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Romantic · song without words

Venetian Gondola Song, Op. 30 No. 6

Felix Mendelssohn · Level 5, estimated · With Maestro

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The short answer

A Venetian title, a letter sent from Düsseldorf. Venetian Gondola Song, Op. 30 No. 6 is a song without words by Felix Mendelssohn from the Romantic era. PlayPiano puts it at Level 5, an estimate.

On this page
  • song without words
  • Romantic
  • dancing
  • melancholic
  • voicing

Also known as Lieder ohne Worte: Venetianisches Gondellied, Op. 30 No. 6.

History

This gondola song grew out of an album piece for Henriette Voigt in March 1835. On 15 March, Mendelssohn wrote from Düsseldorf about a new F-sharp-minor piece played the previous evening; Voigt acknowledged the album leaf on 19 March. It joined the second book of Songs Without Words that spring. Unlike the earlier Op. 19 gondola song, its title does not establish a Venetian place of composition.

Sources

What to listen for

  1. The accompaniment sets the scene

    A lower pickup begins before the upper line enters. Keep the flowing broken-chord accompaniment even, hearing two broad pulses within each full bar rather than making every small note equally heavy.

  2. A held voice appears above the motion

    Long upper notes enter over the continuing accompaniment. Let them sing through the moving texture without requiring a new melody attack at every accompaniment note.

  3. A singing phrase grows from a small lead-in

    Two short notes lead to repeated longer melody notes, then a tied continuation. Keep the phrase connected, and do not reattack where the tie carries the sound forward.

  4. A rising gesture settles into longer notes

    The melody rises and then descends in a connected run before arriving at broader notes. Shape the direction without losing the accompaniment pulse beneath it.

How to practise it

Keep the rocking accompaniment calm before the held upper notes.

  1. Practise one lower arch softly, then connect the next.
  2. Practise the upper arrival after its rests above quiet support.
  3. Connect the stated opening gestures at a comfortable tempo, keeping their distinct releases.

How hard is it

Level 5, estimated

The proposed target values a clear melodic line over organized accompanying motion and a continuous phrase. A gentle character does not eliminate coordination demands.

About this piece

Interpretive sketch of Felix Mendelssohn, an illustration and not a verified likeness
An illustration, not a portrait
Collection
Small scenes, big imagination
Licence
Public Domain
Source
mutopiaproject.org

More by Felix Mendelssohn

  1. Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 85 No. 1Level 5, estimatedWith Maestro
  2. Scherzo in E minor, Op. 16 No. 2Level 8, estimatedWith Maestro

With Maestro

Play it, slow it down, hear where you land

Keep the rocking accompaniment calm before the held upper notes.

Practise it in PlayPiano