Songs without Words
Ascoltare Newsletter #4
The weather has been gloomy for the past couple of days. But this allows us to indulge in fragile and elegant romanticism. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and dive in!
(TL;DR - Listen to this)
When composing, a cool trick to find out whether a melody makes sense or not is to try and hum along. Like singing a song.
Music is a story. It contains all the elements of a story. Character development, plot devices, disagreements, resolution, etc. All tied together in a thematic wave that we’re able to shower in without much space for the mind.
Felix Mendelssohn’s “Songs without Words” is a collection of stories and poems where the lyrics are implied and all it’s left is pure expression, the bread and butter of the Romantic era of the 19th century.
(One of the Mendelssohn’s paintings. He was an artist that used his talents beyond music)
Formless Form
The Romantic era was characterized by the continuous attempts of the various composers to escape the forms they inherited from their Classical era colleagues.
They also had another hurdle to overcome: the shadow of Beethoven.
When we’re talking about different eras, the context matters. And one of the greatest composers of all time surely caused unprecedented changes in the way musicians handled composing.
Practically everyone was influenced by him the same way everyone was influenced by Mozart and Bach.
Perhaps only Chopin was able to escape their grip completely.
But in all certainty, only one was able to both be influenced by the giants and retain his individual voic: Felix Mendelssohn.
A classical mind with a romantic soul, Felix became the firestarter of the Romantic era. Even though we’re going to talk about him more extensively in the future, I felt that one of his most famous composition should be presented in a standalone issue.
Time for music!
I recommend you listen to this from beginning to end. It contains short, lyrical composition on the piano.
This nonchalant, happy attitude gave Europe a break from the heaviness and pathos of the previous century. That’s why it became so popular.
You’ll recognize many of the melodies and perhaps their influence in modern compositions.
(Like the Agitato, in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 19 No. 5 at 11:16. Does it remind you of a leitmotif from a famous movie franchise? Comment below if you caught it)
You’ll notice large phrases and rich chromaticism. The Presto, in E Major, Op. 38 No. 3 at 38:34 for example.
The appreciation for every little moment that can inspire us in their own way. The Spinnerlied: The Bee’s Wedding at 1:28:50 for example.
The exchange of ideas between Chopin and Mendelssohn. The march at 1:10:18
The analytical classical mind maintains the structure without losing the essence of expression. The Agitato e con Fuoco, in B Minor, Op. 30 No. 4 at 26:28 for example
The subtle emotions that exist in the space between sadness and happiness. The Un Poco agitato, in G Minor, Op. 102 No. 4 at 1:55:01 for example.
I’ll let you discover the rest.
CODA
I like to consider this collection of songs as Felix’s journal. He composed these over a period of 20 years.
What happened and inspired him to write each piece? Was it joy, was it sorrow expressed as joy? Was it a memory or something else?
Perhaps emotions we don’t have words for.
Last point I want to make is that composers do take into consideration whether their pieces are playable and enjoyable to the soloist.
One of the reasons “Songs without Words” are so popular is because they flow so well on the piano and practically everyone can play them quite well after a few years of practice.
Yet, they’re not simple. They’re complex in what they can express. Like humans.
Share this with every musician, uninitiated pop listener, classical music connoisseur, snob aristocrat, the bourgeoisie or proletariat:
Beautiful, I'm an enormous fan of piano without words, and have listened to Chopin on repeat for years.
This album just brings an enormous wave of calmness, appreciation for life, and also focus.
It's the perfect reading soundtrack, or working, or even just sitting and thinking (hugely underrated activity).
Being a computer scientist by trade, I sometimes feel I should be listening to bloody binaural beats or something, but nothing makes me feel the way this type of music does. It just feels right, like putting on a glove, it simply fits.
Excellent edition as always, I I look forward to it even more each passing week.