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Abstract:
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Through in -depth analyses of nine of Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte , this paper argues that all nine pieces follow a single underlying event -arc typified by a cyclical drift into and out of the mediant key area . When considered in the specific context of Mendelssohn’s philosophical approach to song writing , the pianistic and cultural context of the pieces , and the connotations of the Lied genre along with strategic musical features common to all nine pieces , such as consistent accompaniment texture and relatively unstable opening melodic motives , this drift can be characterized as a musical embodiment of the internal experience of daydreaming . Though the nature and content of the “daydream” arc in each piece is different , the sense of drifting away and effortless return characteristic of this event -arc is always the same . |