TITLE: Notturno, opus 24 (1824)

COMPOSER: Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Felix Mendelssohn's childhood training, perfect pitch and an extraordinary memory helped him to become a skillful musician.  His family was wealthy and conservative. He was taught the piano by his mother and gave his first public recital when he was nine. He composed the Notturno, Opus 24 at the age of fifteen. By the time he was seventeen, he had composed twelve string symphonies, an opera and the overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 1829, after three years of study at the University of Berlin, he undertook music as a career. In that year, he conducted the first performance, since Bach's death, of the Passion According to St. Matthew, which began a revival of interest in Bach's music. He also embarked on a three-year grand tour of Italy, France and Great Britain.  His affection for British music is heard in his Hebrides Overture and Scottish Symphony; an affection that was warmly reciprocated.  In 1835, he was given the opportunity to take over the Gevandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig. In a short time, Leipzig became the musical capital of Germany. He was one of the first conductors to use a baton. In 1846, a year before his early death, he presented his oratorio, Elijah, in Birmingham.

MOVEMENTS: One

• Andante/Allegro Vivace

PERFORMANCE TIME: 8' 45"

INSTRUMENTATION: 11 Instruments

• 1 Flute, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 1 Trumpet, 1 Contra Bassoon

EDITIONS: Available for Purchase

1. Schott Music Corp. European American
2. Edition Compusic, Amsterdam

COMPOSITION SKETCH AND MUSICAL CONSIDERATIONS

During a visit to Bad Dobberan (in northern Germany) in the summer of 1824 Mendelssohn was so impressed by the local Harmonie (wind ensemble) that he immediately wrote a composition for a similar group. This "Notturno" today, is better known in the arrangement for large windband called "Ouverture fur Harmoniemusik, op. 24" (Overture for Band, op. 24). The slow introduction shows the influence of Mozart, but in the Allegro Vivace, we hear the typical lightfooted Mendelssohn, as we do in the Scherzo of his famous octet and in the overture, Sommernachtstraum. Mendelssohn is the creator of the concert overture in its purest form. Beethoven, for instance, did have an obvious subject for each of his concert overtures, but Mendelssohn's overtures have an extra musical meaning and could be labelled as programmatic works. Wagner refered to Mendelssohn as a "landscape painter" in music. The original manuscripts call for a Corno Inglese di Basso (Bass English Horn) which is typically played by a contra-bassoon, since the actual range is too low for a bass-oboe.

Notes by Jan Joris Nieuwenhuis

SELECTED RECORDINGS:

RELATED WEBSITES:

Mendelssohn Page - http://www.hearts-ease.org/conservatory/e-romantic/mendelssohn/bio.html

Mendelssohn Biography - http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/mendelssohn.html