6 Lieder ohne Worte

Poco agitato in F sharp minor Op.19b No.5 (1835)

Allegretto tranquillo in F sharp minor “Venetian Gondola Song” Op.30 No.6 (1835)

Presto e molto vivace in E major Op.38 No.3 (1835)

6 Lieder ohne Worte

Allegretto grazioso in A major “Spring Song” Op.62 No.6 (1842)

Presto in C major “Spinning Song” Op.67 No.4 (1845)

Moderato in B minor Op.67 No.5 (1844)

Andante sostenuto in D major “Elegy” Op.85 No.4 (1845)

Allegro vivace in A major Op.102 No.5 (1845)

Andante in C major Op.102 No.6 (1845)

During his lifetime and for decades after that Mendelssohn was admired more for his songs without words than his songs with words. Of the Lieder, only Auf Flügeln des Gesanges could equal in popularity the most familiar of the Lieder ohne Worte. The success of the piano pieces was not immediate, however. The earliest edition of the first volume, published in London in 1832 by Novello (at the composer’s own expense) as Original Melodies, ran to no more than 150 copies, of which only 48 were sold in ten months. Yet only five years later Mendelssohn was complaining about the proliferatiing imitations: “It’s time to change the tune,” he said. But he didn’t. By 1845 he had produced six volumes in all, and after his death his publishers found enough pieces of the same kind to issue two more volumes of six.

There are all sorts of Lieder ohne Worte – more than is generally acknowledged – but the most common is represented by the first in order of publication. Op.19b No.1 in E approximates to a ternary-form solo-song arrangement, its tender “vocal” line poised over flowing arpeggios and a melodious bass line. Op.19b No.3 in A is a resourcefully coloured instrumental inspiration, which has deservedly won its “Hunting Song” nickname. Its successor in the same key derives from the chorale and No.5 in F sharp minor is an expression of anxiety turning to reassurance in a near-sonata-form construction.

Of the mere five Lieder ohne Worte to which the composer himself attached a title, three of them are called “Venezianisches Gondellied” (Venetian Gondola Song). He might not have invented the form but he certainly wrote some seductive examples and, in Op.30 No.6 in F sharp minor, anticipated Chopin in applying decorative keyboard figuration to a melodic line floating above a barcarolle rhythm in the left hand. Written for Clara Wieck (as she then was) Op.38 No.3 in E is a stirring demonstration of the esteeem in which Mendelssohn held the 16-year-old pianist.

The Lieder ohne Worte were part of Robert and Clara Schumann’s shared musical experience from the beginning of their relationship and they were both, in their different ways, firm supporters of them. Clara’s frequent and no doubt insightful performances were rewarded in the best possible way by the dedication of what was to become the most famous of all, the so-called “Frülingslied” (or Spring Song) on her 26th birthday in 1845. Scarcely less famous and no less beautifully written for piano, Op.67 No.4 is known inevitably, because of its whiring figuration, as the “Spinnerlied” (or Spinning Song). Op.67 No.5 in B minor reverts in its melancholy way to the chorale type while anticipating Grieg in its use of a drone pedal point. Though compiled with less care than Mendelssohn himself exercised, the posthumous collections contain some high-quality pieces, like the wistful Op.85 No.4 in D – which is more effective on its own than when grouped with the too similar No.1 in F – the joyful Op.102 No.5 in A and, a last chorale, Op.102 No.6 in C which makes a fitting epilogue to the whole series .