+Yuanxin Liu Please don't feel sad, musical geniuses like this in history can be counted on perhaps 2 hands. Also, in the end it's not so much the early age at which a piece is written that determines its worth (though it is impressive of course), but the inherent musical quality that solidifies a composition as a masterwork through the ages.
+mcrettable Agreed. Composition is just plain terrible to get through. There are highs and lows. I find myself composing my first fugue after years of study, but having the formal composition training of Telemann: none whatsoever!
It's insane too cuz I know it's marked presto but this is still the fastest I think I've ever heard the finale... and yet it's also the cleanest?!? Heifetz was on a whole different plane from anyone else
I always found it astonishing how the exposition has the feel of a small sonata form in itself. "Main theme": 0:05 "Transition": 0:21 "Second theme": 0:41 "Development:" 1:08 "Recapitulation": 1:41 "Coda:" 2:41 It feels like we've heard an entire piece - and in fact we're only beginning! This fractal-like structure always impressed me.
Years of listening to this - probably going on a decade - and I didn't even realise Primrose was one of the violists! I'm still a bit behind on my knowledge of the big string players from the day, but even so, it's obvious they were all amazing instrumentalists, given the half hour of irrefutable evidence we have here.
It was during an era when the true life of the mind was truly free and couldn't be roped and chained for mere lucretive, societal or political ambitions
He was the grandson of Moses Mendelssohn, a very famous and influential eighteenth century philosopher. His family was very wealthy and influential, and had been patrons of JS Bach's sons. His first piano teacher at the age of six, Marie Bigot, was praised by both Beethoven and Haydn as being able to play their works better than they could. His first composition teacher, Zelter, was steeped in the same tradition that produced JS Bach, and he passed this influence onto Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn was also introduced to, and became friends with Goethe at the age of 11.
@@cminor3016 ah yes, 19th century Europe the land of the free. The same land that prohibited Felix's own sister from pursuing a career in composition because she was a woman...
24:57 is sooo clean. King Heifetz Edit: This is about the 100th time ive come back to this recording but I know I just love the harmonies Mendelssohn uses at the 20:54
Since the day i have heard it for the very first time, this piece has never ceased to amaze me. It is still one of my top favorite chamber music pieces, all formations included. And for having listened to numerous interpretations, this one is unbeatable imho.
@@lordemsworth1194 Not entirely sure, coming back a couple years later. Schoenberg's First Quartet and Beethoven's Grosse Fuge are definitely up there (they're probably top three, at the moment - maybe with the rest of the 13th quartet added to the 1st quartet). As for the rest? Beethoven 7, maybe? Midsummer Night's Dream Overture, perhaps. Mahler 6? I dunno, to be honest. It's a bit variable. Unsure whether this one would fit entirely in the top five anymore, though it certainly could.
21:43 The legato/staccato part of the third movement caught my ear the very first time I heard the Octet. While I now enjoy the full Octet with its many musical gems within, I still find this part of it my favorite.
Its that warnth in the sound of the instruments that is so missing today with diigital sound painting.... Air always did a wonderful job for centuries.
I think of Mendelssohn in two ways, first as the late spring and summer composer as much of his music (like the octet) reminds me of the lush green late springs and summers we have here in New England. The second way is as a king of the joyous romantic opening. While other composers know how to open a piece (Ludwig) if you look at his A Midsummer Night's Dream, Trio, Violin Concerto and the octet openings. Each throws the listener into it and gets them hooked in the best way possible.
And once again, "it's all about Heifetz". I don't think most people liked playing chamber music with him because he always hogged the spotlight. Not that that's a bad thing but it was inevitable. Artur Rubinstein and Heifetz parted ways 30+ years before either of them died in the 80s. The trio they had with Piatigorsky was very short-lived. Piatigorsky got along with them both individually but they couldn't hack it as a group, although during the time they were together they did a few dynamite recordings and Time-Life (I think?) filmed a documentary about them, which was really corny but the music naturally was amazing.
1st movement was my favorite music when I was an active musician (cello) in my teens, and I am not so sure it still isn't my favorite. Listen at 12:20 when the 2nd 1st violin comes in to double the 1st 1st an octave below. Sublime. Still rocks me 50 years later.
My chamber music camp sight read this, I was a 1st violin(there were multiple people per part) and it was fun! Even though I didnt hear it before, i managed to pull through with the help of other 1st violin 😊😊😊😊
The Andante has some of the most beautiful and delicate interplay between different instruments I've seen in a chamber work. The way the rising and falling 8th notes superimpose the melody.... what a work lads!
JESUS! this is simply amazing! i want to play this, is so sad the fact that i cant. terrific melody, i love this so much, thx a lot for sharing ! this is an excellent work!
Mendelsohn ist sehr angenehm zu hören ,was aber nicht leicht zu spielen ,viele unterschätzen seine Musik ,es ist eine gewisse Hoffnung der Romantik oder Frieden mit sich selbst nach dem höchsten zu streben des Perfektionismus
Mendelssohn's unpolished works of his youth are in many respects better than the polished works of his mature period. They just have this spontaneity and unexpectedness that makes them stand out. I think Mendelssohn was an obsessive perfectionist and this actually harmed the quality of his work in the end.
Oca 2074 interesting. I always considered his early period (prior to Symphony 1) as a tribute to his Classical era predecessors. In many ways you can hear influences of the first Viennese school of composers (and of course Bach, whom Mendelssohn idolised).
The hideous ads playing noise that is supposed to be music at the ends of each movement destroy the effect of Mendelssohn's sublime art. The effect is as if a vandal were to throw a pot of paint on a Botticelli. Whoever chooses the commercials, PLEASE! A LITTLE CONSIDERATION! NO SOUND ADS!
Since the recording isn't theirs, the uploader has no power to remove these ads. However, I recommend that you install AdBlock Plus so that those annoying ads go away.
I love listening to classical pieces because it's fun to interpret the way everything sounds as different emotions. Like how 3:10 sounds kind of playful to me-
Awesome, great performance. But isn't the tempo in the last movement a little fast musically? It's hard to differentiate and really perceive the notes in the 8th runs. Just a spontaneous thought, this is amazing in any case.
+Sorcerer88 I just checked with an online metronome, I was thinking about that too... Presto (the marking) is between 168-200, the tempo in this recording is about 170, so within this range... Of course there is the whole discussion with regard to changes in actual interpretations of tempi then, and in our times... But I think the main reason that some of the notes in the quick runs are not always discernible is because of the audio recording quality, which could have been better since it's only from 1961...
+olla-vogala Yeah, that makes sense. 170 is on the low end for Presto even. It must have been more clear heard live. It's quite unlikely these world-class musicians would have sticked to the tempo if it blurred the notes acoustically.
I enjoyed the first three movements immensely. I disliked the last movement because it was played too rapidly, resulting in a loss of drama, melody, etc.. It came across as though performed just to "show off" the virtuosi's mind-boggling finger/bow speed, not to please the ear, the mind, and the heart. I understand what several people have stated concerning "Presto" (and its recommended b.p.m.), but I have to believe that Mendelssohn had something else in mind (far lower than 170). I am now going to listen to at least one other interpretation of the work (on RU-vid), hoping that I will prefer it.
Recent research by Nicolas Kitchen of the Borromeo Quartet reveals that a more mature Mendelssohn somewhat substantially edited the score before its final publication in 1832.
The ending of the 1st movement features an incredible climax that comes close to some Beethoven chamber music works like climax of the 1st movement of the op. 74 string quartet
+Mari Christian Yes I agree, it's such a great work, and the cast... it just doesn't get any better! Thank you for all your comments by the way Mari :)
He always had another trick up his sleeve. Notice around 8:50 it sounds like he's out of steam, but at 9:20 the vamp begins leading into the series of frenzied scales, those leading into a restatement of the first theme, and also his masterful restraint in use of false cadences. Beethoven could have benefitted from lessons from this child prodigy!
I think you point out some nice moments but please don't try to demean Beethoven like that. It only makes you look uninformed and I'm sure Felix would have agreed.
The reason is, that most people don't realise that these masterpieces were written in his teens. His first symphony was written at the age of 15: a seldom heard master-work.that can be compared with the 'Italian'. He also wrote wonderful concertos at the age of 14 -17.
The only performance I've ever heard that actually tries to follow (more or less) Mendelssohn's "sempre pp" instruction in the scherzo. So much better for the character! But Heifetz plays only one F-sharp instead of two in the second-to-last measure of that movement -- maybe to end up-bow?
And yet they don't manage a proper diminuendo at the end of the scherzo. You would have thought that would be straightforward for such wonderful musicians and technicians. Much as I love Heifetz, his instinct was always to be at the forefront, even when the music says the opposite.
I'm not convinced by this audio it sounds as if tempo has been increased by a very small amount - the vibrato sounds too like much like a flutter which is the sort of thing you get when the speed isn't quite right. But I may be wrong
So when I first learned this octet I feel like I'd only ever heard first violin taking the last E-flat right before the chords at the end of the first movement UP the octave--and while I know that's not what's in the score it feels like it makes sense to me just based on the line, as it's written feels almost anticlimactic. But.. now with it being easier to find so many different recordings I haven't found a single one that does that. Have I mandela'd myself on this one?
