I wonder how much genius dust got spilled into the celestial mixer that classical music was blessed with three of its greatest geniuses in one week: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (born Jan. 27, 1756), Franz Schubert (Jan. 31, 1797), and now Felix Mendelssohn (Feb. 3, 1809). Was it purely by chance, or the workings of design?
Be it what it may, I will celebrate Mendelssohn in the brief time allotted to me on WWFM this afternoon, from 4 to 6 p.m. Mendelssohn, of course, was one of music’s great prodigies. His earliest masterpieces, the Octet for Strings in E-flat Major and the Overture to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” were written at the ages of 16 and 17, respectively. In fact, there are those who say it was all downhill from there.
We’ll hear, among our featured works, Mendelssohn’s early Concerto for Violin and Strings – not to be confused with the later Violin Concerto in E minor (one of the most popular concertos in the repertoire, completed at the age of 35, thank you very much). The soloist will be Gidon Kremer, who will appear with his chamber orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton tonight at 8.
I’ll also pay tribute to Renaissance master Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina on the anniversary of his birth (in 1525). Palestrina, Catholic superstar of the Counter-Reformation, is often credited with having persuaded the Council of Trent not to ban polyphonic music. Recent scholarship has revealed that the story may have been somewhat romanticized, but, as with “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” when the legend becomes fact, print the legend.
Finally, I’ll lend a touch of whimsy in the form of a concerto for jew’s harp, by Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (born on this date in 1736). A jew’s harp has nothing at all to do with Jews or Judaism. Rather, the term is probably a corruption of “jaw harp.” The folk instrument actually had its origin in Asia. The Chinese were playing it at least as far back as the 4th century B.C. (Snoopy picked it up in 1969.) Albrechtsberger, believe it or not, was one of Beethoven’s teachers.
At 6:00, I’ll be your host for “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies. I’ll post more about that as the time draws nigh. For now, I hope you’ll join me for Mendelssohn, Palestrina, Albrechtsberger and more, beginning at 4 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.
