Bertrand Chamayou - Mendelssohn: Complete 'Songs Without Words' (CD)

"Mendelssohn's Songs without Words are very well known, yet little known at the same time," says Bertrand Chamayou. "There are 48 of them in all, but fewer than ten of them feature regularly in concert programmes." With this recording of the complete Songs without Words the French pianist applies his probing imagination to a collection of pieces which, over a period of nearly 200 years, have remained captivating for their refinement, charm and intimacy of tone. "The Songs without Words constitute a kind of journal that Mendelssohn kept intermittently in the course of his life," he explains. "He appropriated a particular form, the Lied, which is all about text and narrative... a form which creates it's own world in the space of just a few minutes... The absence of text - as one constantly strives to phrase and breathe like a singer, and to exercise one's imagination without the support of words - takes the pianist on a journey into an interior world." To quote Mendelssohn himself, this is the kind of music that "fills the soul with a thousand things better than words".

Track List:

Disc: 1

1. Songs Without Words, Book I, Op. 19B: No. 1, Andante Con Moto, MWV U86 "Sweet Remembrance"
2. Songs Without Words, Book I, Op. 19B: No. 2, Andante Espressivo, MWV U80
3. Songs Without Words, Book I, Op. 19B: No. 3, Molto Allegro E Vivace, MWV U89 "Hunting Song"
4. Songs Without Words, Book I, Op. 19B: No. 4, Moderato, MWV U73
5. Songs Without Words, Book I, Op. 19B: No. 5, Poco Agitato, MWV U90
6. Songs Without Words, Book I, Op. 19B: No. 6, Andante Sostenuto, MWV U78 "Venetian Gondola Song"
7. Songs Without Words, Book II, Op. 30: No. 1, Andante Espressivo, MWV U103
8. Songs Without Words, Book II, Op. 30: No. 2, Allegro Di Molto, MWV U77
9. Songs Without Words, Book II, Op. 30: No. 3, Adagio Non Troppo, MWV U104
10. Songs Without Words, Book II, Op. 30: No. 4, Agitato Con Fuoco, MWV U98
11. Songs Without Words, Book II, Op. 30: No. 5, Andante Grazioso, MWV U97
12. Songs Without Words, Book II, Op. 30: No. 6, Allegretto Tranquillo, MWV U110 "Venetian Boat Song"
13. Songs Without Words, Book III, Op. 38: No. 1, Con Moto, MWV U121
14. Songs Without Words, Book III, Op. 38: No. 2, Allegro Non Troppo, MWV U115
15. Songs Without Words, Book III, Op. 38: No. 3, Presto E Molto Vivace, MWV U107
16. Songs Without Words, Book III, Op. 38: No. 4, Andante, MWV U120
17. Songs Without Words, Book III, Op. 38: No. 5, Agitato, MWV U137
18. Songs Without Words, Book III, Op. 38: No. 6, Andante Con Moto, MWV U119 "Duetto"
19. Songs Without Words, Book IV, Op. 53: No. 1, Andante Con Moto, MWV U143
20. Songs Without Words, Book IV, Op. 53: No. 2, Allegro Non Troppo, MWV U109
21. Songs Without Words, Book IV, Op. 53: No. 3, Presto Agitato, MWV U144
22. Songs Without Words, Book IV, Op. 53: No. 4, Adagio, MWV U114
23. Songs Without Words, Book IV, Op. 53: No. 5, Allegro Con Fuoco, MWV U153 "Folksong"
24. Songs Without Words, Book IV, Op. 53: No. 6, Molto Allegro Vivace, MWV U154
25. Songs Without Words, Book V, Op. 62: No. 1, Andante Espressivo, MWV U185
26. Songs Without Words, Book V, Op. 62: No. 2, Allegro Con Fuoco, MWV U181
27. Songs Without Words, Book V, Op. 62: No. 3, Andante Maestoso, MWV U177 "Trauermarsch"
28. Songs Without Words, Book V, Op. 62: No. 4, Allegro Con Anima, MWV U175
29. Songs Without Words, Book V, Op. 62: No. 5, Andante Con Moto, MWV U151 "Venetian Boat Song"
30. Songs Without Words, Book V, Op. 62: No. 6, Allegretto Grazioso, MWV U161 "Spring Song"
31. Songs Without Words, Book VI, Op. 67: No. 1, Andante, MWV U180
32. Songs Without Words, Book VI, Op. 67: No. 2, Allegro Leggiero, MWV U145
33. Songs Without Words, Book VI, Op. 67: No. 3, Andante Tranquillo, MWV U102
34. Songs Without Words, Book VI, Op. 67: No. 4, Presto, MWV U182 "Spinner's Song"
35. Songs Without Words, Book VI, Op. 67: No. 5, Moderato, MWV U184
36. Songs Without Words, Book VI, Op. 67: No. 6, Allegro Non Troppo, MWV U188 "Cradle Song"
37. Songs Without Words, Book VII, Op. 85: No. 1, Andante Espressivo, MWV U150
38. Songs Without Words, Book VII, Op. 85: No. 2, Allegro Agitato, MWV U101
39. Songs Without Words, Book VII, Op. 85: No. 3, Presto, MWV U111
40. Songs Without Words, Book VII, Op. 85: No. 4, Andante Sostenuto, MWV U190
41. Songs Without Words, Book VII, Op. 85: No. 5, Allegretto, MWV U191
42. Songs Without Words, Book VII, Op. 85: No. 6, Allegretto Con Moto, MWV U155
43. Songs Without Words, Book VIII, Op. 102: No. 1, Andante Un Poco Agitato, MWV U162
44. Songs Without Words, Book VIII, Op. 102: No. 2, Adagio, MWV U192
45. Songs Without Words, Book VIII, Op. 102: No. 3, Presto, MWV U195
46. Songs Without Words, Book VIII, Op. 102: No. 4, Un Poco Agitato Ma Andante, MWV U152
47. Songs Without Words, Book VIII, Op. 102: No. 5, Allegro Vivace, MWV U194
48. Songs Without Words, Book VIII, Op. 102: No. 6, Andante, MWV U172