Abschiedslied der Zugvögel Op.63 No.2 (1844)

Pagenlied (1832

Auf Flügeln des Gesanges Op.34 No.2 (1835)

Venezianisches Gondellied Op.57 No.5 (1842)

Der Mond Op.86 No.5 (date uncertain)

Herbstlied Op.63 No.4 (1844)

Before Mendelssohn turned his attention to the medium, no significant composer of the classical or romantic periods, not even a convivial personality like Schubert, took much interest in writing songs for two voices. Perhaps it was felt that it was a decorative art inappropriate for the interpretation of serious poetry. Even Mendelssohn avoided sentiments that would be uncomfortable – to the extent of changing the text on one occasion – just as he avoided vocal textures and harmonies that would be difficult to realise in pieces destined mainly for domestic consumption. The two duets in this group Abschiedslied der Zugvögel and Herbstlied admit a little melancholy, but no more than that occasioned by the end of summer. The first is a characteristic example of his modest but nonetheless attractive scoring for the two voices. Without involving them in counterpoint, he has them moving mainly in the same rhythm, often in parallel lines, occasionally separating them so that one voice can echo a phrase introduced by the other. If Herbstlied seems more ambitious it is because it already existed as a piano piece, the Duett ohne Worte in F sharp minor , and Klingemann wrote the words (in collaboration with the composer) to fit the twin melodic lines eight years later.

All four of the solo songs in this group are nocturnes of one kind or another. Pagenlied begins in sunlight but ends at night, which befits its minor harmonies and the stealthy rhythms of its mandolin-like accompaniment. Auf Flügeln des Gesanges is another serenade but, in contrast to the discreetly archaic style of Pagenlied , it is a thoroughly romantic effusion of amorous melody poised over flowing harp-like arpeggios. One of the most popular of all Lieder, it was unfortunately not much appreciated by Heinrich Heine, author of the voluptuously exotic text. Mendelssohn wrote no fewer than five Gondellieder (gondola songs) for piano, all of them highly melodious but none as seductive as his setting of Thomas Moore’s tribute to nocturnal Venice, translated into German as Venezianisches Gondellied . The impatient rhythms of Der Mond are sustained almost throughout but are so effectively stilled in the last line that the piano can take them up again in a tiny postlude without threat to the new-found serenity.