LindoroRossini's video: Hidden treasures Felix Mendelssohn Lieder Duets 1819-1847 Selected highlights

≈ Painting ≈ The painting - "Morning in the mountains" by Caspar David Friedrich - can be found on Wikimedia Foundation. ≈ History ≈ (based on materials from the Grove Dictionary, Centro studi Eric Sams & Wikipedia) The word Lied, essentially used to designate any Germanic song with no reference to its individual characteristics, evokes in the modern listener an expectation of high poetry and inspired music united into a single miniature masterwork. This predisposition is closely associated with the advent in the 19th century of the Romantic Lied tradition which is generally considered to have been launched by Schubert in Gretchen am Spinnrade (1814) (1). The Romantic Lied is generally differentiated from its predecessors by a strive for unity between text and music, a concept attributed to Goethe (2) which, in turn, represents a broadening of the Gluckian "veristic" formula to other genres. Schubert, Loewe, Schumann, Brahms and Wolf are noted among those who have pursued this path. Though the composer in question, Mendelssohn, has written no fewer than 106 lieder (3) and is, thus, one of the first true exponents of the Romantic Lied, his efforts are generally considered to have exerted little influence on the development of the medium (4). On an interesting note, though less of a public figure than her brother, Fanny Mendelssohn is the author of a catalogue of 300 songs written exclusively for performance in private company, seemingly indicating a greater predisposition to the medium. 6 of her songs, included in the highlighted Hyperion issue, were originally published under Felix's name (5). (1): Dvorak would remark that "all have followed in [Schubert's] footsteps". (2): "Only [when poetry is set to music] does the inspiration become sublimated into... [a] sensory experience". (3): Admittedly, a small number next to Schubert's 660. (4): Ironically, the Songs without Words have received the greater attention. (5): Fanny's son - Sebastian - relates an embarrassing moment when Queen Victoria, receiving Felix at Buckingham Palace, expressed her intention of singing one of his songs. Mendelssohn confessed it was by Fanny. ≈ Texts ≈ Full transcripts of the poems which formed the base for Mendelssohn's Lieder can be found on RecMusic.org -- http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/m/mendelssohn.html ≈ Music ≈ If we assume Schubert's Lieder to be the realization of Goethe's ideal, then Loewe and Mendelssohn, to paraphrase imminent musicologist and Lieder specialist Eric Sams, represent the two extremes of music: heightened attention to directly translating the text into music VS. amplified focus on writing fine music. Mendelssohn's songs are predominantly strophic, straightforward pieces with only the subtlest elaborations of vocal/orchestral lines (consider the simple gratifying transition to a gentle Andantino in the Frühlingslied (13:57) which is one of the more dramatic gestures of the Lieder) and an appealing lyric melodic language which lends itself by its very nature, however, to a certain elegant sameness (consider Lieblingsplätzchen (1:57) and Im Herbst (11:20), differing notably only in their key but not in general effect). As Sams notes in a 1972 article, "in Schumann's lieder, the keyboard sings; in Mendelssohn's, a voice is accompanied", and this turn of phrase reflects perfectly Mendelssohn's aesthetic. His songs offer perfect vehicles for a warm-voiced singer, while the piano serves primarily as a lovely accompaniment and is rarely allowed a more pronounced role, such as in the elegant and varied writing in "Da lieg' ich" (3:26), perfectly mirroring the singer's torment, or the Reiselied (19:00) with its light imitation of a horse. However, in the end this desire to attain lyrical beauty allows Mendelssohn to create pieces of natural eloquence which cannot be denied of interest: a stunningly dark lament of lost love with a gentle flowing piano line (5:13) - a passionate love song for a gondolier, set to a rather ungainly text which is made relevant through sheer melodic charm (6:56) - a subdued, intense tableau, describing a young woman comforting her dying mother (10:11) - a warm exchange of farewells between two lovers set to a luminous wave-like piano line (21:37) etc. If not as dramatically compelling as Schubert's creations, Mendelssohn's fine lyric catalogue offers a wonderful introduction to the German Lieder and a perfectly charming series of lyric moments. ≈ Scores ≈ The sheet music for Mendelssohn's lieder is available in open access on IMSLP -- http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Mendelssohn,_Felix ≈ Recording ≈ The 1998-2010 Hyperion series, presenting a scholarly review of Mendelssohn's Lieder in elegant performances by soprano Sophie Daneman, mezzo Sarah Connolly, baritones Nathan Berg/Stephan Loges and pianist Eugene Asti, is self-recommending. Hope you'll enjoy =).