Mendelssohn no. 4

Melody:

• Begins with major third- motif, appears later on in the mvt and major third opens and changes to different intervals or keys bar 268- major third in B 172- perfect 4th

• Has three themes:

• 1st - bar 1

• 2nd - bar 93

• 3rd introduced in development bar 225 mvt1

• Opening has all instruments playing melody in octaves (other than lower strings and horns)mvt2

• Fast triplets resemble saltarello dance bar 2 mvt3

Texture:

• Mendelssohn was a composer that we tend to associate more as a development of the classical period, with his roots being much closer to composers like Beethoven and Haydn

• Antiphonal oscillating quavers at bar 68 with all of the wind pitted against all of the strings. Additionally, a rhythmically augmented development of motif X

• Development, s3 introduced in bar 225 is contrapuntal as it is a Fugato (based on a fugue). It features a Fugal subject that appears and develops across the orchestration. This call back to the romantic era - in particular Bach’s music - revivified Bach’s music to new audiences of the time

• Important to note Mendelssohn was a very big fan of Bach and would write music upon his death to remember him by.

• Bar 251 antiphony and stretto- melodic ideas cut off because of overlap

• Bar 297 in tutti

• Start of the 2nd movement has homorhythmic unison tutti opening (Multiple Octaves), it explored more interesting ways to double the melody line at bar 4, with the melody being in octaves across the Oboe, Bassoon and Viola.

• Basses and cellos now have separate parts

Harmony:

On the whole, Mendelssohn’s treatment of harmony is relatively conservative. He frequently inverts V chords, and 3rd inversions are not uncommon, such as the F#7 3rd inversion at bar 294 (mov.1).

• In the 2nd development section, there is a V pedal (in F# minor) which lasts in total 22 bars (bar 327).

• The cadential 6/4 progression in bars 440-442 is an indication of Mendelssohn’s more traditional roots.

• An interesting feature of the hymn-like D minor theme of the 2nd movement’s A section is its lowered 7th, making the melody feel very modal but its important to note that the harmony is still very conventional - makes use of i VI V i i V i iv i.

• (Mvt.2) Theme B (b.45) in A major with no key change (unusual considering we start in Dm, we’d expect to move to the parallel major)

• The 3rd movement returns to the tonic A, after the minor subdominant of the 2nd movement

• In the saltarello movement (4), bars 13 and 14 makes use of secondary dominant chord of B7 but moves straight to the tonic Am - very unusual progression

Mannheim influences/Commissioned Works:

• Increased importance of woodwind right from the start seen in the chattering accompaniment

• The 2nd half of the 2nd subject of the 1st movement (bar 110) is played in 3rds - a characteristic feature of Italian music at the time, this is played by clarinets and bassoons illustrating the heightened use of wind instruments in the orchestra

• The piece was written for the new London philharmonic society and first performed at one of their concerts, This illustrates how by this point, works were being commissioned by private entities and musician’s societies rather than the court’s of aristocrats.

• Programmatic elements are all related to Italian music - Saltarello dance theme in the 4th movement, Tarantella theme in the 4th movement at bar 122, Aeolian mode hymn-like theme in the A section of the 2nd movement which reference the hymns of an Italian monk.

Development of movement conventions:

• In the classical structure of 4 movement

• The second movement has a modified sonata form structure where it doesn't have a development ( A [b.1-44] B [b.45-56] A1 [b.57-74] B1 [75-85] coda [86-end]) - fairly typical of the romantic period

• Opening is in octaves which then moves into 2 parts with the bass in octaves The narrative behind the 2nd movement, where he watches a pilgrimage. And it is quite modal, as it makes use of the lowered 7th, and it also has a hymn-like D minor theme A (Bar 11).Theme A is a conventional 8 bar phrase with the first 4 bars ending on the dominant and the latter 4 ending on the tonic (very conventional)

• Theme B in A major with no key change (unusual considering we start in Dm, we’d expect to move to the parallel major)

• The overall structure of the first movement can be understood as what is sometimes called ‘slow movement’ sonata form, or modified sonata form – there are two ideas outlined in an exposition that are then repeated with some modifications as a recapitulation with no formal development in between

• Modified sonata form - A section comes back reorchestrated and in the dominant minor (Am) and the B section is in the Tonic (D) - with brief tonicisation of the following keys – B minor (bar 77), A major (bar 78), G major (bar 79), E minor (bar 80). Returning to the tonic around bar 82

• More in the classical style as compared to Berlioz (who was a much more progressive composer)

• Mvt.1 is a development of sonata form as it has a 1st development section (b.210-284) then a false recap. (b.285-296) followed by a 2nd development section (b.297-368). It also has a 3rd development section (b.456-510) right before the coda (510 - 586).

• Fugal section (Bach Influences) seen in Mvt.1 (b.231) in the first development section

Extra-musical influences:

• The 2nd movement was based on his witness of a procession in Rome with a walking bass and Czech pilgrim song melody.

• Modal inflections (flat seven, C natural in D minor. The 4th movement is based on a saltarello dance but has a third theme that is influenced by a tarantella which is a fast dance associated with being bitten by a spider).

• The drones at the beginning support the folk-like feel.