Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90 “Italian“ (.: Charles Munch, Boston S.O.)

Mendelssohn: Symphony 4 & 5 by Charles Munch (2023 Remastered) 🎧 Qobuz (Hi-Res) Tidal (Hi-Res) 🎧 Deezer (Hi-Fi) Amazon Music (Hi-Fi) 🎧 Spotify (mp3) Youtube Music (mp4) 🎧 Apple Music (Lossless) (soon) Idagio (Hi-Fi) (soon) 🎧 Naspter, Pandora, Anghami, Soundcloud, QQ音乐, LineMusic日本… Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90 “Italian“ 00:20 I. Allegro vivace 08:22 II. Andante con moto 14:18 III. Con moto moderato 20:45 IV. Saltarello: Presto Boston Symphony Orchestra Conductor: Charles Munch Recorded in 1958 New mastering in 2023 by AB for CMRR 🔊 Discover our new website: 🔊 Download CMRR’s recordings in High fidelity audio (QOBUZ) : 🔊 FOLLOW US on SPOTIFY (Profil: CMRR) : ❤️ If you like CMRR content, please consider membership at our Patreon or Tipeee page. Thank you :) // Mendelssohn’s coming of age was doubly a peak in his life. He then travelled about Europe extensively for the first time and, stimulated by the experience, composed his greatest orchestral works — his last three symphonies. Shortly after his 20th birthday, his father decided that a tour of Europe would “broaden“ his horizons, with the result that he spent most of 1829 in England, with an excursion to Scotland; after returning to Berlin, he “did“ Italy like a true tourist in the season 1830-31, traversed Austria and Switzerland and spent several months in Paris and returned to London. He had a wonderful time, and whether or not his travels broadened him or really begat music, the fact remains that between pleasures he composed his “Reformation“ Symphony in England, began his “Scottish“ Symphony, and worked on his “Italian“ Symphony in Rome. It would have been too much to expect him to write music in the character of those countries and peoples. The sunshine of Naples put him in the mood for the “Italian“ Symphony, according to his letters to his sister Fanny at home, and the absence of fog there delayed the completion of the “Scottish“ Symphony. Beyond this, there is no point in looking for racial traits in these works. It was enough that he jotted down rhythms of the national dances and developed them in his own symphonic manner. The finale of the “Italian“ Symphony is a de-latinized but no less delightful saltarello. In Italy, as in Britain, he was always the German visitor and enthusiastic observer. The “Italian“ Symphony was completed in Berlin after Mendelssohn’s return, at the end of June 1832, and in response to a commission from the London Philharmonic. It was given its premiere by that orchestra on March 13, 1833. Mendelssohn was an inveterate revisor and polisher, and he also had a dread of the finality of publication, all of which accounts for the fact that the symphony was held for years for revision, and not performed in its final version until after his death. When Mendelssohn composed the “Reformation“ Symphony in North Wales in September 1829, he had in mind the celebration planned in Germany for the following year of the tercentenary of the Augsburg Confession, the drawing up of the constitution of the Protestant faith in June 1530. The first and last movements of the symphony contain symbolic references to that event. The solemn introduction includes a citation of the “Dresden Amen,“ a motif also used by Wagner in Parsifal, and a chorale attributed to Luther — Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God) — becomes the subject of the introduction to the finale. First heard from the solo flute, it undergoes proud returns in the body of the movement, in augmentation. (The melody Mendelssohn resurrected differs slightly from Bach’s version.) The chorale subject and the beautiful “Amen“ cadence, with all their churchly associations, are developed in unchurchly symphonic fashion. The music bespeaks Mendelssohn’s personal style — fervid in melody, lucid in orchestration, felicitous in detail. The anniversary celebration did not take place, and Mendelssohn finally released the symphony for performance in 1832, in Berlin, but he never yielded it for publication. Felix Mendelssohn PLAYLIST (reference recordings):