Violin Concerto in E minor Op.64

The initial inspiration of the Violin Concerto in E minor was its magical opening, with the melody poised high on the E-string of the solo violin over gentle E minor harmonies in the orchestra. “The beginning will not leave me in peace,” Mendelssohn wrote in 1838 to Ferdinand David, the Leipzig violinist who was to give the first performance of the work on its completion eight years later.

The whole concerto seems to grow out of that first theme. Not even the second subject, where the roles are reversed, with the melody in the woodwind over a sustained low G on the violin, is the direct contrast one might expect at this point in the first movement. What differences there are, it is up to the rest of the movement - including a cadenza presented as part of the development rather than the conventional appendage - to resolve. It is fully characteristic of Mendelssohn’s concern for integration that the arpeggios at the end of the cadenza should become the soloist’s sympathetic E minor accompaniment to the orchestra’s recapitulation of the main theme.

A solitary note held on the first bassoon leads into a modulation to C major and the beginning of the Andante - a simply designed construction with idyllic outer sections and a rather more anxious middle section in A minor, the two main themes related to each other by a little rhythmic figure they have in common. Continuity between the movements is further sustained by a transitional Allegretto non troppo which, carrying thematic elements of both, links the Andante to the closing Allegro molto vivace.

As in the first movement, there is no vast contrast in the Allegro molto vivace between the two main themes - in this case a delightful scherzando first subject for solo violin and a boisterous second subject introduced in B major by the whole orchestra. More important than either, in a structural sense at least, is a third theme first heard halfway through the movement on solo violin as a counterpoint to the first subject. Echoing the opening theme of the work, it confirms the long-term, perfectly integrated continuity of the whole work.

Mendelssohn’s first inspiration for the Violin Concerto in E minor – which he thought about for as long as six years before he could finish it – was the very beautiful opening bars. In 1838 he wrote to the violinist Ferdinand David, “I should like to write a violin concerto for you next winter. One in E minor is running in my head, and the beginning will not leave me in peace.” A year later he told David, “The whole of the first solo is to be for the E string!” And that, in spite of the many revisions made in the meantime, is how the work began when David gave the first perform­ance in Leipzig in 1845 – the passionate first subject high on the top string of the solo violin above a quietly sympathetic accompaniment in the orchestra.

The whole concerto seems to grow out of that first theme. Not even the second subject, where the roles are reversed, with the melody in the woodwind over a sustained low G on the solo violin, is the direct contrast one might expect at this point. What differences there are, it is up to the rest of the movement – including a cadenza presented as part of the development rather than the conventional appendage – to resolve. It is fully characteristic of Mendelssohn’s concern for integration that the arpeggios at the end of the cadenza should become the soloist’s sympathetic E minor accompaniment to the orchestra’s recapitulation of the main theme.

Although there is a long, accelerating coda, there is no distinct end to the first movement. Its last quiet chord is linked by a sustained note on the bassoon to the beginning of the Andante. Again Mendelssohn is concerned to associate rather than confront his main themes, in spite of the valuable contrast between them. The relationship between the idyllic opening melody (reserved almost exclusively for the soloist) and the theme of the rather more anxious middle section (introduced by strings and woodwind) is scarcely more than the rhythmic figure they have in common. On the other hand, the composer’s integrating purpose in transferring the tremolando accompaniment from the middle section to the reprise of the first part is unmistakable.

Again the next movement follows without a break. In this case Mendelssohn interpolates a short Allegretto non troppo, based on the second theme of the Andante and anticipating an important motif in the Allegro molto vivace. It also effects the modulation to E major, in which key – with modest brass fanfares – the last movement begins. As in the first movement there is no great contrast between the first subject, a delightfully characteristic scherzando theme for solo violin, and the second subject, boisterously introduced in B major by the whole orchestra. More important than either, in a structural sense at least, is a third theme first heard halfway through the movement on solo violin as a counterpoint to the first subject. Echoing the opening theme of the first movement, it confirms the long-term, perfectly integrated continuity of the whole work.

Gerald Larner ©2004

Mendelssohn’s first inspiration for the Violin Concerto – which he thought about for as long as six years before he could finish it –- was the very beautiful opening bars. In 1838 he wrote to the violinist Ferdinand David, “I should like to write a violin concerto for you next winter. One in E minor is running in my head, and the beginning will not leave me in peace.” A year later he told David, “The whole of the first solo is to be for the E string!” And that, in spite of the many revisions made in the meantime, is how the work began when David gave the first perform­ance in Leipzig in 1845 – the passionate first subject high on the top string of the solo violin above a quietly encouraging accompaniment in the orchestra.

There is no question in this essentially non-confrontational concerto of the conventionally separate orchestral and solo expositions. The second subject is introduced by the orchestra – on clarinets and flutes over a sustained G on the violin – and then repeated with the roles reversed. Naturally, the change of key brings a change in atmosphere but, with the subtle rhythmic and melodic relationships between the two main themes, there is no irreconcilable difference. The develop­ment, though devoted mainly to the first subject, tends to concentrate on that part of it shared also by the second subject. So too does the cadenza, which is presented as part of the development rather than the conventional appendage. It is fully characteristic that the soloist’s arpeggios at the end of the cadenza should become the sympathetic E minor accompaniment to the orchestra’s recapitulation of the first subject.

Although there is a long, accelerating coda, there is no distinct end to the first movement. Its last quiet chord is linked by a sustained note on the bassoon to the beginning of the Andante. Again Mendelssohn is concerned to associate rather than confront his main themes, in spite of the valuable contrast between them. The relationship between the idyllic first theme (introduced by and reserved almost exclusively for the soloist) and the theme of the rather more anxious middle section (introduced by strings and woodwind) is scarcely more than the rhythmic figure they have in common. On the other hand, the composer’s integrating purpose in transferring the tremolando accompaniment from the middle section to the reprise of the first part is unmistakable.

Again the next movement follows without a break. In this case, Mendelssohn interpolates a short Allegretto non troppo, based on the second theme of the Andante and anticipating an important motif in the Allegro molto vivace. It also effects the modulation to E major, in which key, with modest brass fanfares, the last movement begins. As in the first movement there is no great contrast between the first subject, a delightfully characteristic scherzando theme for solo violin, and the second subject, boisterously introduced in B major by the whole orchestra. More important than either, in a structural sense at least, is a third theme first heard halfway through the movement on solo violin as a counterpoint to the first subject. Echoing the opening theme of the first movement, it confirms the long-term, perfectly integrated continuity of the whole work.

Gerald Larner©2003