Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy:

Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 11 (with Score)

Composed: 1824
Conductor: Claudio Abbado
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra

00:00 1. Allegro di molto (C minor)

10:45 2. Andante (E♭ major)
17:26 3. Menuetto: Allegro molto (C minor)
24:11 4. Allegro con fuoco (C minor - C major)

Mendelssohn's first 13 symphonies are for strings only, including the one
now referred to as No. 13, a single movement in C minor from 1823;
however, the manuscript for the Symphony No. 1 in C minor, published
in 1828 in Berlin as Op. 11, bears the inscription, "XIII," suggesting that
Mendelssohn did not regard the earlier, single-movement piece as a
completed string symphony.

The Symphony No. 1 was completed on March 31, 1824, when

Mendelssohn was 15 years old. Like the previous string symphonies,
this is clearly modeled on works by Mozart, with passages betraying the
intense study of J.S. Bach's contrapuntal masterpieces. While the piece
reveals the young composer's mastery of musical materials, it does not
speak with an individual, inspired voice. While in London in 1829,
Mendelssohn conducted a performance of his Symphony in C minor at a
Philharmonic concert of May 25, substituting for the Minuet a shortened
and orchestrated version of the Scherzo from his Octet, Op. 20.

Mendelssohn's first movement is Mozartian in its construction and

contrasts. The grace of the falling scales and arpeggios of the main
theme gives way to the lyrical second theme. After a cursory
development section, the recapitulation, like the exposition, heads
toward the major mode at its close. A lengthy coda returns the
movement to C minor. The slow movement, an Andante in E flat major,
is the most mature movement of the symphony. It is more harmonically
adventurous than the other movements and the instrumentation is
beautifully transparent. Formally, it is a combination of sonata form and
variation technique, its rhythmic drive derived from a syncopated string
accompaniment. Possibly the most characteristic sounding movement of
the symphony is the Menuetto marked Allegro molto and in 6/4 meter.
The main theme, in C minor, has a shape similar to that of the first
movement and focuses on the juxtaposition of G natural and A flat. The
trio section provides contrast with a slow, ponderous theme in the
clarinets and bassoons accompanied at first by rising arpeggios and
later by falling arpeggios in the strings. Contrapuntal artifice comes to
the fore in the Finale, an Allegro con fuoco in C minor/major. After a
lively exposition with a frenetic main theme in the violins and a lengthy
pizzicato segment, the development proceeds to a strict fugue. Fugal
passages and simple stretto permeate the boisterous coda, which closes
the symphony triumphantly in C major.