Adagio (Sonata 1, mvt. 2)

from Sonata 1 (Op. 65) by Felix Mendelssohn

Background

This beautiful Adagio is in the key of A-flat Major (the relative major to F minor) and the music spans two pages. Two manuals are used, which alternate back and forth in a dialogue between each other. This movement is in ternary - ABA' form.

Registration and Organs

The dialogue between the two manuals should be of equal strength, but contrasting in sound. Both manuals indicate pp.

Swell Manual - 8' Strings (Viole Celeste)
Great Manual - 8' 4' Flute
Pedal - 16' 8' Flute

In the forward that precedes the Sonatas, Mendelssohn gives the following suggestion for PIANISSIMO as generally implying a soft 8- foot stop by itself for the manuals and 8' and 16' stops combined for the pedal registration.

Fingering and Pedaling

Strict attention should be given to writing in fingering in order to play very legato.
Both the Kalmus and Dupré editions give suggestions of effective fingering.
The pedal does not enter until the fourth system (second page) and ends with a long tonic pedal point on A-flat.

Articulation and Phrasing

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Ornamentation

No ornamentation is used in this movement.

Tempo and Meter

Adagio (Eighth Note = 100)
Time Signature (3/8)

Scores and Editions

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Complete Organ Works, Volume IV, Edited by Wm. A. Little (Novello & Company) contains: Six Sonatas of Opus 65
Kalmus edition (K 03670) contains: Three Preludes and Fugues, Opus 37; and Six Sonatas, Opus 65
Marcel Dupré edition contains: Three Preludes and Fugues, Opus 37; and Six Sonatas, Opus 65

Recordings

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Free Online

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Pay to Listen

http://www.classicalarchives.com/album/617145111227.html. This website allows you to purchase recordings of the entire CD or individual movements in MP3 format. Before purchasing, this website will allow you to preview the recording. Subscribers can to listen to recordings of Mendelssohn's Sonata 1 performed by various composers.

Other Resources

Mendelssohn and the Organ by Wm. A. Little (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010)
An Analysis of Mendelssohn's Organ Works; A Study of their Structural Features. For the use of students ([1898]) - [1] p.6-20 contains a musical summary of what is happening in Sonata 1

Notes

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