Weber and Mendelssohn

Weber - Invitation to the Dance

What a charming little piece! It is graceful, elegant, and full of spirit! It opens with a slow introduction before the majestic waltz begins. The running right hand passages in the beginning of the Allegro vivace sounds almost like a Czerny exercise (not in a bad way). We here some chromaticism intervening the scale passages (maybe we can see where Chopin gets the chromaticism from?). Weber also plays with the waltz pattern; once in awhile he puts accents on the third beats of the measures, thus giving the feeling of "a bit off". The Wiegend section where Weber bombards us with a page and half of waltz pattern (with repeats!) gets a bit old after awhile. The piece ends with a virtuosic coda and with the slow introduction heard from the beginning of the piece to round off the piece nicely.


Mendelssohn

Rondo Capricciosos, Op. 14

This piece has the perfect blend of musicality (beautifully singing melodies) and virtuosity (the typical fast finger works of Mendelssohn and the double thirds!). After the somewhat slow introduction, Presto comes in with energy and playfulness with a theme that most of us are familiar with. The motive from the beginning of the presto is developed throughout the rondo. The arpeggios are flashy and brilliant and act as the links between sections. Overall, this is an exciting piece to listen to; full of flare and fun!

Prelude and Fugue in E minor, Op. 35

The arpeggiation in the prelude, commonly seen in Bach's preludes as well, along with the passionate melodic lines (both hands alternate to play this) make this a unique piece . The romantic quality of the melody is what makes this a "Mendelssohn" prelude. The beginning of the fugue sounds like a standard Bach's 3-part fugue; intricate polyphonic lines and complex harmony. As it gets to the section that is marked "accelerando poco a poco all' Allegro con fuoco", the 16th notes passage moves from one voice to the other. Octaves are added, creating more volume and weight as well as excitement for the fugue. The rhythmic energy hightens as the moving 16th notes accelerate without holding back. As it breaks into nothing but octaves on the left hand towards the last page, it transforms what was a Bach fugue into a Beethoven late-style fugue. This last part of the fugue reminds me very much of the fugue from the last movement of Beethoven's Op. 110.


Variations serieuses

Theme - peaceful, chromatic religious chorale

Var. 1 - simple variation with string trio-like quality with left hand pizzacatos

Var. 2 - rhythmic diminution, sextuplets speed up and also give fluidity to the music

Var. 3 - virtuosic octaves, almost Brahms-like

Var. 4 - between the staccatos and the grace-notes, it sounds very playful

Var. 5 - off-beat melodies is very Schumann-like

Var. 6 - Brahms-like again, with the big chords and the leaps

Var. 7 - the rhythmic figures reminds me of Schubert's Wanderer's Fantasy, I think it's the "chord, chord, chord, run, chord, chord, chord" pattern.

Var. 8 + 9 - fast and virtuosic!

Var. 10 - similar to the fugue in Prelude and Fugue Op. 35

Var. 11 - syncopated accompaniment

Var. 12 - virtuosic, Brahms-like

Var. 13 - chamber music quality; pizzacatos accompaniment on the right hand

Var. 14 - back to the peaceful, religious chorale from the theme.

Var. 15 - off-beat melodies again

Var. 16 and 17 - virtuosic, triplets off beats on the right hand, then on the left hand; coda is the same as Var. 5 but an octave lower, but even faster!