Mendelssohn Octet in E Flat Major, Op. 20
Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast
Joshua Weilerstein
4.9 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 20 April 2023
⏱️ 63 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
From 1825-1827, Mendelssohn wrote 3 of his most beloved and most played works: his Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture, his String Quartet, Op. 13, and the piece were going to talk about today, his Octet. What is truly astonishing about these three pieces is that they were all written before Mendelssohn turned 18 years old. Mendelssohn was the greatest prodigy in the history of Western Classical Music, writing music so spectacular at such a young age that it almost overshadows his later, more mature, works. In my opinion, the greatest of these three towering early pieces from Mendelssohn is his octet. It is a piece of structural perfection, ingenuity, innovation, and most of all, it is a piece of such youthful enthusiasm that it is impossible to not put a smile on your face. We'll talk all about this piece today, from its soaring first movement, to its contemplative second movement, the brilliant third movement, and the bubbling last movement. Let's discuss this miracle of a piece together - join us!
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to Sticky Notes, the Classical Music Podcast. |
| 0:10.6 | My name is Joshua Weilerstein, I'm a conductor, and I'm the music director of the Phoenix |
| 0:14.1 | Orchestra of Boston, and the Chief Conductor Designate of the All Borg Symphony. |
| 0:18.4 | This podcast is for anyone who loves classical music, works in the field, or is just getting |
| 0:22.8 | ready to dive into this amazing world of incredible music. |
| 0:26.5 | Before we get started, I want to thank my new Patreon sponsors, Dale, Torsten, Benjamin, |
| 0:31.1 | Gosia, and all of my other Patreon sponsors for making season 9 possible. |
| 0:36.3 | If you'd like to support the show, please head over to patreon.com slash Sticky Notes |
| 0:40.0 | Podcast. |
| 0:41.0 | And if you are a fan of the show, please just take a moment to give us a rating or review |
| 0:44.1 | on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:45.1 | It is greatly appreciated. |
| 0:49.1 | I am in Stuttgart this week with the SVR Radio Orchestra. |
| 0:53.6 | We are doing a really nice program with a lot of Beethoven. |
| 0:56.8 | Beethoven's fourth symphony, Beethoven's first piano concerto with Bejaud Abduremov, and |
| 1:01.7 | then Gideon Klein's partita for string orchestra. |
| 1:05.2 | Last week I was in Madrid. |
| 1:06.2 | I had a really fantastic time with the RTVE symphony, a lot of radio orchestras in the past |
| 1:11.9 | couple of weeks. |
| 1:12.9 | We did Mendelssohn's Scottish symphony, Brahms and Violin Concerto with the really astonishing |
| 1:17.0 | Maria Dwayneus, a young 20-year-old soloist who I think is going to be a huge superstar |
| 1:22.2 | and Ligeti's Romanian Concerto. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Joshua Weilerstein, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Joshua Weilerstein and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.