Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor (Part II)

This article is a continuation to my previous article about the same violin concerto by Felix Mendelssohn, discussing about its history and the composer himself. For further understanding of the whole concerto, I would recommend you to read the previous article. Click here for it:

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/1146...

The first movement, Allegro molto appassionato, is an exception to the conventional way of starting a romantic concerto. Usually any concerto would start with orchestral development as introduction, a tradition established firmly during the Classical Period and then extended into the Romantic Period. Then only the featured instrument begins, either repeating the same theme or introducing a different one. But not with this concerto. In just few seconds amidst the restless humming of the background strings, immediately the theme of the concerto is introduced, creating the effect that the concerto has been on for a while already. The music continues, with the restless but lyrical melody producing a flawless flow towards the end. Interestingly, Mendelssohn wrote the cadenza (a cadenza is a virtuoso display of the soloist, usually without any accompaniment, during the end of the first and/or final movement) himself where he placed it at the end of the development. Though it is not at the end of the first movement, the cadenza serves as a transitional stage in the first movement, naturally developing due to the mastery of Mendelssohn.

Straight without a stop into the second movement, Andante , the violin leads the first theme after the background orchestra plays. The whole movement must be one of the most relaxing yet sublime piece of music in classical music. The violin is literally singing! Grabbing the listeners with the sweetness of the melody from the start, the violin starts of the second theme by using double stopping. You might ask if there are two violins playing, but actually there is only one. Of course virtuosity is demanded from the violinist to play it well enough. The first theme returns, and then the mood changes suddenly with the change in tempo, Allegretto non troppo. This is the transitional stage to the third movement.

After a brief but dramatic introduction by the orchestra, the third movement begins with Allegro molto vivace. The bow bounces and springs on the strings; light, detached but meaningful -- the gaiety and teenage imagination of Mendelssohn have returned. This is, in fact, something suggestive of A Midsummer's Night Dream, something a class of its own, where fairies dance, elves whistle, flowers bloom, rainbow appears. Throughout the whole movement, virtuosity is blended with unsurpassed musicality, where the elfin quality never diminishes. Till about a minute before the movement ends, after a series of thrills on the violin, the violinist is asked to bounce his bow on two strings (double-stopping) fast and light. The orchestra gradually increases in strength, bringing the whole violin concerto to a triumphant end.

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