Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in D Minor & String Symphonies Nos. 1-6

Featuring

Henry Raudales
Münchner Rundfunkorchester
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

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Critical Reception

Mendelssohn's early string symphonies were considered lost after his death until their rediscovery in 1950 and first complete recording in 1971 by the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Kurt Masur.

Composition History

Mendelssohn composed his first Violin Concerto for his violin teacher and close friend Eduard Rietz around 1821/22, when he was 13 years old.

Compositional Technique

The first six of Mendelssohn's twelve early string symphonies follow Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's model: short, three-movement works for first and second violin, viola, and 'basso' (cello and/or double bass).

Composer's Artistic Vision

Mendelssohn's teacher, Carl Friedrich Zelter, introduced him to the symphonic genre using Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's three-movement string symphony model, rather than works by Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven.

Composer Biography

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy began composing his extensive series of string symphonies at age 11, thanks to his father's Sunday morning concerts at their Berlin home.

Composition History

Mendelssohn's early string symphonies were initially performed at his family's Sunday concerts, where he always directed the chamber orchestra himself.

Compositional Technique

The D minor key of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto was likely inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach's Harpsichord Concerto in D minor BWV 1052, which Mendelssohn enthusiastically played.