JAVS Fall 2011

Example 1c. Felix Mendelssohn, Viola Sonata, movt. III (Andante con Variazioni), mm. 37–44 (variation 2).

Example 2a. Felix Mendelssohn, Viola Sonata, movt. III (Andante con Variazioni), mm. 44–50 (variation 2).

Example 2b. Felix Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 1, op. 11, movt. III (Menuetto), mm. 14-19, violin I and cello parts.

upper neighbor across the bar line. Not only that, but the overall melody resembles that of the symphony— moving from A-flat to F in the antecedent, then A-flat to D-flat in the consequent. In a way, the minuet of the symphony is a successful hybrid of the last two move ments of the viola sonata, using the motive of one and the melodic plan of the other. Bringing the variation movement of the viola sonata into the conversation illuminates other interesting fea tures in the symphony’s minuet. In the second varia tion, Mendelssohn puts the viola’s range to good use by alternating between its upper and lower registers, creating an antiphonal effect (ex. 2a). With more instruments at his disposal, Mendelssohn realizes this effect in the symphony by assigning parts of the phrase to different sections of the orchestra. Although the sec ond violins and violas contribute in intriguing ways

dramatic. however, Mendelssohn did not work out this particular melodic issue in the symphony—this solution first appears in the final movement of the viola sonata. The third movement, Andante con Variazioni, uses the same musical ideas of the sonata’s and symphony’s min uets in its main theme; in a way, it supplies a link between the two versions. The similarities of the second and third movements of the sonata (and the correlation between the variation theme and the symphony) have previously been unexplored, possibly because their con nection is obscured by the difference in meter and the absence of the lower neighbor note in the finale’s motive. Nevertheless, as example 1c shows (using the viola part from the second variation for the sake of clar ity), the theme of the third movement shares a distinc tive feature of the minuets—the suspension of the

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