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto,_Op.64_(Mendelssohn,_Felix)

http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/2/2e/IMSLP91879-PMLP049

31-uso20101204-002-mendelssohn-violin-concerto-mvtI.mp3

http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/2/2a/IMSLP91880-PMLP049

31-uso20101204-003-mendelssohn-violin-concerto-mvtII.mp3

http://petrucci.mus.auth.gr/imglnks/usimg/b/b4/IMSLP91881-PMLP04

931-uso20101204-004-mendelssohn-violin-concerto-mvtIII.mp3
http://www.classicfm.com/composers/mendelssohn/guides/facts/david-4/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_%28Mendelssohn%29
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/629700/Violin-Concerto-in-E-Minor-Op-64
https://archive.org/details/MendelssohnViolinConcertoInEMinormenuhin
http://www.lasr.cs.ucla.edu/geoff/prognotes/mendelssohn/violinCon.html
http://cso.org/uploadedfiles/1_tickets_and_events/program_
notes/programnotes_mendelssohn_violinconcerto.pdf
http://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/program-notes/
1314/Mendelssohn-Violin-Concerto.pdf
http://www.tso.ca/en-ca/Discover-the-Music/Programme-
Notes/Violin-Concerto-in-Minor-Op-64.aspx
http://www.violinschool.org/violin-repertoire/mendelssohn-violin-concerto/
http://conquest.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/b/b0/
IMSLP91999-PMLP189293-Mendelssohn_solo_col.pdf
http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/explore/films/514/
listening_guide_mendelssohns_violin_concerto

COMPARE THE PERFORMANCES

OF THESE FAMOUS VIOLINISTS: