MENDELSSOHN STRING QUINTET

Mendelssohn wrote this Capriccio for string quartet in 1843 and it was published posthumously as one of his Four Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 81. It opens as a kind of cradle song, the tempo Andante con moto and the violin melody unfolding over a rocking accompaniment. Mendelssohn then springs a surprise: after a kind of mini-cadenza for the first violin, the music gives way to a rapid fugue, marked Allegro fugato, assai vivace. What follows is a dramatic demonstration of Mendelssohn’s ability to fuse the discipline of fugal writing with an acute sense of musical drama, leading to a splendidly abrupt close with three brusque chords. 

Nigel Simeone 2024 

Adagio non troppo – Allegro non tardante
Canzonetta: Allegretto
Andante espressivo
Molto allegro e vivace

Mendelssohn completed this string quartet on the first of his many visits to London (where he went to conduct the Philharmonic Society). Though it was the first to be published during his lifetime, he wrote an earlier one in the same key when he was 14 and the A minor quartet Op.13 was actually finished in 1827. By the time he composed the Quartet Op.12, Mendelssohn had also written the Octet (1825) and the String Quintet in A major – and it has much the same kind of inspired fluency. The first movement begins with a slow introduction that soon gives way to a closely-argued Allegro. The main influence is Beethoven and particularly late Beethoven – music that was very novel and only recently published. This can be seen in the unusual structure of the second movement (in place of a conventional Scherzo), and in the most unusual way in which the second theme of the first movement returns to striking effect in the finale. The main theme of the slow movement is one of Mendelssohn’s most inspired. In the Finale, Mendelssohn combines something of the urgency of Beethoven with a character that is entirely his own.

Nigel Simeone ©2014

1. Allegro con moto
2. Intermezzo: Andante sostenuto
3. Scherzo: Allegro di molto
4. Allegro vivace

 Another remarkable product of Mendelssohn’s prodigious teenage years, his String Quintet in A major was completed in 1826, just after he had written the Octet, though in 1832 he substituted the original Minuet second movement for the slow intermezzo, written in memory of his violinist friend Eduard Rietz. The scoring is the ‘Mozart’ ensemble, of two violins, two violas and cello. The Allegro con moto, in triple time, opens with an elegant violin theme, but the texture soon becomes more animated as livelier ideas emerge. Mendelssohn uses all five instruments with typical ingenuity to create a rich texture. The Intermezzo, marked Andante sostenuto, is a warmly expressive song-like movement, full of tenderness and reflecting the deep affection Mendelssohn had for Rietz who died of consumption in 1832 (his younger brother Julius was a lifelong friend of Mendelssohn’s). The Scherzo (in 2/4 time) is a fine early example of a type of movement Mendelssohn was to make his own, something he succeeded in doing without ever repeating himself. This one is beautifully scored for the five string instruments, with many delicate and imaginative touches, and an enchanting pianissimo close. The finale is the movement which most clearly reflects the influence of Beethoven on the young Mendelssohn – not the late masterpieces this time, but Beethoven’s earlier works such as the Op. 18 quartets. Even so, Mendelssohn never merely imitated, and his unmistakable stylistic fingerprints are on every page as this work heads to its very satisfying conclusion. 

Nigel Simeone 2024