Andante con moto
Andante espressivo
Molto allegro e vivace
Moderato
Poco agitato
Andante sostenuto (Venetian Gondola Song)

Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words were highly original character pieces for solo piano. He composed eight sets (of six pieces each) between 1829 and 1845, starting with the present group from 1829–30. Mendelssohn seems to have coined the term: his sister Fanny wrote in 1828 that Felix had written ‘a Song without Words’ for her album, and that he was at work on several others – presumably some of them made their way into the Op. 19b set. (Incidentally, the pieces were originally issued Op. 19, but so were a set of six quite different songs for voice and piano; for the sake of clarity these became known as Op. 19a, and the piano pieces as Op. 19b). Mendelssohn’s careful grouping of the pieces in Op. 19b provide an extremely satisfying sequence, beginning with two Andante movements that are contrasted by key (E major and A minor), a brilliant and rhythmic piece in A major (sometimes known as ‘Hunting Song’), a slower piece in the same key, and an uneasy Poco agitato in F sharp minor, before the final rather melancholy ‘Venetian Gondola Song’ in G minor.

© Nigel Simone 2015