Mendelssohn worked on sketches for his third symphony when he was in Italy in 1831, but set them aside, not completing the work until 1842.
The strength of the work is immediately apparent in the introduction’s opening theme, a sad melody sung by oboes and violas to the accompaniment of winds and horns. A second, more agitated, idea then appears in violins, and the two are worked out at some length until the opening theme returns.
The main allegro section then begins with an agitated theme given in hushed tones by clarinet and strings. The tension inherent in this idea continues when the clarinet introduces the second theme.
A stormy symphonic development brings vivid pictorial imagery, and after the recapitulation, the theme of the introduction is heard briefly, rounding off the movement, which then goes directly into the Scherzo.
This is a vivacious section whose main theme is given by a clarinet after a few measures of fanfare-like preparation. The movement is filled with the kind of Midsummer Night’s Dream fairy dust that Mendelssohn spread so liberally throughout all of his compositions.
An adagio third movement brings the Mendelssohn of sentimental songfulness, whereas the last movement returns to the fierce energies that characterized much of the first.
Here is Kurt Mazur, leading a performance of this beautiful work:
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