Mendelssohn----Songs Without Words

[kitty on the keys]

I dont see Mendelssohn mentioned very much. The songs without Words are delightful pieces, anybody working on them; favorite recordings, favorites  in the collection.

Kitty

[pianistimo]

who plays mendelsohn the best ?  i've heard the mendelssohn men's chorus here.  i love his oratorios and vocal stuff - but somehow his piano music seems trite.  people say that of mozart, too, so don't take offense.  i think it is how it is played and if properly played - is just as good as schumann or saint saens - of whom my teacher says creates mindless arpeggios up and down the piano.  i happen to disagree and greatly love saint saens 'allegro appasionata.'  it reminds me of looking at the stars.  i think you do have to love certain music to play it well.  and, have an understanding of the composer.  to this date - i have not played a lot of mendelssohn.  maybe looked at songs without words a cou ple of times - but played mostly the 'wedding march' and that was it. 

another heartfelt composer is macdowell.  i've sort of championed him over the other 'lighter' composers - but his work is poetic too - which means more to me that just flashy technique.

possibly schubert is another composer that people typically identify with voice, but has written many beautiful musical piano compositions (albeit a little repetitive).  one of the impromtus i played - found out that it was written actually first as a sonata - but made him more money to sell the movements separately.

[bench warmer]

From somewhere else on these forums I "discovered" M.'s  Presto Agitato Op.53 #3.
Great piece to play: dynamic, dramatic & rythmic.


PS. to Pianistimo,
 I also agree about MacDowell. As soon as I finish the 12 million other pieces I'm in the middle of, I want to get into his Second Modern Suite OP14. Lots of great music in there but it's a bit too complex not to give it some serious practice.

[leucippus]

I dont see Mendelssohn mentioned very much. The songs without Words are delightful pieces, anybody working on them; favorite recordings, favorites  in the collection.

Kitty

I've just added Op 30 No. 6 to my practice schedule. "The Venetian Gondola"

However, I'm just starting out and it takes me a very long time to work though pieces so I probably won't be able to play it until next spring.   I'm only just starting to learn sight-reading.   I can read music, I just can't play it fluently whilst reading it.  In other words, I can intellectually read score, but my fingers don't automatically know what to do about it yet.

Piano Street has this piece rated at level 6, and most of the pieces I'm learning are around levels 5 and 6 so it should be doable if their rating system is any good.

[arbisley]

Try out Mendelssohn's "Rondo Capriccioso". It's great fun to play, quite show-offy and is also musically rather interesting. Starts off slowly with an introduction, and leaps off with a returning descending figure. There's just an awful passage of alternating thirds. Any advice Bernhard?

[hodi]

i like op.67 no.2 but it's quite difficult
op.19/1 is preety easy to manage and very beautiful

[burstroman]

I love the "Songs" and think they show to good advantage a pianist's musicianship.  My favorite recording is by Barenboim.  He seems to have the right tempi.  He doesn't try to show off but just lets the music speak.

[thaicheow]

Doing the 'Rondo Capriosso', just for the sake of exam.

I feel that the first half isn't quite difficult, but now stuck in the middle. Sigh.........

[arbisley]

Yeah, take some time over that, and have fun with the end bit!

[leucippus]

Op 30 No. 6 -  "The Venetian Gondola"

I'm working on this piece.  The left-hand part is quite new to me.  This is my first time playing anything quite like this with the left hand.  Fortunately I have score with fingerings and so I'm not having any problem there.  My only real problem is playing this fluently. 

Right now this takes my full concentration just to play the left hand part.  Forget about putting in the melody yet.  Although, the melody seems to be quite simple so if I can master the left hand I should have this piece tucked away.

Anyway, I wanted to ask.  Do you use the pedal to keep this thing fluent?  I'm assuming that's probably a really stupid question and the answer is "Of course you idiot!"

And finally, what does the flowery symbol in the score that looks like * mean?  And what does LED mean?  I'm playing Für Elise also and it has LED written all over it, but I never asked what it means yet.

[jre58591]

that "LED" isnt "LED". it sayd "Ped" and it stands for pedal. the "flowery symbol" means to lift up the pedal, where as the "Ped" means to depress it.

[leucippus]

that "LED" isnt "LED". it sayd "Ped" and it stands for pedal. the "flowery symbol" means to lift up the pedal, where as the "Ped" means to depress it.

Well, that answers my pedal question.   

Gee, I haven't been using the pedal at all playing Für Elise.

Shame on me! 

[rc]

I'm something of a pedal-tard...  Don't have easy access to real piano, so I wind up doing a lot of spider-fingers where possible... Taking comfort that I can add pedal when I can.  It's a blessing really, it makes for a more secure finger technique, but man am I graceless when applying pedal.

One day, I will have easy access to a real piano.  Schemes are in progress.

[bernhard]

I dont see Mendelssohn mentioned very much. The songs without Words are delightful pieces, anybody working on them; favorite recordings, favorites  in the collection.

Kitty

Have a look here:

http://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,4371.msg40871.html#msg40871
(Mendelssohn favourites)


http://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,5143.msg49023.html#msg49023
(grades for Mendelssohn’s SWW).

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[bernhard]

Op 30 No. 6 -  "The Venetian Gondola"

I'm working on this piece.  The left-hand part is quite new to me.  This is my first time playing anything quite like this with the left hand.  Fortunately I have score with fingerings and so I'm not having any problem there.  My only real problem is playing this fluently. 

You may find op. 19 no. 6 easier (and it will prepare for op. 30 no. 6)

Even easier is Schumann´s "In the Gondola" which has a much friendlier left hand, jst one page long and again will prepare for all the pieces above. It is published in the ABRSM collection - More Romantic Pieces for Piano, vol. 2.

Not easy enough? Try Gedike´s "Barcarolle" which will introduce you to the rhythm and mood of a gondola song without any of the technical difficulties of the pieces above (and will prepare for them later). And just 25 bars!

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[leucippus]

You may find op. 19 no. 6 easier (and it will prepare for op. 30 no. 6)

Actually this op. 30 no. 6 is coming along better than I had anticipated.  However, it will still be a very long time before I have it anywhere near a performance level.  I'm playing it at an extremely retarded pace right now, but even so, it's starting to actually feel comfortable.

I have the music for op. 19 no. 6 also so I'll give it a go as well.  I think these could be played in succession as a kind of "sonata" or whatever.

I also just downloaded Schumann´s "In the Gondola" and  Gedike´s "Barcarolle".  I see what you mean, I can almost play those by sight-reading them.  I printed them out and put them all in with Mendelssohn's pieces.  It probably won't hurt me to learn them all. I can use the simpler ones as a warm up to the more difficult pieces and brush up on my sight-reading skills in the process.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. 

[bernhard]

Actually this op. 30 no. 6 is coming along better than I had anticipated.  However, it will still be a very long time before I have it anywhere near a performance level.  I'm playing it at an extremely retarded pace right now, but even so, it's starting to actually feel comfortable.

I have the music for op. 19 no. 6 also so I'll give it a go as well.  I think these could be played in succession as a kind of "sonata" or whatever.

I also just downloaded Schumann´s "In the Gondola" and  Gedike´s "Barcarolle".  I see what you mean, I can almost play those by sight-reading them.  I printed them out and put them all in with Mendelssohn's pieces.  It probably won't hurt me to learn them all. I can use the simpler ones as a warm up to the more difficult pieces and brush up on my sight-reading skills in the process.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. 

You are welcome

This is the beauty of it. By the time you are finished with op. 30 no. 6, you will have not one, but four pieces in your repertory, one leading and helping towards the next - you can learn them in parallel.  (The Schumann is a bit on the conventional side, but the Gedike is truly interesting).

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[jakev2.0]

You left out the F#minor Fantasy in your list of Mendelssohn works! Naughty Bernhard.