Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in A flat major (Mendelssohn)
Encyclopedia
The Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in A Flat Major is dated 12 November 1824 and was written by Felix Mendelssohn
when he was 15 years old, probably for himself and his sister Fanny Mendelssohn
to perform at one of the Mendelssohn Sunday morning family concerts. Written for two pianos and a string orchestra
, the work received its first public performance on 20 February 1827 at Stettin
, where the cathedral organist, composer
, baritone
singer and conductor
Carl Loewe organised concerts. Loewe and Mendelssohn were the two piano soloists on that occasion.
The concerto may have been inspired by the occasion when Mendelssohn met Ignaz Moscheles
in Berlin
in 1824, when Moscheles accepted an invitation to visit Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy
to give some music lessons to his children Felix
and Fanny
.
The concerto was not played for many years until the manuscript
was found in the archive of the Berlin State Library
in 1950.
There are three movements:
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
when he was 15 years old, probably for himself and his sister Fanny Mendelssohn
Fanny Mendelssohn
Fanny Cäcilie Mendelssohn , later Fanny Hensel, was a German pianist and composer, the sister of the composer Felix Mendelssohn and granddaughter of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn...
to perform at one of the Mendelssohn Sunday morning family concerts. Written for two pianos and a string orchestra
String orchestra
A string orchestra is an orchestra composed solely or primarily of instruments from the string family. These instruments are the violin, the viola, the cello, the double bass , the piano, the harp, and sometimes percussion...
, the work received its first public performance on 20 February 1827 at Stettin
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
, where the cathedral organist, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
singer and conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
Carl Loewe organised concerts. Loewe and Mendelssohn were the two piano soloists on that occasion.
The concerto may have been inspired by the occasion when Mendelssohn met Ignaz Moscheles
Ignaz Moscheles
Ignaz Moscheles was a Bohemian composer and piano virtuoso, whose career after his early years was based initially in London, and later at Leipzig, where he succeeded his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as head of the Conservatoire.-Sources:Much of what we know about Moscheles's life...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1824, when Moscheles accepted an invitation to visit Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Abraham Ernst Mendelssohn Bartholdy was a German Jewish banker and philanthropist...
to give some music lessons to his children Felix
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
and Fanny
Fanny Mendelssohn
Fanny Cäcilie Mendelssohn , later Fanny Hensel, was a German pianist and composer, the sister of the composer Felix Mendelssohn and granddaughter of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn...
.
The concerto was not played for many years until the manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
was found in the archive of the Berlin State Library
Berlin State Library
The Berlin State Library is a library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.-Buildings:The State Library runs several premises, three of which are open for users, namely House 1 in Unter den Linden 8, House 2 in Potsdamer Straße 33 and the newspaper archive...
in 1950.
There are three movements:
- Allegro vivaceVivaceVivace is Italian for "lively" and "vivid". It is pronounced in the International Phonetic Alphabet.Vivace is used as an Italian musical term indicating a movement that is in a lively mood ....
- Andante
- Allegro vivace