Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) String Symphony No. 3 in E minor (1821) 00:00 - Allegro di molto 03:53 - Andante 06:44 - Allegro Performed by the Northern Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Nicholas Ward. "Mendelssohn wrote his twelve String Symphonies between 1821 and 1823. The first seven were all composed in 1821, with the eighth a year later, dated 27th November 1822, and the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth, completed in March, May, July and September 1823 respectively. A thirteenth symphony, started in December that year, was replaced by a fully orchestrated work, to become his Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 11. The string symphonies were written when Mendelssohn was a pupil of Zelter and reflect the inclinations of the teacher and Mendelssohn's own clear debt to earlier classical models, with an increasing interest in the contrapuntal practices of Bach and Handel. ... The third of the set, the String Symphony in E minor opens dramatically, proceeding with an increasingly contrapuntal texture. A major key Andante is in contrast, capped by a final return to the dramatic mood of the first movement." - Keith Anderson