#string octet

Johan Svendsen (1840-1911) - Octet For Strings, Op.3: 3: Andante Sostenuto ·

Hawaii part II Octet trailer/ proof of concept

The final product will be a performance of the first six tracks on the album

Arranged by Hannah

Violin: Hannah, Morgan, Rebecca, Gwen

Viola: Ehren, Dylan

Mendelssohn - Octet in Eb Major

A common joke in the classical community is a kind of self deprecating humor where we look at a prodigy composer and feel embarrassed that we weren’t as successful as they were at that age. That feeling happens to me when I listen to a lot of early Beethoven and Mozart, and being 23 years old that feeling only gets worse as I get older. Another example of this trend is this Octet, which Mendelssohn wrote as a gift to his violin teacher when he was 16 years old. And while the age explains the brightness and young almost naive confidence, it doesn’t explain the musical maturity and keen ability for rhythmic drive and for keeping music in the same consistent spirit. At the time, string quartets were a young-ish genre but had quickly been established as a major form for chamber music, and for any “serious” composer to try their hand at. The octet here is essentially a double string quartet [four violins, two violas, two cellos] and because of the added voices, he was able to not only work with extra counterpoint and a heavier texture, but he could also give the work a larger sound than you can get with only four players. The counterpoint, color, and energy, have made listeners consider to this be more like a chamber symphony. And just as you’d expect in the “Romantic” mindset, Mendelssohn says just that in an autograph of the score, "The Octet must be played in the style of a symphony in all parts; the pianos and fortes must be precisely differentiated and be more sharply accentuated than is ordinarily done in pieces of this type”. The opening is like a sunrise, with brilliant light shining overhead. Despite the light and very “fun” mood, everything unfolds in such an organic manner it’s as if naturally growing, as if each line had already existed and are easily being sewn together. It teeters on the bizarre paradox of sounding both simple and effortless while also being very complex. The next movement is a bit more solemn, a dream moving forward casually. The third movement is a playful though dense and anxious scherzo, reminiscent of the Midsummer Night’s Dream. The finale is an amazing rondo full of counterpoint, a la Haydn, and this call back to Baroque writing does the magic of combining “sublime” musical puzzles with fun and rowdy peasant dances. Rustic and academic. The brilliance of the octet again shines brighter when you remember that Mendelssohn was only a teenager when he wrote this [though he did revise it a bit before its public premiere a decade later, but that doesn’t take away from the power of the music].

Movements:

1. Allegro moderato ma con fuoco

2. Andante

3. Scherzo: Allegro leggierissimo

Johan Svendsen (1840-1911) - Octet For Strings, Op.3: 3: Andante Sostenuto ·