Song Without Words "Venetian Gondola Song", Op.30 No.6

Description

Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words are piano miniatures conceived as songs that have no words, written across his whole career and running to eight books and forty-eight pieces. Three of them are titled "Venetian Gondola Song," and this is the second of those, from Op. 30. Behind them lies the composer's own memory of travelling in Italy.

In F-sharp minor and 6/8, the left hand keeps a regular accompaniment imitating the rocking of the boat while the right sings above it. Of the three gondola songs this is written in the most shadowed key, suggesting Venice at night rather than by day. Around 580 notes fill close to three minutes.

The task is to let the right hand sing freely above a left hand that rocks steadily. If the left wavers the boat lurches; if the right is tied to it, the song dies. Practise the left alone until it runs unconsciously, and allow the right-hand melody small stretches and contractions of time. Change the pedal with the harmony of the accompaniment so nothing blurs.

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