"Lieder ohne Worte" - Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words

Today on Accu Radio, I listened to a short lyrical piano piece. This piece of music is one of Felix Mendelssohn’s (1809-1847) lieder, which is a German miniature song that was used often in the Romantic Era of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. The lieder are often short, only performed by the piano, and should express the emotions of the performer. These songs were meant to be performed in a small, intimate setting, such as in someone’s home.

Mendelssohn composed what is called “Songs Without Words,” or, “Lieder ohne Worte.” These are lieder without words. The expression is found in the music itself. The particular lied that I listened to was from Op. 85, No. 1 in F Major (1834-1845).

This short piece features the pianist, Daniel Barenbolm, who plays this melodious song beautifully. For the most part, the left hand plays arpeggio chords, mostly made up of seven notes ascending and descending, as the right hands plays a long sequence of notes that seem to make up a kind of melody. The ever-changing dynamics of this lied gives great expression and feeling to the listener. As the lied moves, somewhat swiftly, between major and minor modes, the left hand sustains the meter as the smooth transition is made between modes. A climax in the music is reached as the tempo picks up and the mode changes to a triumphant major mode. The lied ends with a sequence of pitches played higher and higher in the right hand until the trickling fades away in a pianissimo chord.

This lied exhibits emotions through the style and dynamics of the music, rather than words. Mendelssohn was an accomplished Romantic composer who left modernity with beautiful and expressive music.

Fryderyk Chopin's Nocturne in E minor

Today on Pandora Radio, I listened to a few classical piano composers, one of whom was Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849), a famous piano virtuoso, whose music has endured for over a century. I listened to a performance by Edward Auer of Chopin’s “Nocturne in E minor,” which is one of twenty-one that he composed.

The title of this music, meaning “nighttime” is appropriate for the feeling portrayed through the music. As a Romantic composer, Chopin exhibits expressive emotion through his piano miniatures. The sound of the piano is serene and yet passionate.

This Nocturne begins in E minor, and for most of the piece, the left hand plays broken, or, arpeggio chords. These chords sustain the meter of the music as the right hand plays constant changing rhythms. Despite the fact that the rhythm is not steady, the notes played are very legato and flow one into the next, giving the music a moving and peaceful feel.
This piano piece is very expressive insofar as the ever-changing dynamics from a very soft pianissimo to a sudden loud fortissimo gives depth to the music. The arpeggio chords are used for the basis of the modulations which bring the music into a major mode and then back again to the minor mode during an unstable passage in the music. The arpeggio chords create a ladder-like movement as the key changes swiftly. At one point, the modulations become very chromatic and highly unstable, but are then resolved once the main theme comes back.

As the Nocturne progresses, the right hand is heard playing a plethora of ornamentations in a high range on the piano. The piano gets quieter and quieter until only a few muffled notes can be heard, and this piece of music ends with one pianissimo chord in the major mode.
This expressive Nocturne of Chopin’s is a pleasant piano miniature piece to listen to, as the emotions of the composer are portrayed through the music. It can be said that Nocturnes express thoroughly the ideals behind the Romantic movement

May the Angels Lead You Into Paradise

In light of All Soul’s Day, on November 2nd, I chose to listen to a favorite piece of music: “In Paradism” from Gabriel Faure’s (1845-1924) Requiem in D minor. This was performed by Choir Konzertverein Bern, the Berne Chamber Orchestra, and conducted by Agata Mazukiewicz. The “In Paradisum” [In Paradise] is one movement, and always the last movement, of a Requiem Mass, which is the Catholic Mass for the Dead. This movement focuses on the angels welcoming the dead into Paradise. The text is as follows:

In Paradisum deducant angeli

In tuo adventu, suscipiat te martyres Et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat Et cum Lazaro, quondam paupere Aeternam habeas requiem.

As the sopranos sing, “May angels lead you into paradise,” the organ plays three notes up and down several times. The sopranos sing a legato melody, which exhibits the peace of angels leading the dead into paradise. There is no ground bass, so this movement begins light and beautiful. The sopranos then sing “Upon your arrival, may the martyrs receive you,” and the highest note is heard on the word “martyrs,” to denote their presence in Heaven. “And lead you into Jerusalem” - The sopranos sing a sequence based on three notes which sounds expectant of something. The expectance ends with the word “Jerusalem,” as the other three voices join in singing beautiful harmonies that resolve with the third repetition of “Jerusalem.”

Once again, the sopranos are heard alone at “May the ranks of angels receive you, and with Lazarus, the poor man...” This last phrase is repeated to bring in the force of the next, and most important, statement: “May you have eternal rest.” All voice parts join in at “requiem,” or, “rest.” The sopranos repeat this phrase, embodying once again the angels in heaven. On the last pianissimo “requiem,” the entire choir ends homophonically on a long held D major chord.

It is interesting to note that Faure’s Requiem is in D minor, which is appropriate for a solemn Mass for the dead; however, the “In Paradisum” is in D major. This shift from a minor to a major mode directly correlates with the change in subject matter of the Requiem. Whereas the previous movements focus on death and judgement, this last movement portrays eternity and the sublime and beautiful passage into Heaven.

Faure’s Requiem will always be one of the most beautiful pieces of music and is surely a joy to listen to on All Soul’s Day.