The Artistic Styles And Teaching Inspirations Of Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy,the German composer,pianist, musical conductor,and teacher,is one of the most celebrated figures of the early Romantic period.Born in a wealthy Jewish family,Mendelssohn enjoyed a life as placid and peaceful as the sea in spring,and thus was given the name "the blessed musician" by his contemporaries.His masterpiece for piano music Songs without Words consists of forty-nine pieces and was published in eight volumes successively.All the songs stand out in musical history not because of any great innovative ideology or any significant social bearing nor because of mighty vigour or splendid visions,but because of their peculiarly exquisite patterns,their touching tunes and delicate artistic styles.The songs present a pure harmony in expressing the emotions.Mendelssohn takes the piano as a singing voice and thus reachs a syncretion between a performer and a piano in his songs.This thesis consists of the following three parts:In Chapter One,the background of his creation of Songs without Words is introduced from a cultural vision with the help of a generality of Mendelssohn's life and his musical creations.In Chapter Two,the artistic styles of Songs without Words is discussed.It is a very example of the combination of classicalism and romanticism in style,and a subtle joint of style and content as well.In addition,the the tendency of vocalization in instrumental music,which is canonized by the composer is summarized after analyzing the songs in aspects of musical manifestation,melody,texture,structure,and harmonic tune.In Chapter Three,the teaching inspiration drawn from the Research is presented.The songs in the collection are sorted out with the characteristic of their styles.Some typical pieces are singled out for research in teaching,and the chosen pieces are analysed in their backgrounds,music noumenon,and performing skills.This research is done as a reference for students' better understanding and better performing of the songs.As an ending,the theoretical importance and the practical value of the research are briefly summarized.