Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Songs Without Words (1993)

Lovely Piano Miniatures

Felix Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words" will always have a special place in my heart because one of the "Venetian Boat Songs", opus 19 no. 6 was the first work of serious music that I performed in a piano recital as a child. I have returned to the collection many times over the years, both to hear the music and on occasion to practice some of the pieces.

Mendelssohn composed eight sets of "Songs without Words", each consisting of six pieces, over a course of 12 years (1835, 1837, 1841, 1844, 1845, and two posthumously published sets in 1847). These works are romantic miniatures, characterized by their lyricism (the title of "songs" is apt), elegance, polish, grace, and imagination. Each piece is intended to capture for the listener a specific mood or emotion; they are of the type of romantic piano music sometimes referred to as a "character" piece, as are the individual sections of Schumann's Carnaval and Scenes from Childhood, Schubert's Impromptus, and Moments Musicaux, and much of Chopin. Many of the pieces in the collection have acquired nicknames over the years, but Mendelssohn himself only gave titles to five: the three "Venetian Boat Songs", the "Duetto", opus 38 no. 6, and the "folksong", opus 53 no. 5.

Mendelssohn's Songs were highly popular during the mid-19th Century but have subsequently been criticized by many for their alleged superficiality, their generally cheerful tone, and their lack of intense passion. I find the criticism misdirected. These pieces were composed for amateurs to play in their own homes. They have a flow and a beauty to them that I would not part with. It is sad that domestic music-making, people playing for themselves for the sheer joy of it, is becoming an endangered art.

This two-CD mid-priced Phillips set includes the complete Songs without Words performed by Ilse von Alpenheim. In addition, the compilation includes three of Mendelssohn's other piano works: two sets of variations and an andante cantabile. Ms. von Alpenheim was the wife of conductor Antal Dorati. Her recorded output was not extensive, but it includes the Haydn piano concertos with Dorati at the podium. Ms. von Alpenheim is a near-ideal pianist for Mendelssohn's Songs. She has an exquisite, polished, touch, a singing melodic line and flexible but controlled rhythm. She plays without mannerism. She neither prettifies these works nor attempts to find profundities in them. She offers the type of performance that one can imagine hearing in a home or in an intimate hall. I enjoyed listening to these performances, score in hand.

Listeners will each find their own favorites in this collection. My favorites include the three Venetian Boat Songs, the first song in opus 62, the opus 62 no. 3 "funeral march" and the first, and surprisingly romantic, work of opus 67,

Rehearing Mendelssohn's Songs brought me happy moments and made me want to turn to some of these works, including the Venetian Boat Song I played as a child and its two companions, on the piano. Amateur pianists and those who love the piano will enjoy this recording.

Robin Friedman