Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

THE STORY

     Felix Mendelssohn, who was conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in addition to his work as a composer, was fortunate to have a phenomenal concertmaster, Ferdinand David. The two had been good friends since childhood and David’s artistry inspired Mendelssohn to compose a violin concerto. “One in E minor keeps running through my head and the opening gives me no peace,” Mendelssohn wrote.
      Both agreed immediately that the concerto should offer more than flashy displays, and Mendelssohn continued to seek David’s advice and tailored the concerto to his skills and musical personality. Although the concerto was first discussed in 1838, it was not completed until 1845—partly because Mendelssohn was busy writing the “Scottish” Symphony and partly because he spent several unhappy years in the early 1840s in Berlin as a court musician for King Friedrich Wilhelm IV.
      When it finally came time for the premiere, Mendelssohn was ill and could not conduct (he died just a few years later at age 38). Danish conductor and composer Neils Gade filled in—with Ferdinand David, of course, as soloist.
      Audiences at the time would have been surprised by several elements in the concerto, right from the beginning. The soloist enters almost immediately, after just several murmuring measures, rather than following the full main theme played by the orchestra. The solo cadenza at the end of the first movement’s development section, just after the soloist seems to have finally arrived at the home key, also would have been unexpected; typically, the cadenza would appear later, at the end of the movement. Finally, Mendelssohn’s audiences would have expected to be able to applaud between movements, but he didn’t like this convention and purposely made it impossible by connecting each of the movements with no pauses in between.
      The Mendelssohn Violin Concerto is a staple of the repertoire, studied by nearly all violinists in their professional training. As Mendelssohn was working on it, Ferdinand commented, “There has only been one big, truly great concerto (Beethoven) and now there will be two!” And, although this may have been true, Mendelssohn replied, “I am not competing with Beethoven.”

LISTEN FOR

• In addition to the soaring, restless melodies and virtuosic showmanship in the first movement, the understated but beautiful moments where the soloist serves as accompanist to the orchestra rather than vice versa—including the long, low note held as the flutes and clarinets introduce the second theme, and the ricochet (bounced bow) arpeggios at the beginning of the recapitulation

• At the end of the Andante, the speech-like utterances from the soloist, as if telling us the second movement is done and it is time for the finale

• The brass fanfare that opens the finale, followed by sprightly, joyous, fairy-like music that seems to echo Mendelssohn’s music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream

INSTRUMENTATION

Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, strings