Musical Sketch in B flat

Mendelssohn's Two Musical Sketches are late piano miniatures — written in the last years of his short life, in the same lineage as the Lieder ohne Worte but more compressed. The Sketch in B flat opens the pair: a lyrical Andante with a long-breathed right-hand melody over a flowing left-hand quaver accompaniment, in the unmistakable Mendelssohnian voice.

Technically the piece tests three things at concert standard. First, cantabile right-hand voicing in a Romantic idiom — the melody must sing clearly above the accompaniment without forcing the tone. Second, a quiet but rhythmically alive left-hand pattern that supports without competing. Third, chromatic harmonic side-shadows played as colour, not as announcement. The pedal must change cleanly on each chord shift.

Two pitfalls. First, students play the left-hand pattern too prominently; train it alone at pp until it can deliver itself, then add the melody. Second, the chromatic colour notes are sometimes leaned on as Romantic expressive moments; Mendelssohn's idiom is more restrained — the colour is present but understated.

Listening: PD recordings of Mendelssohn's complete piano works are widely available on Musopen and IMSLP audio. Murray Perahia (in copyright) and historical recordings on Pearl/Musopen calibrate the right touch.