The eminent German musicologist and Lieder scholar Karl Schumann once famously described Mendelssohn's Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without words) as not simply "Pillars of the piano repertoire," but rather as "a household possession, as widespread in Germany as the Grimm brothers' fairy tales, Ludwig Richter's pictures, or Uhland's poetry ... and no less beloved in Victorian England." But these works were an absolutely typical Germanic reaction to the world of Romantic miniaturism, and especially, the growing interest among composers to encapsulate the mood of the moment in a keyboard gem.

While it has become fashionable in critical circles to denigrate Mendelssohn's fragile sensibilities as little more than the manifestation of a kind of upper-class dilettantism, in his own way, he was actually far ahead of the field when it came to recognizing the future direction that music, especially the keyboard miniature, would take. In this regard, Mendelssohn anticipated the new expressive directions to be pursued by Schumann (whose wife, Clara, did much to popularize the Songs in the concert hall) and Liszt.

Of the six Lieder ohne Worte of the fifth volume, Op. 62, no fewer than three pieces were given descriptive titles. Interestingly, Goethe (along with von Schiller the central figure of the German Romantic literary movement) had written "music begins where words end." No doubt, however, he would have been among the first to agree that the sombre mood of Op. 62 No. 3 in E minor "Trauermarsch" (Funeral March) needs no semantic prop to convey its sorrowful message. No. 5 in A minor is one of three Lieder to have the title "Venezianisches Gondollied" (Venetian Gondola Song).

The concluding Lied ohne Worte of the Op. 62 group is one of the most famous of all piano miniatures. This is the A major "Frühlingslied" or "Spring Song." The remaining untitled pieces are Op. 62 No. 1 in G (Andante espressivo), No. 2 in B flat (Allegro con fuoco), and No. 4 in G (Allegro con anima). Finally, while these beguiling, some would say simplistic, pieces have sometimes been slighted as representative of the worst kind of Romantic kitsch, the critic Joan Chissell rightly reminds us that "without all these pieces, how much poorer our understanding would have been of the impressionable heart behind the master-craftsman's façade."

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1.Andante espressivo in G

Although Mendelssohn never reached his 39th birthday, he composed an impressive number of works. He wrote over 200 keyboard compositions, most for piano, and his Song Without Words series was by far his largest collection of works in the genre. In all, there are eight books and 49 pieces, all originally composed for the piano despite whatever implications the title of the series might seem to possess. This G major effort is one of the more popular "songs" of the 49. It opens with a lovely theme whose soothing manner imparts a lullaby-like mood. The melody is stated in short phrases, brightening a bit as it ascends, but then turning slightly melancholy as it veers sweetly downward. As with so many pieces in the series, the accompaniment mainly consists of an imaginative use of arpeggio-like chords. Once again, there is an almost Schumannesque intimacy to the Romantic character of the music. Not that Mendelssohn is imitative here; rather, his normally more chaste and lighter manner expands here to achieve a greater emotional depth. Most listeners will find this and many of the pieces in the Song Without Words series of great appeal. This G major effort typically lasts about three minutes.

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3.Trauermarsch (Funeral March) in E-

This E minor effort is number three in the fifth book of Mendelssohn's lengthy series of piano pieces Songs Without Words. None of the works in this eight-book collection are transcriptions of songs, as some have assumed, though most of them brim with a lyricism that would fit well in a vocal treatment. This one is an exception: subtitled "Trauermarsch" (Funeral March), its dark music for once shows Mendelssohn turning away from lighter moods and lighter treatments of serious subjects. Ironically, the composer wrote his own funeral music here: Moscheles orchestrated the piece four years later for performance at Mendelssohn's funeral. Marked Andante maestoso, the piece opens with a grim, fanfare-like motif virtually identical to the motto played by the trumpet that opens Mahler's Symphony No. 5, written more than a half century later. Mendelssohn's ensuing main theme is stately and dark, and takes on an epic and more ominous manner as its inexorable tread marches on. The opening motif returns midway through, and then closes the piece after the funeral march is reprised in the second half of the piece. Lasting about three minutes, this is one of the most profound of the Songs Without Words.

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5.Venezianisches Gondellied 3 (Venetian Boat Song 3) in A-

Mendelssohn applied the term "Gondellied" ("Gondolier's Song") to at least three pieces: a freestanding miniature from 1837, and two items from the Songs without Words series. Of this latter pair, the F sharp minor Allegretto tranquillo (Op. 30/6) was actually written in Venice, but the A minor Andante con moto (Op. 62/5) is the most popular of these Italian-style barcarolles. It bears a poignant nostalgia worthy of Chopin. Mendelssohn offers the melody a first time, repeats it in a higher register with a bit more decoration, then develops a brief obsession with one passage from the melody, builds it to a little climax, essentially repeats this section, but now includes a more extended fragment of the theme, and then winds down with a more elaborate but ever-quieter treatment of the full melody.

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6.Frühlingslied (Spring Song) in A

Only five of Mendelssohn's 36 Lieder ohne Worte received titles from the composer. Mendelssohn hesitated to attach a title to these piano miniatures because he found words " ... so ambiguous, so vague, so easily misunderstood in comparison to genuine music, which fills the soul with a thousand things better than words." Unlike most of the Lieder ohne Worte, the title of Op. 62, No. 6, "Frühlingslied" (Spring Song), is directly attributable to Mendelssohn.

Mendelssohn's fifth volume of Lieder ohne Worte was published in 1844 in Bonn. The set was designated Op. 62. The six pieces were composed over about a two-year period; only four can be dated with certainty. Four of the six are in major keys and there are a variety of song types, including examples of the solo Lied, duet and partsong.

No. 6, in A major, maintains a solo Lied texture. The melody, with its rising and falling eighth-note line peppered with occasional sixteenth-note chromatic passages is perfectly suited to the voice throughout most of the piece. Constant arpeggio graces produce an accompaniment with a delicate, harp-like sound that continues from beginning to end. Aspects of instrumental composition permeate the work, especially in its formal structure. For example, a second section in a contrasting key with melodic material composed of elements from the first section reappears after the return of the first section, but transposed to A major. The predominant feature of the piece is a leaping, then descending figure of five eighth notes that recurs in the manner of a symphonic development.

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