Added: Jul 26, 2008
From: tHEnOOSEsWING
Duration: 6:51
================================ Felix Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.64 I. Allegro molto appassionato Parts1&2-4II. Andante Part3-4III. Allegro non troppo - Allegro molto vivace Part4-4Original recording:Wiener Symphoniker/Rudolf Moralt Conductor Arthur Grumiaux Violin ================================Related information:Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 is his last large orchestral work. It forms an important part of the violin repertoire and is one of the most popular and most frequently performed violin concertos of all time.[1][2][3] A typical performance lasts just under half an hour.Mendelssohn had originally promised a violin concerto in 1838 to Ferdinand David, a close friend who was a talented violinist. However, the work took another six years to complete and was not premiered until the following year in 1845. During this time, Mendelssohn maintained a regular correspondence with David, seeking his advice with the concerto. The work itself was one of the first violin concertos of the Romantic era and was influential to the compositions of many other composers. Although the concerto consists of three movements in a standard fast--slow--fast structure and each movement follows a traditional form, the concerto was innovative and included many novel features for its time. Distinctive aspects of the concerto include the immediate entrance of the violin at the beginning of the work and the linking of the three movements with each movement immediately following the previous one.....Following his appointment in 1835 to principal conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,[4] Mendelssohn named his childhood friend Ferdinand David as the orchestra's concertmaster.[5] The work's origins derive from this professional collaboration. In a letter dated 30 July 1838, Mendelssohn wrote to David: "I should like to write a violin concerto for you next winter. One in E minor runs through my head, the beginning of which gives me no peace".[6]The concerto took another six years to complete. There are many possible reasons for the delay, including self-doubt,[7] his third symphony[8] and an unhappy period in Berlin after a request from King Frederick William IV of Prussia.[9] Nevertheless, Mendelssohn and David kept up a regular correspondence during this time,[6] with Mendelssohn seeking technical and compositional advice. Indeed, this violin concerto was the first of many to have been composed with the input of a professional violinist, and would influence many future collaborations.[8] The autographed score is dated 16 September 1844, but Mendelssohn was still seeking advice from David until its premiere.[5] The concerto was first performed in Leipzig on 13 March 1845 with Ferdinand David as soloist. Mendelssohn was unable to conduct due to illness and the premiere was conducted by the Danish composer Niels Gade.[8]Allegro molto appassionato12 -- 14 minutes The opening of the Violin ConcertoThe concerto opens with an almost immediate entry of the solo violin, instead of an orchestral tutti, with the very tune in E minor that gave Mendelssohn no peace.[10] Following a bravura of rapidly descending notes, the opening theme is then restated by the orchestra.[8] There is then a frenetic chromatic transition passage[8] as the music subsides and modulates into a tranquil second subject theme in G major.[11] The melody is initially played by the woodwind with the soloist providing a pedal note on an open G string.[10] The tune is played by the solo violin itself before a short codetta ends the exposition section of the opening movement. The opening two themes are then combined in the development section, where the music builds up to the innovative cadenza, which Mendelssohn wrote out in full rather than allowing the soloist to improvise. [5] The cadenza builds up speed through rhythmic shifts from quavers to quaver-triplets and finally to semiquavers,[7] which require ricochet bowing from the soloist.[12] This serves as a link to the recapitulation, where the opening melody is played by the orchestra, accompanied by the continuing ricochet arpeggios by the soloist. During the recapitulation, the opening themes are repeated with the second theme being played in the E major before returning to E minor for the closing of the movement. The music gathers speed into the coda, which is marked 'Presto',[12] before a variant of the original chromatic transition passage ends the first movement.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_(Mendelssohn)================================ *Note:Support the artist, their families and their legacy by purchasing their music.
Channel: Music
Tags: concerto grumiaux mmendelssohn op.64 violin
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