{"id":525,"date":"2019-01-26T15:44:57","date_gmt":"2019-01-26T20:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/?page_id=525"},"modified":"2023-07-04T10:12:50","modified_gmt":"2023-07-04T14:12:50","slug":"mendelssohn-louie-sonata-article","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/index.php\/compositions\/mendelssohn-louie-sonata-article\/","title":{"rendered":"Mendelssohn (arr. Louie)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-text-color\" style=\"color:#691a1a\">Violin Sonata in D minor (1826)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-text-color\" style=\"color:#691a1a\">&#8220;How to finish a Mendelssohn sonata&#8221;<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Completed Version by David Louie (2015)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-white-color has-text-color has-background\" style=\"background-color:#56686e\">Sheet music score available exclusively at the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/index.php\/shop\/\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.36)\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Shop<\/mark><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>The ARC Ensemble recorded a new version of a previously incomplete Mendelssohn sonata, reconstructed from fragments by Canadian pianist David Louie. Here, Louie takes us through the process of reconstructing a work by one of our greatest composers.<\/p>\n<cite>Classical-music.com<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-soundcloud wp-block-embed-soundcloud\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mendelssohn Violin Sonata (completed From Fragment By D. Louie) MWV Q 18 by Benjamin Bowman\" width=\"990\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?visual=true&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F255572124&#038;show_artwork=true&#038;maxwidth=990&#038;maxheight=1000&#038;dnt=1\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped aligncenter wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"745\" height=\"999\" data-id=\"2632\" src=\"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Mendelssohn-Sonata-Autograph-page-one.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2632\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Mendelssohn-Sonata-Autograph-page-one.png 745w, https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Mendelssohn-Sonata-Autograph-page-one-224x300.png 224w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 745px) 100vw, 745px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"791\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"2633\" src=\"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Mendelssohn-Page-One-sample-791x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2633\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Mendelssohn-Page-One-sample-791x1024.png 791w, https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Mendelssohn-Page-One-sample-232x300.png 232w, https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Mendelssohn-Page-One-sample-768x994.png 768w, https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Mendelssohn-Page-One-sample-1187x1536.png 1187w, https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Mendelssohn-Page-One-sample.png 1275w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 791px) 100vw, 791px\" \/><\/figure>\n<figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-caption wp-element-caption\">Comparison between Mendelssohn&#8217;s autograph manuscript and my completed version (opening)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Preface to the Edition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In early 2010, the ARC Ensemble&#8217;s artistic director, Simon Wynberg, invited me to look at an unfinished work by Felix Mendelssohn. The piece was to feature in the ensemble\u2019s Music in Exile series, included in a program that examined National Socialism&#8217;s aversion to the composer, and the dispersal of his works during the regime&#8217;s control. Scored for piano and violin, this undated, single-movement \u201cSonata\u201d is part of the Mendelssohn-Archiv in the Stattsbilbiothek zu Berlin (MWV Q 18). It is thought that the piece was composed in 1825-26, when Mendelssohn was fifteen or sixteen years old, and it consists of 366 measures of unbroken content. So its performance is possible, although it lacks a conclusion, sputtering out with the iconic rhythmic motif that begins Beethoven\u2019s Fifth Symphony, here stated <em>pianissimo<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mendelssohn\u2019s fragment has promising musical potential and contains several striking melodic and harmonic ideas. It is possible to append an ending, as violinist Benjamin Bowman and I did in our first performance, but it still lacks a cohesive sonata-form structure (its title notwithstanding) and the writing, particularly for the violin, is occasionally sketchy or incomplete; deficiencies uncharacteristic of Mendelssohn\u2019s finished works, with their sophisticated craftsmanship and mastery of classical architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A year after my introduction to the piece I decided to undertake a complete reconstruction. I cut the fragment into smaller parts, and, using the technique of collage, organized them so they constituted a classical sonata movement. I wanted to avoid the introduction of a foreign compositional style so I preserved, in some form or another, all of the material contained in the fragment, including large sections in their entirety. The opening <em>Adagio<\/em> introduction was retained virtually in its original form. Mendelssohn\u2019s extended passages modulating into distant tonalities (E minor, C minor, and F-sharp major) were also preserved, with a few small alterations, and were incorporated into the development section of my reconstruction. Any resulting lacunae (the second theme in the exposition and the final coda were notably lacking) were filled using newly-composed material that expanded on Mendelssohn&#8217;s thematic ideas. The original common-time signature of Mendelssohn\u2019s <em>Allegro molto<\/em> has been amended to cut-time and some measures have been expanded, with occasional redistribution or transposition of material. Figurations that could amplify the texture were culled from other works by the composer, including the Double Concerto for Piano and Violin. In the recapitulation of my reconstruction, listeners may recognize the melodic peroration of the second theme as a borrowing from Mendelssohn\u2019s E minor Violin Concerto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 2011, Benjamin Bowman and I have performed my completed version of the Mendelssohn Violin Sonata in D minor (a fragment no longer) a number of times in ARC Ensemble concerts, notably at the Concertgebouw and Wigmore Hall. These live concert performances have helped to further refine the work and its reception has been both illuminating and rewarding. A recording, produced by David Frost and released in 2016, represents the culmination of this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mendelssohn must have had ample reason to set aside this sonata and leave it unfinished. Perhaps his attention was diverted by one of a myriad of other musical projects that date from the same time \u2013\u2013 songs, the third piano quartet, the string octet? Or perhaps he was slightly embarrassed by how much his idolization of Beethoven had influenced this particular effort, especially since Beethoven was the most famous composer of the day. Today Beethoven\u2019s influence on Mendelssohn\u2019s prodigious and precocious talent can be unashamedly acknowledged, an influence that I have played up in my reconstruction of this sonata.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I wish to thank Simon Wynberg, Benjamin Bowman, Florence Minz, and Dr. Peter Simon for their generous advice and encouragement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>DAVID LOUIE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-499968f5 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/index.php\/shop\/\">shop<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignfull\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"515\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Classical-music-article2-515x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1626\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Classical-music-article2-515x1024.png 515w, https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Classical-music-article2-151x300.png 151w, https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Classical-music-article2-768x1527.png 768w, https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Classical-music-article2.png 1015w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 515px) 100vw, 515px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Violin Sonata in D minor (1826) &#8220;How to finish a Mendelssohn sonata&#8221; Completed Version by &hellip; <span class=\"more-button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/index.php\/compositions\/mendelssohn-louie-sonata-article\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Mendelssohn (arr. Louie)<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2599,"parent":2600,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-525","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525"}],"version-history":[{"count":77,"href":"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3944,"href":"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/525\/revisions\/3944"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2600"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidlouiepiano.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}