# Mendelssohn String Symphonies



## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Not something I'm familiar with, but open to unfamiliarity. Went to a talk at local music society about Mendelssohn, and the speaker kept mentioning the "String Symphonies". What does anyone else think about them and which are best recordings for box set?


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

Mendelssohn wrote them before he was 15, and they are just astonishingly good. If you were to hear one on BBC3 and leave before the announcer named the piece, you would think that it was both wonderfully well written, and by some unknown composer of the early 1800’s. I know... it has happened to me. More than once.

Our local orchestra puts on chamber symphony pieces, and for the first time I heard two of them live, paying full attention throughout. The string interplay is superb.

I would think that any well-recorded set would let this music shine. No need for HIP recordings, or for famous conductors. Just get 15 or so good string players who want to play some delightful music.


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

Incredibly mature works considering the young age of Mendelssohn when he wrote them. I have the Concerto Köln recordings on Teldec from the mid-90's, which are fine enough performances:


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

waldvogel said:


> Our local orchestra puts on chamber symphony pieces, and for the first time I heard two of them live, paying full attention throughout. The string interplay is superb.


A while ago, the Nashville symphony opened rehearsals to the public as they sight-read some of the string symphonies. I got to sit behind the first violin. They were fun to experience that close. There are some interesting string sonorities.

I have William Boughton with the English String Orchestra. The recording acoustic is pretty reverberant, but it doesn't seem to make the string interplay sound muddy.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I can only talk about the one set (the one I own). It's the Ross Pople and London FO set on Hyperion. It's a very nice set, well played and recorded and these are fairly brisk readings. I bought it on impulse many years ago after reading a very positive review and it certainly is a very impressive digital set. As for the symphonies themselves, well they're quite charming and some stick in the memory a little more than others but they all are very agreeable. I fish these recordings outta the CD rack about once a year and play one disc. Recommended.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

As I recall, there are a couple of box sets out with all the string symphonies and the regular symphonies. One is NAXOS. This recent release combining some older releases looks interesting:


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Fritz Kobus said:


> As I recall, there are a couple of box sets out with all the string symphonies and the regular symphonies. One is NAXOS. This recent release combining some older releases looks interesting:


I want to hear that one. It had very good reviews, if I remember rightly.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Merl said:


> I want to hear that one. It had very good reviews, if I remember rightly.


You are only a few clicks away from sound clips.


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Fritz Kobus said:


> As I recall, there are a couple of box sets out with all the string symphonies and the regular symphonies. One is NAXOS. This recent release combining some older releases looks interesting:


Just ordered this set. Thank you. Looking forward to listening to it.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Judith said:


> Just ordered this set. Thank you. Looking forward to listening to it.


Awesome! I know Masur has two different Mendelssohn symphony cycles and I am not sure which I have, but my string symphonies are a different set. For some reason I always seem to have just finished buying stuff in pieces and then a nice box set comes out too late for me to purchase. Glad you could get in on this one.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

The only other box set of both the symphonies and string symphonies I am aware of is the NAXOS set, which is cobbled together by two different conductors and most certainly cannot be of the same caliber as the Masur set.


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## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

Judith said:


> Just ordered this set. Thank you. Looking forward to listening to it.


I would also suggest the six String Symphonies WQ 182 of CPE Bach. Mendelssohn was clearly influenced by CPE.


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## GraemeG (Jun 30, 2009)

I bought a cheap Sony box from Amazon of the Roy Goodman/Hanover Band recordings.
Good classical stuff, not too acerbic/HIP, but not gloopy either.
Fun music.
Graeme


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## T Son of Ander (Aug 25, 2015)

I have a few sets of these string symphonies, and honestly, I prefer the Naxos recordings. I like the overall sound and the tempos. For a cheap introduction to them, Amazon (US) has a cheap mp3 set of them by the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, which also includes a fully orchestrated version of No. 8 and the 5 later symphonies.


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