Mendelssohn and Mahler may at first appear unlikely musical bedfellows. Mendelssohn’s music is predominantly a celebration of Life while Mahler’s has a tendency to focus on man’s mortality. Yet in these particular works they were never closer. Both open in the minor mode – Mahler with an inexorable funeral march, Mendelssohn in fearful flight – both feature major key slow movements tinged with sadness and regret (in Mahler’s case, his famous Adagietto) and both end with joyful, dancing finales of uncontainable optimism. Typically, Mahler prefers the sounds of rustic revelry while Mendelssohn free-floats on summer breezes.
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More concerts at Royal Festival Hall
London Sunday Matinee, John Wilson conducts
Jan 20 2013, 15:00 - Royal Festival Hall
John Wilson conducts a special afternoon of English music, framed around John Ireland's Piano Concerto, performed 50 years after his death, and featuring works by Delius, Walton and Elgar.
London Sunday Matinee, The Merry Widow
Dec 02 2012, 15:00 - Royal Festival Hall
John Wilson conducts Lehár's unforgettable operetta










