Sunday, April 14, 2019

The Mendelssohn Concerto in E Minor Essay Example for Free

The Mendelssohn Concerto in E Minor EssayI would like to compose a violin concerto for next winter. One in E minor keeps running through my head, and the opening gives me no peace, German composer Felix Mendelssohn wrote to his friend, violinist Ferdinand David, in 1838. Mendelssohn would seek to collaborate on his last orchestral work with David, revising it painstakingly until its premiere in Leipzig in 1845. The first movement of Mendelssohns Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 4, is considered a staple of the violin repertoire and an example piece of the romantic period. While Mendelssohn is widely know as a romantic who remained loyal mainly to traditional, classical forms, the technical demands of the soloist, the novel placement and qualities of the cadenza, and the features of the boilersuit form illustrate both the novelty of the concerto and why it served as an example for afterwards composers. The concerto is credited with organism challenging but manageable in its tec hnical demands of the soloist.While it contains many intricate techniques, it plays well low the fingers, undoubtedly because of Ferdinand Davids input. Because of this, it is widely used by violin instructors to introduce concerti to students. Its place as an prefatory learning tool is held by Mendelssohns frequent use of octaves (rehearsal B and K) to lead the player to arrival points such as the high B later(prenominal) rehearsal B, seen in Example 1.Example 1 Varied use of octaves surrounding rehearsal B. The Classical style to which Mendelssohn remained loyal is characterized in technique by his use of ricochet bowing, first developed by Niccolo Paganini, in the chord section immediately sideline the cadenza after rehearsal letter O. While many of his strategies were common in the concertos time (including tenseness and tenuto articulations and virtuosic melodic lines), Mendelssohn departs from tradition in his discourse of the ricochet bowing technique.It is used to ac company an orchestra that reintroduces the theme after the cadenza this is a reversal of the traditional role of having the soloist recapitulate the main idea. The Mendelssohn concerto is likewise novel in its treatment of the cadenza. The series of arpeggios in the ricochet bowing style before rehearsal P (or number 13) understructure be considered an extension of the traditional Classical cadenza played only by the soloist because these are continued after the orchestra re-enters (see Example 2).Example 2 The orchestra re-enters at rehearsal 13 as the soloist accompanies. Example 2 The orchestra re-enters at rehearsal 13 as the soloist accompanies. In the classical form, such as that used by Mozart in the first movement of his Violin Concerto in A major, KV 219, the cadenza is considered an entirely separate section from the orchestra. likewise novel for the concertos time is Mendelssohns placement of the cadenza between the development and recapitulation sections, as conflicti ng to its usual place at the end of the movement.Placement at the end can be order in Mozarts concerto, as well as in the first movement of the Paganini Violin Concerto no 1 (closed by only a short orchestra section). Another difference from the compositions of Mendelssohns predecessors and contemporaries is the feature that, in his careful editing, Mendelssohn wrote out the entire cadenza for the soloist many classical composers intended for improvisation to be involved, each in keeping with their ideas or as completely new ideas.This tradition can be seen in the first movement of Beethovens Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 1 a cadenza later written by Fritz Kreisler is one of the most commonly performed for Beethovens first movement. Other lump features promote the concertos position as novel for its time. As a contrast to the traditional range of a function exposition classical model, the violin enters at the start with a soaring melody after simply two measures of orchestra l introduction. The classical model normally contains a full exposition, with the orchestra introducing the main themes before the soloist enters.In effect, the orchestra and the soloist perform two separate expositions. Although the three movements of the concerto are written in the standard fast-slow-fast structure, distinctive from tradition was Mendelssohns decision to create a through-composed form, in which the three movements are connected, or played attacca. At the end of the first movement and into the second, the bassoons held note serves as a link between the two, a simple transition to a lyrical second movement.The technical and formal features of the violin concerto, as compared to Mendelssohns education in the classical form, illustrate that the work was innovative for its time. Mendelssohns collaboration with Ferdinand David demonstrates the works attention to technical detail. Mendelssohns careful editing is illustrated by the complete composition of the cadenza, as inappropriate to one intended for improvisation. The first movements novelty in technique and form also serves as an example as to why Mendelssohn was as inspiration to later composers such as Joseph Joachim and William Sterndale Bennett.

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