# are these works of Mendelssohn any good?



## 4/4player (Nov 17, 2006)

Hello Everyone!

I bought a CD with some works of Mendelssohn...and I wondered if I got my moneys worth? This will be my first time listening to Mendelssohn 
These are the pieces on the CD:
~Violin Concerto in E Minor, OP.64(I might like this since Im a violinist...)
~A Midsummer's Night's Dream,OP.61, Incidental Music(Excerpts)
~OVERTURE-Ruy Blas,OP.95
~OVERTURE-The Hebrides,OP.26 "Fingal's Cave"

Thanks! 

4/4player


----------



## 3rdplanetsounds (Nov 23, 2006)

*oh,yes you will adore felix!*

:angry: Dear 4/4 player, As soon as you hear his violin concerto,you will feel like you already know the piece.All 3 movements are lyrical and sublime and will render the listener a joyfull experience.His midsommer work,composed i believe at the age of 17 is a great funky classical piece.He wrote additional pieces of music to this some years later which accompany this work successfully.His cave suite is more descriptive in nature, describing the landscape and sea around the coast of 'wee' scotland.The other work I havn't heard. All in all ,I love felixes music, a throu link from ludwig to brahms and wagner. Happy listening!


----------



## Lynx (Nov 2, 2006)

For a first outing with Mendelssohn, I recon you've got yourself a good cd. Whether you got your money's worth actually depends upon how much you paid for it. 

Lynne xx


----------



## 4/4player (Nov 17, 2006)

Thanks for your feedback, 3planetsounds and Lynx!,

I paid only $7 American Dollars for the CD...
The violin Concerto is absolutely fabulous! It does feel like a piece I've heard before but never knew(kinda like De'Ja Vu!,lol).....I also like the Overture to the Midsummer's Night's Dream, It sounds so playful, and colorful!...You guys have any other work suggestions I should listen to of Mendelssohn, So that I can pick up a CD of those songs the next time I go to the Bookstore?=)

thank you very much!,
4/4player


----------



## riverbank (Nov 19, 2006)

yeah violin concerto is great and i like A Midsummer Night's Dream (tho don't currently have that in my collection atm).


----------



## 3rdplanetsounds (Nov 23, 2006)

You asked for more suggestions on felix,try his 3rd and 4th symphonies;called the 'Scotish' and the 'Italian' respectivley.You defientley will of heard the first movement of the Italian before.my favourate is the scottish one.The final part of the last movement was such an eye opener when I first heard it!


----------



## Topaz (Oct 25, 2006)

Felix Mendelssohn was one of Queen Victoria's favourite composers. In case anyone (younger members from USA?) aren't too sure who she was, she was the reigning Monarch of Great Britain from 1837-1901 (longest reigning monarch in our history). It's rather like having Bush as President for the next 58 years!

This was a period in history when Britain really was Great, having the biggest empire the world has ever seen. The USA was a virtual dot on the map, and in Hawaii they were still throwing spears (only joking, there 4/4; get on with that clarinet practice, btw).

Anyway, in addition to all the other excellent recommendations above, I must say I like Mendelssohn's Symphony 5 "Reformation". I heard a movement of this from a John Eliot Gardiner recording and it sounded great, so that's on my shopping list. None of his recordings is cheap, but they're usually very good.


Topaz


----------



## Mr Salek (Apr 11, 2006)

Nice job! Some of his best works included there. Try his octet aswell.


----------



## Kurkikohtaus (Oct 22, 2006)

In terms of the violin concertos place among violin concertos, one could justify naming it the greates violin concerto of them all. I will not be that bold, but I rank these 4 the greatest violin concertos of all time, in no order other than alphabetic:

Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky.


----------



## Mr Salek (Apr 11, 2006)

Bruch? Sibelius? Paganini?
It's difficult, I know


----------



## oisfetz (Dec 11, 2006)

Topaz: because of Victoria's time as a queen, the fat and *****'s adict of Edward
last so few years. He was a mature man at coronation. And I think that the time of
that traitor of Edward VIII was the shortest?


----------



## johnnyx (Jan 3, 2007)

I just got the string symphonies and enjoy them very much.


----------



## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

The only work of Mendelssohn's that I don't adore is the Piano Sextet in D.

Not bad music by any means, but hardly distinguished.


----------



## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

I realise answering a 2006 OP is fairly futile, but ... YES!

They are all masterpieces and among the greatest works in their genre.


----------



## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

I didn't even read the body of text; All I saw was the title and reply:

Yes.


----------

