Final (Sonata 6, mvt. 5)/Andante

from Sonata 6 (Op. 65) by Felix Mendelssohn

Background

The final movement for Sonata no. 6 serves as a great starting place for learning Mendelssohn. It is only thirty-six measures long, and it is in the accessible key of D Major. The piece modulates from D Major to F# Minor, to C# Minor, and back to F# Minor before finally returning to D Major. The chief difficulty in performing this piece lies in the manual parts: for the most part there are only three voices in the manuals, but there are a handful of measures that have four manual voices. It is at these points that the fingering is most difficult.

Registration and Organs

The dynamic for this piece is p, which for Mendelssohn meant "a combination of several 8-foot stops." On a two manual organ you might consider coupling the manuals and using one or two of the softest 8' stops from each manual, ensuring that the stops blend well with each other. Soft 16' and 8' stops in the pedal with the manuals coupled would work well.

Fingering and Pedaling

The edition below includes some fingerings and pedal indications. They are a guideline only, and you can adjust them to your hands as necessary.

Articulation and Phrasing

This piece should be played with a very smooth legato. Mendelssohn's phrasing marks are difficult to interpret because they don't seem to make musical sense. Most of the phrases seem to be about four measures long, but the slurs often only cover one measure. Look for prominent cadences to help you decide where the phrase breaks should fall.

The piece starts on an anacrusis with only the pedal moving on the downbeat. Make sure that your treatment of the anacrusis does not obscure or weaken the downbeat of the first measure.

Ornamentation

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Tempo and Meter

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Scores and Editions

File:Mendelssohn Sonata 6 Finale.pdf

Recordings

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Free Online

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Pay to Listen

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Other Resources

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Notes

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