Symphony No. 4, “Italian”
Notes by Michael-Thomas Foumai
FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 "Italian" (1833-34
I. Allegro vivace
II. Andante con moto
III. Con moto moderato
IV. Presto and Finale: Saltarello
1830s: FRAMING "ERAS"
Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony No. 4, completed in 1833, is traced to 1830 when the composer toured Venice and Rome. During Holy Week of the following year, the composer observed the coronation of Pope Pius VIII, a vicar known for his conditional acceptance of mixed marriages between Catholics and Protestants.
In the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, the 1830s ended an era with the death of Kaʻahumanu (1768-1832), Queen Regent during the reigns of Kamehameha II (1797-1824) and Kamehameha III (1814-1854). Kaʻahumanu was the most powerful and favored of Kamehameha the Great's many wives. In 1826, with Kamehameha III, she negotiated the first treaty with the United States, a free trade agreement under the administration of John Quincy Adams. Her early women's rights efforts sought to abolish the kapu system (which forbade men and women from eating together). Her embracing of Protestant Christianity led to a ban on Catholic teachings and then hula in 1830; 56 years later, in 1886, King Kalākaua lifted the prohibition on hula.
THE ITALIAN JOB
During his tour of Scotland in 1829, the 20-year-old Mendelssohn had designs on a surprise plan. The composer's parents had longed to visit Italy but refrained from the physical hardships of travel. Mendelssohn's older sister, composer, and pianist, Fanny, had just married the Prussian painter William Hensel, who had studied in Italy for five years and was eager to show his new bride and in-laws what the Holy City offered. In letters to his youngest sister Rebecka, Mendelssohn conspired to organize a surprise Italian trip, asking her to keep his plans secret:
August 10, 1829
"Now listen to my great plan, but tell nobody! I will persuade our parents to go to Italy next spring and pay me visit at Rome with you about Easter. I will it! Be silent about it all, as if I had never written to you. Change the conversation when it turns on Italy, do not allow Fanny and Hensel to petition mother and father about it. I will take them by surprise. Think of Italy!"
Mendelssohn's mother objected to traveling, and Fanny and Hensel welcomed their firstborn, so the conspiracy failed. Nevertheless, the composer began his tour of Italy in October, writing to Hensel, "Italy at last! And what I have all my life considered as the greatest possible fortune is now begun, and I am basking in it." Then, in February, Mendelssohn wrote to Fanny from Rome with progress on the new symphony:
February 22, 1831
"I have once more begun to compose with fresh vigor, and the Italian symphony makes rapid progress; it will be the most sportive piece I have yet composed, especially the last movement."
The Fourth Symphony was commissioned by the Philharmonic Society of London and completed on March 13, 1833. Mendelssohn conducted the premiere on May 13, 1833, but kept it from publication. He continuously revised it up to his death. The last revision (and posthumously published) premiered on November 1, 1849, with the Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Julius Rietz.
I. ALLEGRO VIVACE
Mendelssohn described the symphony as a "blue sky in A-major." His letters often refer to Italy's skies, and it's felt in the brisk tarantella-like meter and tempo. The primary galloping violin theme leapfrogs with bravado, embodying the patter of Rossini's "Largo al factotum." The spirit of Canzone Napoletana (Neapolitan song) is unmistakable, sharing similarities with music composed 30 years later with Luigi Denza's Funiculì, Funiculà. A hunting call motive offers a Germanic seasoning, and clarinets and bassoons present a less-hurried second theme in E-major. The development sautés the themes into several minor keys with a serving of Bach-flavored counterpoint; a final galloping sprint brings the sporting ride to an A-major finish line.
II. ANDANTE CON MOTO
Mendelssohn devoted his entire letter to his family on April 4, 1831, describing the crowded coronation ceremony of Pope Pius VIII. Witnessing a grand procession of cardinals with intermittent intoned chants and the music of J.S. Bach and Allegri's Miserere, the events of Holy Week find salvation in the second movement. The opening and recurring antiphon heard in unison, calls to attention a priest's intoning of the Credo. Then, in the key of Domine Deus (D-minor), a chant-like melody in the oboes, bassoons, and violas proceeds with a walking bass accompaniment (reminiscent of Bach's Air on G). Finally, the procession quietly concludes with three pizzicato footsteps.
III. CON MOTO MODERATO
Mendelssohn serves a familiar dish in the third movement, a song without words. Returning to the key of A-major and E-major for the minuet and trio, there's a tinge of bittersweet nostalgia in the flowing violin melody and the punctuated horns in the trio. Mozart's and Haydn's voices shine through, giving warmth and comfort to a composer far from home and family.
IV. PRESTO AND FINALE: SALTARELLO
14th-century Tuscany opens the finale with the fury of A-minor. When Mendelssohn described the symphony as sporting, he meant the last movement; a dance fit for the Colosseum. The Saltarello is a fast triple meter dance characterized by a jump or hop; Mendelssohn must have recognized the similarity with the Hoppetanz and composed the work in a duple meter, using triplets to capture the best of Italy and his native Germany. The composer's predilection for capricious string writing spares no expense; the music scurries in summersaults of scales and figurations, finishing with an A-minor dance-till-you-drop.
Felix Mendelssohn was born on February 3, 1809, in Hamburg, Germany, and died in Leipzig on November 4, 1847.
