Mendelssohn
String Symphony No. 10 in B minor (1823)
Adagio - Allegro
"String Symphony No. 10 in B minor survives in the form of a single movement, which may have been followed by others, now lost. It starts with a slow introduction that suggests something of Haydn. This is followed by a dramatic Allegro that has about it much of the idiom that Mendelssohn was to make his own. The first subject is in an ominous mood, followed by a lyrical second subject, material developed with all characteristic élan." - Keith Anderson
String Symphony No. 11 in F major (1823)
00:00 - Adagio - Allegro molto
12:13 - Scherzo. Comodo (Schweizerlied)
16:06 - Adagio
23:54 - Menuetto. Allegro moderato
28:19 - Allegro molto
"String Symphony No. 11 in F major was not numbered and is a more extended work than the others, with its five movements. It starts with a solemn Adagio introduction, followed by an Allegro in which traces of Mozart or of Schubert might be detected, yet with an increasingly original voice. There is a return to the mood of the opening before the movement comes to an energetic and dramatic end. The Scherzo that follows makes use of a Swiss folk-song, an Emmental wedding-dance, a provenance that suggests the final use of percussion. This reminiscence of a holiday in Switzerland is absorbed into a more sophisticated classical musical idiom, in the manner of Haydn, until its last re-appearance. There is an Adagio of gently moving beauty and mature assurance, leading to a Minuet, a burst of energy that provides an immediate contrast, relaxing into a more lyrical Trio. The last movement includes the necessary late classical ingredient of counterpoint in its fugal writing, a Baroque legacy from which Mendelssohn had profited and which he here absorbs into an idiom increasingly his own." - Keith Anderson
String Symphony No. 12 in G minor (1823)
00:00 - Fuga. Grave - Allegro
04:49 - Andante
12:10 - Allegro molto
"Mendelssohn's String Symphony No. 12 in G minor starts with a slow Baroque introduction, leading to a fugue with an initially descending scale subject, to which secondary material provides a contrast. There is an intensely felt Andante and a vigorous final Allegro molto that strikes an immediate dramatic attitude. Here again there are contrapuntal episodes, contrasts of texture, as smaller groups of instruments are used in the manner of chamber music, and hints of music soon to come in the following year or two." - Keith Anderson
String Symphony No. 13 in C minor (1823)
Grave - Allegro molto
Performed by Nicholas Ward and the Northern Chamber Orchestra.
"The Sinfoniesatz in C minor was replaced by the subsequent Symphony No. 1 in C minor for full orchestra, written three months later and originally bearing the numbering of thirteen. The single movement work, String Symphony No. 13, starts with the dotted rhythms of a Baroque French overture. Scored for double violas, it continues with an Allegro molto fugal movement, contrasting ascending and descending thematic material." - Keith Anderson
Performed by Nicholas Ward and the Northern Chamber Orchestra.
Nicholas Ward: Mendelssohn String Symphonies Complete, 1 to 3
Nicholas Ward: Mendelssohn String Symphonies Complete, 4 to 6
Nicholas Ward: Mendelssohn String Symphonies Complete, 7 to 9
Nicholas Ward: Mendelssohn String Symphonies Complete, 10 to 13
