Program Notes

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 11 (1824)

Scored for pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, trumpets and horns, timpani and strings

With all the well-deserved attention currently given to Mozart, it's easy to forget the other child prodigy whose career was no less spectacular, and whose life was also cut off in his prime: Felix Mendelssohn. While true that Mendelssohn didn't really have any compositions to speak of until his eleventh year, these works, though far from mature, still show a confidence and ease which are remarkable for that age. From there he matured quickly, and by the time he was 17, Mendelssohn was an experienced composer who had wrestled with large and small forms in most musical genres, and if he couldn't claim to be their master, he was at least their equal. He had already gained a reputation as conductor, pianist and composer, and his fame only grew from there. But Mendelssohn's first great milestone had occurred two years earlier.

By 1824 Felix had completed no less than twelve symphonies for string orchestra which display great skill, but only occasional flashes of the originality that would mark his works of a short time later. That same year, the composer decided to recast one of these symphonies for full orchestra adding winds, brass and timpani. Obviously braced by the project, the fifteen-year-old decided to try his hand at a large-scale symphony, and the result was his first work conceived from the start for full orchestra.

The Symphony in C Minor didn't receive its first performance until 1829, when the composer conducted it in London at a concert of the Philharmonic Society to a highly favorable reception. For this performance, Mendelssohn, who had grown a bit as a composer by this time, substituted an orchestration of the Scherzo from his Octet in place of the Minuet he had originally written as the third movement. Upon the symphony's publication in 1834, the composer had reinstated the minuet.

Compared to the three great symphonies of Mendelssohn's maturity, the First Symphony seems a mild and imitative, if engaging work. In any case comparisons between the youthful and mature composer are hardly fair, and the symphony should be taken at face value, and according to its own many merits. There is much here to delight and even surprise, and a first hearing of the work is sure to be received with joy.

The opening theme of the first movement is one of overwhelming boldness and this energetic mood is rarely relinquished. Beethoven is an inspiration here, but Mendelssohn's melodic gifts are everywhere in evidence, and his writing for winds is assured.

The second movement flows with youthful charm and a Mozartean delicacy. It is music of pastoral contentment, with brief glimpses of minor melancholy in the development section. A sustained melody in the coda leads the movement to a peaceful conclusion.

The minuet is unexpectedly brash and vigorous. Constantly moving, it carries us along effortlessly as willing partners in its rhythmic fervor. The trio in A-flat major is in stark contrast to what has just been heard. Echoing the tender sentiments of the previous movement, here the winds take center stage.

The finale begins in traditionally flashy and rhythmically exuberant mood. The second theme is considerably more subdued and is led by solo woodwind and pizzicato strings. But this feeling isn't around for long before the boisterous spirit returns to the forefront. The development section is marked by fugal writing, and the coda seems to suddenly take off out of nowhere to lead the symphony to its dynamic end.