''Songs Without Words'' (') is a series of short lyrical

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

works by the Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn written between 1829 and 1845. His sister, Fanny Mendelssohn, and other composers also wrote pieces in the same genre.

Music

The eight volumes of ''Songs Without Words'', each consisting of six songs (), were written at various points throughout Mendelssohn's life and published separately. The piano became increasingly popular in Europe during the early nineteenth century, when it became a standard item in many middle-class households. The pieces are within the grasp of pianists of various abilities and this undoubtedly contributed to their popularity. This great popularity has caused many critics to under-rate their musical value. The first volume was published by Novello in London (1832) as ''Original Melodies for the Pianoforte'', but the later volumes used the title ''Songs Without Words''. The works were part of the Romantic tradition of writing short lyrical pieces for the piano, although the specific concept of "Songs Without Words" was new. Mendelssohn's sister Fanny wrote a number of similar pieces (though not so entitled) and, according to some music historians, she may have helped inspire the concept. The title ''Song Without Words'' seems to have been Felix Mendelssohn's own invention. In 1828, Fanny wrote in a letter "My birthday was celebrated very nicely ... Felix has given me a 'song without words' for my album (he has lately written several beautiful ones)."Andrew Porter, Liner notes from

Walter Gieseking Walter Wilhelm Gieseking (5 November 1895 – 26 October 1956) was a French-born German pianist and composer. Gieseking was renowned for his subtle touch, pedaling, and dynamic control—particularly in the music of Debussy and Ravel; he made int ...

recording, Angel 35428 Mendelssohn himself resisted attempts to interpret the songs too literally, and objected when his friend Marc-André Souchay sought to put words to them to make them literal "What the music I love expresses to me, is not thought too ''indefinite'' to put into words, but on the contrary, too ''definite''". (Mendelssohn's own italics) Mendelssohn also wrote other ''Songs Without Words'' not collected in volumes, and published only in recent years. Furthermore, original drafts exist for many of the 'Songs' many of which differ quite substantially from the eventually published versions. In 2008, the Italian pianist Roberto Prosseda recorded a collection of Mendelssohn's ''Songs Without Words'' for Decca Records totalling 56 , some of them never recorded before.

Songs

The titles attributed to some of the songs below were given by Mendelssohn himself. Other fanciful titles were given to certain of them by later publishers but have no authority and do not reflect any intention of the composer.

Book 1, Op. 19b (1829–30)

#Andante con moto (E major) #Andante espressivo (A minor) #Molto allegro e vivace (A major) #Moderato (A major) #Poco agitato (F minor) #Andante sostenuto: ("Venetian Boat Song") (G minor)

Book 2, Op. 30 (1833–34)

#Andante espressivo (E major) #Allegro di molto (B minor) #Adagio non troppo (E major) #Agitato e con fuoco (B minor) #Andante grazioso (D major) #Allegretto tranquillo: ("Venetian Boat Song") (F minor) Book 2 was dedicated to Elisa von Woringen.

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

, 5th ed., 1954, Vol. V, p. 703, Felix Mendelssohn: Catalogue of Works Song number 2 was written for his sister Fanny to celebrate the birth of her son in 1830.

Book 3, Op. 38 (1836–37)

#Con moto (E major) #Allegro non troppo (C minor) #Presto e molto vivace (E major) #Andante (A major) #Agitato (A minor) #Andante con moto: ''Duetto'' ("Duet") (A major) Song number 6 was given the title ''Duetto'' by Mendelssohn, since two melodies were written to represent two singers. It was composed in Frankfurt in June 1836, soon after he had met his future wife. Book 3 was dedicated to Rosa von Woringen.

Book 4, Op. 53 (1839–41)

#Andante con moto (A major) #Allegro non troppo (E major) #Presto agitato (G minor) #Adagio (F major) #Allegro con fuoco: ("Folksong") (A minor) #Molto allegro vivace (A major) Book 4 was dedicated to Sophia Horsley.

Book 5, Op. 62 (1842–44)

# Andante espressivo (G major) #Allegro con fuoco (B major) #Andante maestoso: (" Funeral march") (E minor) #Allegro con anima (G major) #Andante con moto: ("Venetian Boat Song") (A minor) #Allegretto grazioso: ("Spring Song") (A major) Song No. 6 "Spring Song" was also sometimes known in England as " Camberwell Green", being the place in London where Mendelssohn composed it while staying with the Benneckes, relatives of his wife. Book 5 was dedicated to

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a ...

Book 6, Op. 67 (1843–45)

#Andante (E major) #Allegro leggiero (F minor) #Andante tranquillo (B major) #Presto: ("Spinner's Song") (C major) #Moderato (B minor) #Allegro non troppo (E major) The has also been given the nickname the "Bee's Wedding" since the busy accompaniment to the melody resembles the buzzing of bees. Book 6 was dedicated to Sophie Rosen.

Book 7, Op. 85 (1843–45)

#Andante espressivo (F major) #Allegro agitato (A minor) #Presto (E major) #Andante sostenuto (D major) #Allegretto (A major) #Allegretto con moto (B major) This book, and Book 8, were published posthumously.

Book 8, Op. 102 (1842–45)

#Andante un poco agitato (E minor) #Adagio (D major) #Presto (C major) #Un poco agitato, ma andante (G minor) #Allegro vivace (A major) #Andante (C major)

Related works

A piece in D major for

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

and piano, written by Mendelssohn around 1845 for cellist

Lisa Cristiani Lisa Barbier Cristiani (December 24, 1827 – October 24, 1853), also known as Lise Cristiani or Elise Cristiani, was a French cellist and performer known for being one of the earliest recorded instances of a woman becoming a professional in the fi ...

, was published for the first time after his death. It was designated Opus 109 and entitled ''Song Without Words''. It is not related to any of the piano pieces.Stratton, Stephen Samuel (1910). ''Mendelssohn.'' J.M. Dent Cellist Carlos Prieto called the piece "an exquisite composition, worthy of the finest pieces Mendelssohn ever composed for this genre." A piece for piano in E minor by Mendelssohn was published after his death under Op. 117, entitled ("Album Leaf"); a further piece for piano by Mendelssohn was published after his death, without opus number, listed as

WoO Woo, WoO, WOO, W.O.O. and variants may refer to: People Woo or Wu, romanization of several East Asian names: * Hu (surname): 胡, 瓠, 護, 戶, 扈, 虎, 呼, 忽, 斛 * Wu (surname): 吳, 伍, 武, 仵, 烏, 鄔, 巫 * Ng (name): 吳, 伍 * ...

10, titled ("Gondola Song"). Some historians believe these to have been intended for another set of ''Songs Without Words''.

Arrangements

Mendelssohn made

piano duet According to the ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', there are two kinds of piano duet: "those for two players at one instrument, and those in which each of the two pianists has an instrument to themself." In American usage the former is ...

arrangements of a number of the songs, namely those that became Book 5 and the first song of Book 6, which he presented to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

in 1844. Mendelssohn was also aware of arrangements of some of the earlier ' for piano duet by

Carl Czerny Carl Czerny (; 21 February 1791 – 15 July 1857) was an Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist of Czech origin whose music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works and ...

. Many others have made various arrangements of individual songs, including for orchestra,

chamber ensemble Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

, or solo instrument with piano accompaniment. One such example is the arrangement of 22 of the songs by Mendelssohn's student, the German violist Friedrich Hermann (1828–1907), for violin and piano. In 1834, Franz Liszt wrote his ' (''Grand Concert Piece on Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words'') for 2 pianos. This was based on songs 1–3 of Book I, Op. 19b. Liszt and a student, Mlle. Vial, started to play it in Paris on 9 April 1835 but Liszt became ill during the performance. Ferruccio Busoni planned to play it in London with

Egon Petri Egon Petri (23 March 188127 May 1962) was a Dutch pianist. Life and career Petri's family was Dutch. He was born a Dutch citizen but in Hanover, Germany, and grew up in Dresden, where he attended the Kreuzschule. His father, a professional vio ...

, but died before the plan could be realised. It was finally first performed in full by

Richard and John Contiguglia Richard and John Contiguglia (born April 13, 1937 in Auburn, New York) are American identical twin duo-pianists. Born to Italian immigrant parents, they were the second set of twins and the youngest of seven children. Biography At the age of fiv ...

at the 1984 Holland Liszt Festival in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

.Richard and John Contiguglia, Duo-Pianists
/ref> There are also examples of recordings of transcriptions, for solo instrument and piano accompaniment, of Mendelssohn written for the voice, which have been entitled "Songs Without Words", for instance by

Mischa Maisky Mischa Maisky ( lv, Miša Maiskis, he, מישה מייסקי, russian: Миша Майский; born 10 January 1948) is a Soviet-born Israeli cellist. Biography Mischa Maisky was born in 1948 in Riga and is the younger brother of organist, har ...

. No such arrangements were however made, or so titled, by Mendelssohn himself.

By other composers

Fanny Mendelssohn's early collections of piano works opp. 2,6, and 8 are titled ''Lieder für das Pianoforte (Songs for the piano)''. Other composers who were inspired to produce similar sets of pieces of their own included Charles-Valentin Alkan (the five sets of ''Chants'', each ending with a

barcarolle A barcarolle (; from French, also barcarole; originally, Italian barcarola or barcaruola, from ''barca'' 'boat') is a traditional folk song sung by Venetian gondoliers, or a piece of music composed in that style. In classical music, two of the mo ...

Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Sa ...

Ignaz Moscheles Isaac Ignaz Moscheles (; 23 May 179410 March 1870) was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer. He was based initially in London and later at Leipzig, where he joined his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as professor of piano at the Co ...

and

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

(his 66 ''

Lyric Pieces ''Lyric Pieces'' ( no, Lyriske stykker) is a collection of 66 short pieces for solo piano written by Edvard Grieg. They were published in 10 volumes, from 1867 ( Op. 12) to 1901 (Op. 71). The collection includes several of his best known pieces, ...

''). Two ''Songs Without Words'' (Op. 10) for piano were also written by

Mykola Lysenko Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko ( uk, Мико́ла Віта́лійович Ли́сенко; 22 March 1842 – 6 November 1912) was a List of Ukrainian composers, Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor and ethnomusicologist of the late Romantic mus ...

. Both Alkan and Rubinstein frequently included items from Mendelssohn's ''Songs'' in their recitals. Ferruccio Busoni, who considered Mendelssohn "a master of undisputed greatness", turned to the ''Songs Without Words'' in the last year of his life for a projected series of recitals in London.

Notes

References

* Felix Mendelssohn, ''Letters'', Philadelphia, 1864 * R. Larry Todd, ''Mendelssohn: A Life in Music'', Oxford, 2003.

External links

*', Book 1, Op. 19b – Book 2, Op. 30 – Book 3, Op. 38 – Book 4, Op. 53 – Book 5, Op. 62 – Book 6, Op. 67 – Book 7, Op. 85 – Book 8, Op. 102: Free scores at the

International Music Score Library Project The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a subscription-based digital library of public-domain music scores. The project, which uses MediaWiki softwar ...

{{authority control Compositions by Felix Mendelssohn Compositions for solo piano 1830 compositions 1834 compositions 1837 compositions 1841 compositions 1844 compositions 1845 compositions Songs in classical music