MENDELSSOHN Felix, String Quartet in E minor Op.44, No.2

Mendelssohn composed a set of three string quartets first published in 1840 and dedicated to Gustav, Prince of Vasa, Crown Prince of Sweden. The first version of Op.44 No.2 was completed in 1837 and first performed that year, and before publication Mendelssohn revised it two years later. This work shows the most comprehensive command of the medium of the string quartet – demanding but superbly crafted, and beautifully written for the instruments involved. The first movement is dominated by a kind of lyrical melodiousness that hints at the musical language of a more famous work by Mendelssohn in the same key: the Violin Concerto. Where his earlier string quartets were intended as a deliberate homage to Beethoven – reflecting that in their terse, concentrated ideas – in this quartet Mendelssohn is more overtly expressive, while still controlling the form with great concision and skill. The Scherzo in E major is in the dashing, elfin style familiar from the Octet and the incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream and it’s easy to forget just how utterly original Mendelssohn was being in these movements. The slow movement, in G major, is a relaxed song without words, leading to a finale of great intensity and ingenuity in which a consistent level of energetic flow is complemented by a brilliant variety in texture.
© Nigel Simeone

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