polymorphnick: a blog by Nicholas Solter

In my last music post, I wrote about Bad Religion. Today I'd like to shift gears just a little bit and discuss Felix Mendelssohn. One criterion that I use to judge a composer is what percentage of his music I enjoy listening to – sort of the "consistently good" criterion. And by that rubric, Mendelssohn is probably my favorite composer. I find that I like almost everything that he composed.

Although I grew up listening to classical music, I don't always know the names and composers of the pieces I like. So I was pleased recently to "re-discover" Mendelssohn. My interest started with his violin concerto in E minor. This piece of music has one of the most beautiful openings I've heard. Listen to the 1st movement: Allegro molto appassionato, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Mendelssohn's fourth symphony (the "Italian") is also outstanding. You can listen to the beginnings of each movement, courtesy of amazon.com (if you only have time for one, I suggest the fourth movement).

Although I don't think they're played as much, I also enjoy his two piano concertos. Listen to the beginnings of each movement, again courtesy of amazon.com.