Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte (or Songs Without Words) were a bold step forward in Romantic writing. The title suggests much of the meaning behind the music – that it was possible to give purely instrumental music the emotional depth of a song, even without the added help of words to create imagery. The liner notes point out that the Songs Without Words generally stick to placing the melody in the upper voice, combined with a chordal accompaniment in ABA form. While this is broadly true, what variety Mendelssohn achieves from such a simple set-up!
With this disc covering Books 5 to 8 of the set, fortepianist Ronald Brautigam has now recorded the complete Songs Without Words. These later books contain some of the best-known pieces, including the famous Frühlingslied (Spring Song). There are some delightful links between the composers of the 19th century here – Book 5 is dedicated to Clara Schumann, who had to encore some of the pieces multiple times in her concerts.
With this sense of history in mind, Brautigam plays these pieces as they should be heard, and with no sense of artifice. This is honest playing with some of the most natural phrasing I’ve heard in a while, and the less bright sound of Brautigam’s fortepiano suits the music more than modern grands. I suspect that this is the sort of performance Mendelssohn desired, with a sense of cantabile threaded through each note.
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