Fanny Mendelssohn, “March” and Das Jahr

From left Jacqueline du Pré in a performance of Max Bruch’s Kol Nidrei, Op. 47, Daniel Barenboim, Conductor; a second recording of the work for cello and piano, featuring Mischa Maisky and Martha Argerich.

“March” from Das Jahr by Fanny Mendelssohn feels to me like the moment when winter begins to move away and the first signs of life return. Compared to the pensive atmosphere of January, this movement has a much clearer sense of motion and direction. The rhythm and character suggest wind, movement, and the restlessness that comes as the season begins to change.

The piece quotes the following lines from Goethe's Faust:

Verkündigt ihr dumpfen
Glocken schon
Des Osterfestes erste Feyerstunde? 

Do you muffled bells already
Proclaim the first solemn hour of Easter?

This piece begins dramatically in F-sharp minor. Soon after, the chorale Christ ist erstanden appears, and later the music concludes with a brilliant, radiant ending (this is the section I play in the video). To me, the overall flow of the piece feels like a depiction of Christ’s Passion—his suffering, followed by the moment of resurrection and the glory that comes afterward.

There is also one detail that I find especially interesting. At the beginning of the section I play in the video, if you listen carefully to the left-hand octaves, you can hear something hidden beneath the texture. Behind the beautiful and powerful melody in the right hand, the chorale melody that appeared earlier returns quietly in the bass.

Because of this, both lines are very important. The right-hand melody must sing clearly, but at the same time the chorale in the left hand also needs to be present and beautiful. When I practiced this passage, I realized that the challenge was not simply to emphasize one melody over the other. Instead, I needed to think about how each phrase relates to the others—how the tension grows and then relaxes—and shape them together as a continuous song line.

In a way, it feels less like one pianist playing several voices, and more like conducting several wonderful instrumentalists or opera singers at the same time. Each line has its own character and direction, yet they must breathe and move together. When they balance well, I feel the polyphony becomes much more vivid, and the sense of brilliance and glory in this section emerges naturally.

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