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Sun OCT 9 5pm EDT/2pm PDT
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Janine Jansen, violin
Mendelssohn: Overture, The Hebrides (c. 10 minutes)
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 (c. 27 minutes)
intermission
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, “Scottish” (c. 40 minutes)
programs and artists subject to change
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Born: 1809, Hamburg, Germany
Died: 1847, Leipzig, Germany
“The essence of the beautiful is unity in variety.”
Read his composer profile.
Re: Overture, The Hebrides
• While on tour to Scotland, a 20-year-old Mendelssohn wrote home: “In order to make you realize how extraordinarily the Hebrides have affected me, the following* came into my head there.”
*21 bars of the opening of The Hebrides.
• As much a stroke of genius as that opening theme is, the Overture did not come easily. He apparently “finished” at least two versions, and late as 1832 he was still wrestling with it. He told his sister that it did not savor enough of “oil and seagulls and dead fish.”
• Clearly, it evokes the sea; never has a composer set a scene more aptly than Mendelssohn does in the opening seconds. He spins more themes out of that opening motif, then fashions them into a sonata structure, full of deft touches and evocative nuances.
• Read the complete program note.
• LISTEN to an excerpt.
Re: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
• Mendelssohn’s much-loved Violin Concerto holds its own with the world’s great violin concertos, and sings with freshness and gorgeous melody. First conceived in 1838, it was not finished until 1844, making it a relatively late work.
• With such qualities as the opening drum taps; the soloist’s immediate entry; and an impulsive soaring coda, the first movement opens the work in distinctive fashion. The second movement follows immediately, linked to the first by a single bassoon note.
• The slow movement ends with a remarkable passage that not only signals its end but also prepares us for the finale. The last movement is a brilliant confection, the soloist ranging over the instrument in dazzling, delicious display to the very end.
• Read the complete program note.
• LISTEN to excerpts.
Re: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, “Scottish”
• At 20, Mendelssohn took a walking tour of Scotland that would result in two pieces: The Hebrides and the “Scottish” Symphony, the latter of which he said was inspired by Edinburgh’s ruined Holyrood Chapel.
• Though he was inspired in 1829, it was not until 1842 that Mendelssohn completed this symphony (listed as No. 3, but really the last of five). Although he referred to it as his “Scottish” Symphony, the reason is unclear. The music tells no apparent story and quotes no Scottish tunes.
• The four continuous movements are unified around the somber opening melody – the theme inspired by Holyrood Chapel – which appears in quite different forms throughout. A tempestuous climax in the first movement trails off into quiet, as Mendelssohn brings back part of the introduction as a bridge to the second movement.
• The second movement (Vivace non troppo), one of Mendelssohn’s finest scherzos, rushes to a quiet close and proceeds directly into the Adagio, which alternates a long, graceful cantabile melody with a martial second theme.
• From the quiet of the third movement, the finale explodes with fire and excitement. Near the end Mendelssohn brings back the first movement’s simple melody, but now as a noble figure that drives the Symphony to a vigorous conclusion.
• Read the complete program note.
• LISTEN to excerpts.
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