Two years after the 16-year-old

Felix Mendelssohn composed his string octet,

a work of miraculous invention and beauty,

he astonished and dazzled the musical world once again

in 1827 with his first string quartet, opus 13

in A minor. Just to clarify,

his opus 12 string quartet is actually his second.

The A minor is a work of remarkable craft and youthful

ardor, but with such depth of feeling in all four movements that one suspects

a very old soul inhabited his 18-year-old body.

A very old soul, Ludwig van Beethoven,

certainly provided inspiration for the quartet. Beethoven's

last quartets had been published two years earlier

and Mendelssohn, smitten by them,

studied each in detail and then as a form of

homage, included near quotes from many of his quartets.

It's one thing to pay homage to someone,

or to steal, but Mendelssohn

also stole from himself by quoting from

his song "Ist es Wahr?" ("Is it True?")

which he had written only months earlier.

The three note motive from "Ist es Wahr"

appears in the opening Adagio, in all four movements,

and is brought back one last time in the Adagio

that concludes the quartet. Those book- end Adagios, both in A major,

are deeply affecting but they also provide

a striking contrast to the rest of the quartet, mostly

in a minor key, and often turbulent

and passionate. You know,

a quality cherished by writers is something

often referred to as âa voice." Some distinctive and remarkable set of

characteristics that set a writer

aside from the rest of the pack.

The young Mendelssohn undoubtedly drew inspiration

and a certain amount of substance

from Beethoven. But at that early age,

he already had this special quality himself.

A voice. That sound of his

music that is instantaneously

recognized, and deeply affecting.

[MUSIC]

Op. 13, an Homage to Beethoven