David Owen Norris Lecture-recital | Mendelssohn’s Hairpins in the Songs without Words

Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words started off in 1832 as ‘Original Melodies for the Pianoforte’ (published in London by Novellos), but Felix soon thought of a better title. Fanny stuck to calling her similar pieces just ‘Lieder für das Pianoforte’. So why did Felix mention ‘words’?David Owen Norris suggests that the answer lies in a secret code understood only by a few of Mendelssohn’s close friends, and uses Mendelssohn’s hairpins to unpick the lock.