Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words simply defy ordinary description. Refined and nuanced, they constitute some of the composer’s finest and best-known works. For nearly two hundred years, they were regarded as charming relics, select romantic gems performed in small concert halls and salons. While their subtle, ornamental qualities certainly shine brightest in more intimate settings, closer inspection reveals an unexpected depth and complexity to these miniature masterpieces. Their interpretive and technical demands are considerable, requiring sensitivity to voicing, pedaling and dynamic control. Meant to enchant rather than dazzle, they evoke myriad dreams revealing some of the composer’s innermost reflections. Like private entries in a musical diary, they offer a rare glimpse into this reserved but passionate artist’s thoughts. 

In recent years, Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words lived on my piano. Amidst turbulent societal change, these moving works remain a source of solace and peace. At the height of the pandemic, Dr. Kirk Payne – an old high school friend treating Covid patients - reached out. He wished to fund a beautiful memorial to those lost and those fighting the disease. With his generous support, I commissioned Price Walden, a longtime admirer of Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words, to compose a new set that would reflect upon our own era. Hearing Walden’s seven splendid pieces, I selected fourteen of the finest works from Mendelssohn’s collection—seven to precede the new cycle and seven to follow. 

A superb watercolorist, Mendelssohn displays his mastery of line and color throughout these exquisite tone poems. Resonant with allusions to many of Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words, Walden’s cycle ventures beyond its source to imagine a new and inspired tonal canvas. Through their music, both composers - in conversation across centuries - explore the realms of memory, nature, joy, anguish, loss, gratitude, and love— eloquently communicating in a shared language too definite for words. 
- Bruce Levingston

Mendelssohn 

01 Song without Words 2:14
Op. 102 - N° 4 in G minor 

02 Song without Words 3:26
Op. 67 - N° 3 in B-flat major

03 Song without Words 2:29
Op. 38 - N° 2 in C minor

04 Song without Words 4:35
Op. 38 - N° 6 in A-flat major Duetto

05 Song without Words 1:40
Op. 102 - N° 3 in C major

06 Song without Words 3:56
Op. 53 - N° 1 in A-flat major

07 Song without Words 4:29
Op. 30 - N° 6 in F-sharp minor
Venetianisches Gondellied

Walden 

08 Song without Words 3:37
N° 1 Prelude

09 Song without Words 2:33
N° 2 for the left hand

10 Song without Words 4:03
N° 3 Love Song - Duet 

11 Song without Words 3:08
N° 4 Berceuse

12 Song without Words 4:47
N° 5 Elegy

13 Song without Words 4:36
N° 6 Protest

14 Song without Words 3:21
N° 7 Lullaby
 

Mendelssohn 

15 Song without Words 2:43
Op. 19 - N° 2 in A minor

16 Song without Words 4:11
Op. 19 - N° 1 in E major

17 Song without Words 3:46
Op. 19 - N° 5 in F-sharp minor

18 Song without Words 2:41
Op. 19 - N° 6 in G minor
Venetianisches Gondellied

19 Song without Words 3:39
Op. 62 - N° 1 in G major

20 Song without Words 3:03
Op. 67 - N° 5 in B minor

21 Song without Words 3:25
Op. 85 - N° 4 in D major

Total Time: 72:40

Release date: September 22, 2023
UPC: 053479226907

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Quotes & Reviews

“Bruce Levington’s performance captures both the poignancy of Walden’s commission and the ways that Mendelssohn wrote for his different audiences.” - Maureen Buja, Interlude

“Without Words returns to Mendelssohn for the closing set, the final seven as alluring as the first. Whereas a hint of Bach surfaces in the contrapuntal voicings of the Op. 19, No. 2 in A minor, rippling patterns lend Op. 19, No. 1 in E major a melodious buoyancy. Perhaps the recording's most animated song, Op. 19, No. 5 in F-sharp minor is a veritable roller-coaster of intertwining patterns. By comparison, the second Venetianische Gondellied, Op. 19, No. 6 in G minor, verges on forlorn, while the Clara Schumann-dedicated Op. 62, No. 1 in G major accentuates tenderness and dignity. The romantic Op. 85, No. 4 in D major concludes the album on a wave of harmonic splendour and lyrical gestures. Reading Levingston's notes on the twenty-one pieces is almost as satisfying as hearing him perform them. That he's as respected a writer as he is is a pianist is borne out by his astute commentaries on the works presented. There is, however, something to be said for setting words aside and devoting one's full attention to his refined instrumental renderings. No shortage of rewards accrues when that's done.” - Ron Schepper, Textura

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