CHASE

The use of the harmonic for these a''s is typical of a style in which vibrato was employed as an occasional ornament.

This passage is evidently expected to be played on the string in the upper half of the bow (see the note on stave 10 below).

The detached notes are all clearly intended to be executed towards the point of the bow, in contrast with typical modern practice in such passages. David's discrepant marking in the 2nd violin part at this point (see the note in that part) was presumably through oversight, but indicates a possible different approach to performing the passage.

'Saltato' here indicates a springing bowstroke, presumably in the middle to lower middle of the bow for this passage. This was still seen as a special bowstroke at this period, and David invariably indicates it with saltato, spgd (springend) or hpfd (hupfend) where he intends an off-string, or slightly rebounding bowstroke. See his Violinschule for his own description of these bowstrokes http://mhm.hud.ac.uk/chase/view/pdf/1175/14/#page.

This seems to be Mendelssohn's deletion of the repeat.

It is unclear whether David expected to slide back the 4th finger for the harmonic or to employ the 3rd.

Presumably g natural intended

Presumably f natural intended.

TH slide to the harmonic is an expressive fingering typical of David, which is echoed 4 bars later and in the 4th bar from the end.

This figure too invariably recurs with the rising portamento.

This single finger slide recurs in every repetition of this figure; here, where it is played in unison by the whole ensemble, David marked the same fingering in the 2nd violin part, suggesting that he expected the other players also to perform the figure with portamento. This style of performance clearly expresses the mournful character of the movement, which was written, as a lament for the early death of Eduard Rietz, shortly before the work's publication, to replace the original 2nd movement. Rietz, Mendelssohn's violin teacher and friend, was dedicatee of Mendelssohn's op. 4 Violin Sonata and played 1st violin in many early performances of Mendelssohn's chamber music while it was still in manuscript. Ferdinand David (as 2nd violin) also played in some of these performances; his participation in the A minor String Quartet is attested by one of Lea Mendelssohn's letters. It is likely therefore that David took part in early performances of the first version of the Quintet when it was still in manuscript and his performance of this movement is bound to have been affected by his friendship with Rietz.

[CB]

Here David had trouble deciding on the expressive fingering necessary to create the best portamento in this figure, and it remains unclear what his final version was intended to be.

This inserted slip was affixed to the next page with sealing wax to facilitate Mendelssohn's and David's cuts. (See the next notes).

The cuts and alterations in red crayon on this page seem to be Mendelssohn's; David's markings are in blue crayon. David evidently decided to introduce further cuts (perhaps, but probably not with Mendelssohn's agreement, since it seems likely that the piece was not performed in the Leipzig concerts during Mendelssohn's lifetime).

This is certainly Mendelssohn's writing.

In this movement, typical of Mendelssohn's scherzo style, the use of a sautillé bowstroke in the upper half of the bow, which David might have marked hpfd (hupfend), is so obvious that it did not need to be specified.

The use of the same finger successively is typical of David's practice.

David's change of bowing here and elsewhere on this page facilitates the pianissimo repetition of the figuration.

The fingering here (with 2nd finger to the harmonic up the A-string followed by a return to 3rd position on the E-string) gives this figure particular zest. The same fingering recurs on repetitions of this passage except where it comes forte later in the movement.

Here, because of the figuration he uses a 4th finger to the harmonic.

This note is g#2 in the collected edition edited by Julius Rietz.

The intention here is unclear. Perhaps a slight swooping upwards portamento, with the first finger just brushing the string on a'' before arriving at a#'' was intended. The composer's marking espress suggests that something special was intended here, perhaps also an increasing vibrato with the crescendo on the a#.

David originally intended three bows here, before deciding on the very effective combination of staccato and separate notes in the up-bow slur.

Here he does not indicate the 2nd finger to the harmonic and this is probably intentional, to emphasise the solidity of this developmental episode.

Harmonics, though not marked, are undoubtedly envisaged here and probably 2 bars later.