Mendelssohn, F :: Canzonetta

Musicians Publications presents Felix Mendelssohn s Canzonetta arranged for woodwind quintet by Carson Rothrock.

Notes from the arranger: The Mendelssohn Canzonetta from the twelfth string quartet has long been one of my favorite pieces. Dave Conant of WFLN radio in Philadelphia used it as the theme song for his early morning show, enlivening my commute to Ewing New Jersey. He played the Budapest String Quartet recording, and I used that also as a reference for tempi marked in the present arrangement for woodwind quintet. Other recordings show different locations of rubato sections, but there is agreement on tempi. The dynamics are exactly as Mendelssohn indicated. You may want to adjust these to suit your needs, but one of Mendelssohn s favorite devices seems to have been long piano sections of rapid notes. The Hebrides Overture and the overture to A Midsummer Night s Dream are examples that come to mind. The fleeting middle section is more challenging for wind players than strings, indeed impossible in the original staccato of Mendelssohn. The articulation had to be changed in the tempo were to remain lively. Many thanks to Dave Hawley and his Las Vegas Woodwind Quintet for performing the prototype of this arrangement. - Carson Rothrock