Venetian Gondola Song Op. 30 No. 6 (Songs without Words)

Felix Mendelssohn · Level 4 (Intermediate) · Romantic · Piano

The second of the three “Venetian gondola songs” of the Songs without Words (1835): an F-sharp minor barcarolle, the melody floating over the rocking left hand. A piece by Mendelssohn, master of the accompanied piano melody. F♯ minor, 6/8, 56 bars (about 3 minutes), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Keep the left hand supple and even, like the stroke of the oar; the melody, often in thirds and sixths, must stay singing and legato. Melody and accompaniment in the same hand: the top voice sings, the rest murmurs. The piece starts with a pickup: count the incomplete bar before coming in. In 6/8, count the beats as groups of three eighths (dotted beats) to keep the lilt.

More pieces by Felix Mendelssohn

• Song without Words Op. 102 No. 3 in C major
• Scherzo in E minor (Op. 16, No. 2)
• Song without Words Op. 19 No. 6 “Venetian Gondola Song”
• Song without Words Op. 85 No. 1
• Song without Words Op. 53 No. 5 “Folk Song”
• Song without Words Op. 19 No. 5 “Restlessness”
• Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Source : Mutopia Project · Public Domain