Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Classical Compositions of… the 1840s

At first glance, Mendelssohn's sixth and final string quartet, a chamber requiem dedicated to his sister Fanny, written a mere two months before his own death, is Romanticism at its most tragic and it may well be my favourite thing on this list but there are so many contenders!

Louise Farrenc's 3rd Symphony also deserves everyone's attention. The Guardian had a piece about it a while back, as part of their '50 greatest symphonies' series:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2014/jun/24/symphony-guide-louise-farrenc-third-symphony-tom-service

(I can't believe they didn't include Sofia Gubaidulina's Symphony in their guide, but I'm getting ahead of myself.)

Shouldn't this include Mendelssohn's incidental music to "A Midsummer Night's Dream"? I love that one to pieces, even if the Wedding March bit has, of course, become a cliché.

hmmm Faust or Macbeth or Wagner idk

Tuomas, I considered it but had to make cuts. The next decade is bound to be less crowded.

Probably in the minority here, but this feels a bit like going from a film list from the 70's to the 80's. This is just so not my period, lol. Props for having the Radetzky March on there, at least we got a good book out of that. And I still have nightmares from watching André Rieu perform it on youtube.

I see where you're coming from but Mendelssohn and Chopin both peaked this decade imho. Plus, it more or less marks the beginning of the Scando era…

Try as I might, I'll never understand neither Mendelssohn nor Chopin. And I grew up where classical radio was on all the time, so it's not as if I didn't hear it, but it just doesn't speak to me.

Obligatory Spotify playlist for those interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6L7ZGx6tNXHhywWlpXESlq
Everything should be represented in some form, but substitution of recordings is again likely...

I'll post a few suggestions in a bit. I'm sure Jon will have plenty of quality recordings to recommend as well.

chopin barcarolle is my favorite solo piano work ever

Some personal favourites:

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy - Variations sérieuses, Op. 54 – Bertrand Chamayou
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy - Symphony No. 3 in A minor, ‘Scottish’, Op. 56 – Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy - Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 – Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Carolin Widmann
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy - String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80 – Minguet Quartett
Franz Berwald - Symphony No. 3 in C major, ‘singulière’ – Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Sixten Ehrling
Frédéric Chopin - Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52 – Krystian Zimerman
Frédéric Chopin - Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53 – Piotr Anderszewski
Frédéric Chopin - Berceuse in D-flat major, Op. 57 – Stephen Hough
Frédéric Chopin - Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58 – Marc-André Hamelin
Frédéric Chopin - Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Op. 60 – Dinu Lipatti
Frédéric Chopin - Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat major, Op. 61 – Rafał Blechacz
Frédéric Chopin - Two Nocturnes, Op. 62 - Ivan Moravec
Frédéric Chopin - Three Mazurkas, Op. 63 – Maria João Pires
Frédéric Chopin - Three Waltzes, Op. 64 – Dinu Lipatti
Hector Berlioz - Les nuits d’été, Op. 7 – Bernarda Fink, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Kent Nagano
Robert Schumann - Liederkreis, Op. 24 – Gerald Finley, Julius Drake
Robert Schumann - String Quartet No. 1 in A minor, Op. 41/1 – Zehetmair Quartett
Robert Schumann - Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44 – Jerusalem Quartet, Alexander Melnikov
Robert Schumann - Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 – Leif Ove Andsnes, Berliner Philharmoniker, Mariss Jansons
Robert Schumann - Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61 – WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Heinz Holliger

i do definitely like berwald's third; i'm still pretty light on the actual classics (having come into them backwards) so that's the only one that jumps out at me. i know (and dislike) wagner from the "bleeding chunks", those names are all familiar to me, but i can't tell a fantasie from a ballade from a berceuse from a barcarolle

i'm sure i've heard hungrian rhapsody #2 but i can't remember it. anyway i'm listening to the sixth string quartet, apparently again, and i'm liking it more than i must have done the last time.

it's a really good education going through these by decade; i tend to get 19th century art all mixed up, not knowing who was a contemporary of whom. waiting for the russians to show up (no glinka you don't fucking count, fuck off)

It's a learning experience for me as well. My sense of chronology is all too fuzzy otherwise and doesn't really go beyond 'early/mid/late 19th' at best. It's also much more instructive to focus on works instead of composers, who often span several eras at once (for instance, Saint-Saëns was born in 1835 and died in 1921!).

Speaking of fuzzy chronology I don't think I realised Wagner had delivered even this much before the middle of the century. I dig most of the bleeding chunks quite a bit, but have absorbed little of the operas otherwise. Which no doubt makes me a disgusting savage.

I've only heard a handful of these but I have Simon Rattle conducting Schumann's symphonies on Bluray and the first is great, so that one, just over Tannhauser.

Franz Liszt - Années de pèlerinage, 2ème année – Italie (1837-1849)

Voted for this, on impulse.

My vote is going to Liszt as well, but the Reminiscences- as the most mold-breaking and boundary bending of the choices here, and as representative of Liszt’s mighty solo piano operatic fantasies in general. As close to recorded jazz as you could get in the mid 19c.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Heroic polonaise for me.

As much as I love early-middle period Liszt, I'm saving my vote for the late works. Well, except for the upcoming Piano Sonata, perhaps.

As expected, I'm going with Mendelssohn's heartbreaking 6th String Quartet.

Thank you for highlighting that piece btw, I have listened to it before but not closely enough apparently. It is great. Also got ahold of the Farrenc 3rd because of your advocacy and its excellent - can certainly hold its own in this company. So thanks for that as well.

My pleasure! And thanks for your excellent recommendations throughout!

Schumann's Piano Quintet, easily my favorite thing of his in sonata form (or whatever you call it).

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I voted for that Alkan, but mostly for being the Piece By A Composer I Only Vaguely Knew Beforehand That I Found Myself Coming Back To Most Frequently.

The music in these threads has utterly dominated my listening over the last month or so. I seem to be noting recommended recordings then falling silent in each thread, but I am *really* digging this exercise. (Perhaps this era especially as I'm so 20th-century-centric.) Thanks pomenitul!

17 pieces got a vote! V interesting.

My pleasure, Nag!

I'm glad Les quatre âges got a couple of votes, it's an incredible piece and it really stands out within its era. And the lack of consensus is a sight to behold.

Yeah, thanks pom. This was a great idea, and the execution has been great too. Just great work!

:)

It'll no doubt be a more fragmentary exercice post-1960s but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.