Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 44, No. 3

Felix Mendelssohn 

삶의 행복을 노래한 음악의 낙천주의자,펠릭스 멘델스존Jokob Ludwig ..

독일 낭만주의를 대표하는 작곡가이자 지휘자이다. 바흐의 <마태 수난곡>을 발굴해 바흐 음악의 부활에 크게 기여했다.|펠릭스 멘델스존은 1809년에 독일 함부르크에서 태어났다. 그의 할아버지는 유명한 철학자였고, 아버지는 부유한 은행가였다. 그의 집은 늘 유명한 학자, 예술가, 음악가, 과학자들로 붐볐다. "온 ...

출생 : 1809년 02월 03일 사망 : 1847년 11월 04일 국적 : 독일 대표작 : 〈교향곡 제3번 '스코틀랜드'〉, 협주곡 〈바이올린 협주곡 마단조〉, 피아노 독주곡 〈무언가〉, 오라토리아 〈엘리야〉 등[음악사를 움직인 100인 | 음악가 , 세계

String Quartet No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 44, No. 3

I. Allegro vivace [0:00] II. Scherzo. Assai leggiero vivace [12:27] III. Adagio non troppo [16:33] IV. Molto allegro con fuoco [24:45]

 

Emerson String Quartet (2004)

 

The String Quartet No. 5 in E-flat major is the third of Mendelssohn's three Op. 44 string quartets, which he dedicated to the Crown Prince of Sweden. The work is in four movements and typically lasts around 33 minutes. "There is the gregarious D major Quartet, Op. 44, No. 1, and there is the much-talked-about E minor Quartet, Op. 44, No. 2. The String Quartet No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 44, No. 3, might sometimes seem like the odd man out, but there is no need to worry on its account; for, while Mendelssohn is unlike other top-billing composers in that the majority of his works are not standard repertoire fare, this quartet has been standard fare, at least since the revival of interest in Mendelssohn quartets during the mid-twentieth century. The E flat major Quartet was composed in late 1837 and early 1838 (February 6, 1838, is the official date of completion, as duly noted by Mendelssohn on the manuscript), after Op. 44, No. 2, but before Op. 44, No. 1, and was first played -- as usual, by Ferdinand David and friends -- on April 3, 1838. Mendelssohn tinkered with some of the notational details a bit, and it was printed in the early summer of 1839. Sonata-allegro -- scherzo -- slow movement -- finale is once again the layout selected by Mendelssohn for the quartet (the same blueprint was used for the other Op. 44 pieces), and once again Mendelssohn opts not to preface the quick first movement with a slow introduction, as he had done in his first two string quartets (Opp. 12 and 13). Listen, in the opening Allegro vivace, to the way that Mendelssohn allows the players to take the initial four-note pickup idea and toss it about among themselves -- here in imitation, here by string multiple copies of it together, back-to-back -- as the movement unfolds. Set against this always forward-looking idea are stalwart dotted figures that do their best to keep the apparently boundless kinetic energy of the pickup figure in check, but do not always succeed. The scherzo (Assai leggiero e vivace) is a particularly nimble example of its breed, even by Mendelssohn's standards. Only at the very end do the constant 6/8 time eighth notes stack up in all four parts into a thick, juicy climax; the rest of the time they are shared throughout the ensemble with remarkable equanimity (though, not surprisingly, the first violinist has a little bit of an edge). Mendelssohn may have been an aristocratic pseudo-traditionalist, but he certainly knew a good dissonance when he heard one -- and there is a delightful one at the very opening of the A flat major Adagio non troppo, a use of simultaneous chromatic inflections, repeated each time the main melody is begun afresh. By contrast, the Molto allegro con fuoco (and he means it!) is a whizz-bang finale that expects a great deal from the first violinist's fingers." (source: AllMusic)