Barcarolle No. 12 Opus 30

The Anacrouse collection offers pianists, beginners and advanced alike, a wide choice of classical works from the Renaissance to the present day. It brings together major works of the repertoire as well as rarer pieces, and also offers transcriptions for piano solo or four hands, selected for their musical and educational interest. Each score, available individually, benefits from careful editorial work: a rigorously established musical text, clear and legible engraving, accompanied by a short biography of the composer and a note on the work.

The “Barcarolle” (or Venetian Gondola Song), the sixth piece of the second book of Songs Without Words (Opus 30), is a work of great expressive depth. For the pianist, it is an essential study in the rhythmic swing of 6/8 and the shaping of a “cantabile” melody. The pedagogical challenge lies in managing the left hand, which must suggest the steady movement of the water, while the right hand unfolds a song tinged with gentle melancholy. Mastery of the pedal and of pianissimo dynamics is crucial to create the desired nocturnal atmosphere.

Composed between 1833 and 1834, this piece is one of the three famous Venetian songs that Mendelssohn included in his Lieder ohne Worte. The choice of the key of F sharp minor reinforces the nostalgic, intimate character of this page. Through this Barcarolle, Mendelssohn succeeds in raising the genre of the salon piece to a level of pure poetry, capturing the very essence of German Romanticism through its formal simplicity and emotional richness.