String Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major
Felix Mendelssohn (1807-1847)

THE STORY

Although Mendelssohn’s five symphonies for full orchestra are better known, he penned 13 string symphonies when he was just a boy. Composed from 1821-23 between the ages of 12 and 14, the string symphonies came after Mendelssohn’s teacher, Carl Friedrich Zelter, taught him how to write counterpoint: multiple independent melodic lines that follow strict rules but yield harmony.

Mendelssohn’s string symphonies bear the influence of both the Baroque and Classical periods—they display contrapuntal textures in the style of the Bachs, but also the clarity and ease of Haydn and Mozart. The three-movement form indicates their historical influence. While symphonies from the Classical period onward are usually in four movements, the first of which introduces two themes in the exposition that are then developed, older symphonies from the Baroque feature just one theme. The string symphonies demonstrate Mendelssohn’s precocity and foreshadow his future achievements.

LISTEN FOR

• The upright theme of the first movement, with thunderous iterations in the lower strings as the upper strings bustle above
• The placid atmosphere of the slow movement, with chromatic undulating harmonies underneath the transparent melodic line
• The jubilant upward sweep that begins the finale as the strings echo one another in a jovial and effusive medley, like the confluence of many bubbling streams into a larger river

INSTRUMENTATION

Strings