Introduction
The tour of Europe that Mendelssohn took between 1829 and 1832 was a very fruitful one: landscapes of Nordic countries and islands inspired the Scottish Symphony and The Hebrides. Just the same, the vitality of Italy sparked Mendelssohn’s imagination for the Italian symphony.
Portrait of Mendelssohn by the German painter Eduard Magnus, 1846
This symphony is often referred to as a musical postcard from Italy. However, it’s not until the last movement that we hear an authentic Italian musical folk tune.
The other 3 movements are the fruit of Mendelssohn’s musical imagination. They are the depiction of how Italy made him feel, in all its various aspects: from the market to a religious procession, from a courtly dance to a peasant dance.
Allegro
Should you need a score you can find one here.
Exposition
The first movement is full of energy and optimism. It’s a scene from an Italian piazza, full of spirit, with people talking everywhere, and, of course, being loud: the motor is provided by the chatter of the horns and woodwinds – minus the oboes – with sharp staccato repeated eight notes. The initial fortepiano is accentuated by a single pizzicato of the strings
The first theme enters 2 bars later. These could very well be sellers in a market. Notice how the only strings playing are the violins in octaves, preserving a certain lightness and freshness. We’ll have to wait till bar 10 to hear the lower strings where the head of the theme turns out to be a very important motivic element
Technical tip
This is quite a difficult piece for everyone involved: the staccato of the woodwinds to begin with. Everything is at a pace where you cannot afford distracting movements. The bottom line: keep it small and in the wrist
For a full technical analysis, look up the video in the repertoire section
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Development
The development begins with the chattering, naturally leading us towards the minor key
And then the surprise: a totally new theme appears in the second violins emerging out of the noise of the first violins
This 4-bars new theme, punctuated in the second half by small drops of the winds (and, in one instance, the timpani) is treated in a fugato: second violins starting on A, then first a fifth higher, the violas on A again. But here there’s the first change: the violas only play half of the theme, the other half is played by the second violins while the harmony changes
The entrance of the cellos and basses is marked by the head of this theme only, at first, marking the beginning of a section that in a standard fugue is called “divertimenti” – which literally means having fun. It’s the section where bits and pieces of the theme and countertheme are reworked, split, passed between sections generating a lot of excitement
And generating anticipation: the forte comes on 265 as a statement from the strings answered by the woodwinds who play the head of the first theme. Things get more and more exciting: the first theme moves to the brass and back to the woodwinds, then brass again and first violins and woodwinds. Meanwhile, the chattering we heard in the very beginning has turned into the most sophisticated counterpoint
The energy increases till we get to a fortissimo, unleashing all the power of that new development theme
The first theme pops up in the bass line on bar 313 and 4 bars later the 2 themes are joined together: the first half of the development theme attached to the first half of the first theme
The rhythmical element is the perfect excuse to gradually dissipate the energy building a bridge to the recapitulation
Recapitulation and coda
However: the first theme had those 2 bars of introduction that started the whole motor, which are absent in the recapitulation. At the end of the development, the bridge gets down to a pianissimo and it needs to regain momentum to get to forte.
Mendelssohn achieves this through a crescendo and by thickening the orchestration: the trumpets and oboes are present at the reprise of the theme.
As a consequence, to face the extra weight in sound, the theme is also doubled by the violas. All of this only for the first 4 bars of the recapitulation. After that, the orchestration thins out, back to the original concept, with the exception of the oboes replacing the clarinets
The recapitulation is shortened and the second theme arrives sooner. But the really interesting part begins on bar 456. If we followed the exposition, this would be the point corresponding with bar 159, where we entered a brief minor key moment to proceed to the conclusion. Mendelssohn does something completely different: he re-introduces the development theme, in A minor
And he plays with it as if he was in the development section, with counterpoint and everything till we are back in A major and the 2 themes completely overlap: the development theme in the flutes and oboes and the first theme in the first and second violins
In this coda, both themes come into play, as does the chattering, while everything becomes more and more exciting in the Più animato poco a poco
Andante con moto
Apparently what inspired this movement was a religious procession. We’re plunged into the darkness of the D minor key with an opening introduction of 2 bars, played in unison by the entire orchestra minus the horns and cellos/basses. Notice also the absence of the timpani throughout the whole movement.
The introduction is extended of one bar by the cellos and basses playing a counterpoint. If you’re looking for a reference to the walking bass in jazz music, here’s certainly one.
And the theme is finally introduced by the violas, the bassoons, and one oboe. A very dark color. It could be darker though if the violas were an octave lower for example, or with the clarinets in place of the oboe: Mendelssohn’s choice accentuates the sadness of this moment while avoiding too much weight and keeping a certain lightness.
Notice how the bass line keeps insisting, relentless, unstoppable. The theme is repeated by the violins in octaves, with beautiful counterlines in the flutes
The second part of this phrase is introduced by violas, bassoons, and oboe and retaken by the violins with the flute counterpoint.
In this first block we have a clear structure: the first part of the musical period is presented and then repeated with a different orchestration; the second part, starting on bar 20, follows the same procedure. The bass line keeps moving underneath.
The first musical paragraph ends, and a musical idea derived from the opening bars is introduced. The orchestration is reduced to the strings only and the bass line counterpoint is passed to the second violins and violas
All of a sudden the sun peeps out in a gorgeous A major opening but it doesn’t last long, and the ominous introductory bars are back a fifth higher. Is it a repeat of the first section? Well, only partially: it’s shortened, and has quite a few variations. It’s more of a development part
Leading back to the major key part, this time in D, after which, we get to the coda, starting with the second musical idea and continuing with the introductory bars and finishes by dismantling the first theme
The inevitability of the bass line is the only remaining element, left alone to close the movement in a pianissimo pizzicato while the procession fades away in the distance
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