Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy [1809–1847] was a chamber music child prodigy. At the age of sixteen he wrote his Octet for Strings, generally considered to be one of the most brilliant chamber works of all time! It is a magnificent piece, the opening movement being exceptional, with a forward propulsion that has probably never been matched. He also wrote five symphonies which are still popular today.
Two years after the octet, he commenced his String Quartet in A minor, No. 2, Opus 13. He was born just at the right time, enabling him to study the Beethoven late quartets, hot off the presses. Apparently his mother kept him in good supply and he was able to spend much time with them. This study certainly bore fruit. The musical references to Beethoven, especially SQ No. 15 Opus 132 (previously discussed in May 2016), also in A minor, are manifold throughout this piece.
The first movement is marked adagio – allegro vivace and within the first 30 seconds, two obvious references to Beethoven are stated. There is a slight pause at the end of each phrase, and, in that instant, I can hear in my head the music that followed Beethoven’s passage from Op. 132. Then Mendelssohn comes in with some of his own material. I find it strangely disorienting when this happens. In any event, the influence of Beethoven is profound and throughout, and I shall not mention it again!
The adagio progresses into some shimmering passages and then some folk-like material. Overall, the movement slips in and out of a lot of forward thrust and energy, contrasted with slower sections. The mood is captivating, with some appealing, playful melodies. There is a lot more allegro vivace than adagio but, when the contrasts arrive, they are very effective.
The second movement opens with a sombre chordal passage. It then moves into a quiet adagio fugue, ever slowly building in intensity, until the composer relieves the tension and sets the quartet free. They move into double time and develop the intensity again, and, when things become positively raucous, the piece is stripped back to a solo violin. It then slowly builds to the grave mood of the opening before a quite conclusion unfolds.
The third movement opens with a stately melody, gently taken up by all four players as the passage progresses. After some minutes, the meter moves into double time for a playful joust. Inevitably, it returns to the stately melodies of the introduction. The texture of a solo violin accompanied by the cello played pizzicato is a wonderful moment. The viola and the cello return to take the movement out.
The final movement starts dynamically and the first violin struggles with the rest of the ensemble. It eventually wins out for a brief period before the intensity rises again. This dichotomy continues until we have a passage of solo violin which is mesmeric. It then looks back to a previous movement and a sombre chordal passage which just drifts into silence.
Mendelssohn is truly a marvellous melodist. All four movements show evidence of this. His enthralling melodies shape the piece into something of great beauty and substance. Considering he was eighteen at the time makes it all the more noteworthy.
My review is based on the copy of String Quartets 1-6 by the Cherubini Quartet. It is part of a Warner Classics’ series of ‘nice price’ 3-CD sets, all containing a large ‘3’ on the cover. This set is on Spotify. It should be freely available. There would be many other versions, including single-CD formats. But then you don’t get to hear the rest of his fabulous melodies, do you?
The Pacifica set is on Spotify, along with others. Some versions of the Second Quartet are on YouTube and there are many fine performances of the work on earsense, especially the Escher String Quartet.
Listenability: Youthful and enchanting.