The Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44, by Robert Schumann was composed in 1842 and received its first public performance the following year. Noted for its "extroverted, exuberant" character, Schumann's piano quintet is considered one of his finest compositions and a major work of nineteenth-century chamber music. Composed for piano and string quartet, the work revolutionized the instrumentation and musical character of the piano quintet and established it as a quintessentially Romantic genre.
Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64, is his last concerto. Well received at its premiere, it has remained among the most prominent and highly-regarded violin concertos. It holds a central place in the violin repertoire and has developed a reputation as an essential concerto for all aspiring concert violinists to master, and usually one of the first Romantic era concertos they learn. A typical performance lasts just under half an hour.
Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke was a German composer, conductor, and pianist in the mid-Romantic era.
Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25, was written in 1830–31, around the same time as his fourth symphony ("Italian"), and premiered in Munich on 17 October 1831. This concerto was composed in Rome during a travel in Italy after the composer met the pianist Delphine von Schauroth in Munich. The concerto was dedicated to her. Mendelssohn attended one party after another in Munich in October 1831, the month of the premiere, but he also played chamber music and taught double counterpoint. He performed the piece himself at the premiere, which also included performances of his Symphony No. 1 and the Overture from Midsummer Night's Dream. He had already written a piano concerto in A minor with string accompaniment (1822) and two concertos with two pianos (1823–24).
Ferdinand (von) Hiller was a German composer, conductor, pianist, writer and music director.
Woldemar Bargiel was a German composer and conductor of the Romantic period.
Songs Without Words is a series of short lyrical piano works by the Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn written between 1829 and 1845. His sister, Fanny Mendelssohn, and other composers also wrote pieces in the same genre.
The Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5 of Johannes Brahms was written in 1853 and published the following year. The sonata is unusually large, consisting of five movements, as opposed to the traditional three or four. When he wrote this piano sonata, the genre was seen by many to be past its heyday. Brahms, enamored of Beethoven and the classical style, composed Piano Sonata No. 3 with a masterful combination of free Romantic spirit and strict classical architecture. As a further testament to Brahms' affinity for Beethoven, the Piano Sonata is infused with the instantly recognizable motive from Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 during the first, third, and fourth movements. Composed in Düsseldorf, it marks the end of his cycle of three sonatas, and was presented to Robert Schumann in November of that year; it was the last work that Brahms submitted to Schumann for commentary. Brahms was barely 20 years old at its composition. The piece is dedicated to Countess Ida von Hohenthal of Leipzig.
The String Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20, was written by the 16-year-old Felix Mendelssohn during the fall of 1825 and completed on October 15. Written for four violins, two violas, and two cellos, this work created a new chamber music genre. Conrad Wilson summarizes much of its reception ever since: "Its youthful verve, brilliance and perfection make it one of the miracles of nineteenth-century music." This was one of the first works of Mendelssohn to be very well-received.
Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 11, is a work by Felix Mendelssohn, completed on 31 March 1824, when the composer was only 15 years old. The autograph score was published in 1831.
The String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13, was composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1827. Written when he was 18 years old, it was, despite its official number, Mendelssohn's first mature string quartet. One of Mendelssohn's most passionate works, the A minor Quartet is one of the earliest and most significant examples of cyclic form in music.
Felix Mendelssohn composed his Viola Sonata in C minor, MWV Q 14, when he was only 15 years old. The autograph score is dated 14 February 1824. The work was not published in Mendelssohn's lifetime - in fact not until 1966 - and it was not assigned an opus number. Although he did reuse one of the themes from the minuet movement in the equivalent movement of his First Symphony.
Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49, was completed on 23 September 1839 and published the following year. The work is scored for a standard piano trio consisting of violin, cello and piano. It is one of Mendelssohn's most popular chamber works and is recognized as one of his greatest along with his Octet, Op. 20. During the initial composition of the work, Mendelssohn took the advice of fellow composer Ferdinand Hiller to revise the piano part. Hiller wrote, "with his usual conscientious earnestness when once he had made up his mind, he undertook the length and rewrite the whole pianoforte part."
The Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66, was written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1845 and published in February 1846. The work is scored for a standard piano trio consisting of violin, cello and piano. Mendelssohn dedicated the work to his close friend and violinist, Louis Spohr, who played through the piece with the composer at least once.
Felix Mendelssohn's Sextet in D major, Op. 110, MWV Q 16, for piano, violin, two violas, cello, and double bass was composed in April–May 1824, when Mendelssohn was only 15, the same time he was working on a comic opera Die Hochzeit des Camacho. Its composition took place between the Viola Sonata and the Piano Quartet No. 3. It also preceded the famous Octet, Op. 20 by about a year. 1824 is also the probable year of the composition of the Clarinet Sonata. Like the latter, the Sextet was not published during the composer's lifetime. Its first edition was issued in 1868 as a part of a complete collection of Mendelssohn's works. Hence the misleading high opus number.
Felix Mendelssohn's Cello Sonata No. 2 in D major, Op. 58, was composed in late 1842 — first half of 1843. The main theme of the first movement is a reworking of an unrealised Piano Sonata in G major. The Cello Sonata, which was dedicated to the Russian/Polish cellist Count Mateusz Wielhorski, has four movements:
- Allegro assai vivace
- Allegretto scherzando
- Adagio
- Molto allegro e vivace
Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Quartet No. 2 in F minor, Op. 2, for piano, violin, viola and cello was published in 1823, a year after his first Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 1. This work was dedicated to Carl Friedrich Zelter, who became Mendelssohn's composition and music tutor starting at the age of eight years old. Zelter would take Mendelssohn on trips to go see Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who was also an important figure in Mendelssohn's life when it came to the composition of his earliest pieces between the years 1821-1825. Mendelssohn's three piano quartets were the first piano quartets he composed and published. He composed the second quartet at the age of only 14 years.
Felix Mendelssohn's six Organ Sonatas, Opus 65, were published in 1845. Mendelssohn's biographer Eric Werner has written of them: "Next to Bach's works, Mendelssohn's Organ Sonatas belong to the required repertory of all organists."
