Violin Concerto (Mendelssohn)

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Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64, is a famous violin concerto.

It was composed between 1838 and 1844, and first performed in Leipzig on 13 March 1845 by Ferdinand David. It is one of the most frequently performed of violin concerti, along with its more grandiose counterparts by Brahms and Beethoven. Its enduring popularity is based on its beautiful themes, sleek form, ambient energy, a reserved, sentimental expression, and to a lesser extent, its reputation as an essential work for all aspiring violin virtuosi to conquer.

It is in three movements:

Allegro molto appassionato -
Andante - Allegretto non troppo -
Allegro molto vivace.

The concerto opens with an almost immediate entry of the solo violin playing an elegiac melody. This theme is restated by the orchestra and then followed by a fretful chromatic passage. The music subsides into a tranquil second subject melody played initially by woodwind with a bass note provided by the soloist. The opening theme and the chromatic theme are then combined in the trance-like development section. The flamboyant cadenza serves as a link to the recapitulation, where the opening melody is played by the orchestra, accompanied by the ricochet arpeggios by the soloist. The music gathers energy in the coda.

The bassoon sustains its note from the final chord of the first movement into the lyrical C major slow movement, characterized by Mendelssohn’s warm expressiveness, a subtle blend of bliss and melancholy. In the murkier middle section the soloist then takes up both the melody and the accompaniment simultaneously, before returning to the lyrical theme, this time leading towards a serene conclusion.

A brief transitional string passage leads into the vivacious E major finale, where dazzling passage work is required from the soloist, while the orchestral parts also are given ample opportunity to sparkle. The movement is in sonata form; the recapitulation is essentially similar to the exposition, apart from the addition of a lyrical countermelody in the strings in the first subject. The concerto concludes with a frenetic coda.

The concerto is innovative in many respects. Firstly, the solo violin plays from the outset, whereas Classical concertos typically open with an orchestral exposition followed by version of essentially the same material that incorporates the soloist. Secondly, the soloist does not merely play melodies, but also provides accompaniment on numerous occasions, such as the ricochet arpeggios at the start of the recapitulation. Thirdly, three movements are to be played without pause, imposing a sense of unity, and a reference back to the first movement occurs in the second, suggesting cyclical form.

A typical performance of Mendelssohn's concerto lasts around 25 minutes. The first movement takes around 12 to 14 minutes of these, the second 8 to 9 minutes and the third 6 minutes. However, it has been proven that the whole concerto was played at faster tempos in the past generations of violin playing. The first movement was generally between 11 and 12 minutes, the second 7 to 8, and the last was below the 6 minute mark.

Mendelssohn also wrote a violin concerto with strings in 1822 ([1], ]), which was given its 20th century premiere in 1952 by Yehudi Menuhin and is less often played and recorded.

[edit] Quotes

In 1906, the year before his death, celebrated violinist Joseph Joachim told the guests at a party in his honour:

"The Germans have four violin concertos. The greatest, most uncompromising is Beethoven's. The one by Brahms vies with it in seriousness. The richest, the most seductive was written by Max Bruch. But the most inward, the heart's jewel, is Mendelssohn's."