The String Quartet No. 5 in E-flat major,
Op. 44, No. 3, was composed by
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...
in 1837–1838 and completed on February 6, 1838.
The piece is part of the Op. 44 set of 3 string quartets that Mendelssohn dedicated to the
Crown Prince of Sweden.
Movements
Like all of Mendelssohn's
string quartets
The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists, a ...
, this work has four
movements
Movement may refer to:
Generic uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
* Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...
:
#
Allegro vivace
#
Scherzo
A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often r ...
: Assai leggiero vivace
# Adagio non troppo
# Molto allegro con fuoco
A typical performance lasts around 35 minutes.
Robin Wildstein Garvin has suggested that the
slow movement Slow movement may refer to:
*Slow movement (music)
A slow movement is a form in a multi-Movement (music), movement musical piece. Generally, the second movement of a piece will be written as a slow movement, although composers occasionally write ...
belongs to the 'religious adagio type', deriving from
organ
Organ and organs may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function
* Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body.
Musical instruments
...
pieces that aimed to inspire religious contemplation through a devotional atmosphere.
It follows a
ternary form
Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form consisting of an opening section (A), a following section (B) and then a repetition of the first section (A). It is usually schematized as A–B–A. Prominent examples inclu ...
with a new
theme
Theme or themes may refer to:
* Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos
* Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software.
* Theme (linguistics), topic
* Theme ( ...
presented in the B section.
References
External links
*
String quartets by Felix Mendelssohn
1838 compositions
Compositions in E-flat major
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