Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Caprices (3) for piano, Op. 33: No. 1
2. Caprices (3) for piano, Op. 33: No. 2
3. Caprices (3) for piano, Op. 33: No. 3
4. Capriccio for piano in F sharp minor, Op. 5
5. Capriccio for piano in E major, Op. 118
6. Scherzo for piano in B minor
7. Scherzo a capriccio, for piano in F sharp minor
8. Rondo capriccioso, for piano in E major, Op. 14
9. Perpetuum Mobile, for piano in C major, Op. 119
10. Klavierstücke (2) for piano: No. 1
11. Klavierstücke (2) for piano: No. 2
12. Andante cantabile & Presto agitato, for piano in B major

Disc 2:

1. Piano Sonata in B flat major, Op. 106: 1. Allegro vivace
2. Piano Sonata in B flat major, Op. 106: 2. Scherzo. Allegro non troppo
3. Piano Sonata in B flat major, Op. 106: 3. Andante quasi allegretto
4. Piano Sonata in B flat major, Op. 106: 4. Allegro moderato
5. Piano Sonata in E major, Op. 6: 1. Allegretto con espressione
6. Piano Sonata in E major, Op. 6: 2. Tempo di menuetto
7. Piano Sonata in E major, Op. 6: 3. Adagio e senza tempo
8. Piano Sonata in E major, Op. 6: 4. Molto allegro e vivace
9. Piano Sonata in G minor, Op. 105: 1. Allegro
10. Piano Sonata in G minor, Op. 105: 2. Adagio
11. Piano Sonata in G minor, Op. 105: 3. Presto
12. Kinderstücke (6) for piano ('Christmas Pieces'), Op. 72: 1. Allegro non troppo
13. Kinderstücke (6) for piano ('Christmas Pieces'), Op. 72: 2. Andante sostenuto
14. Kinderstücke (6) for piano ('Christmas Pieces'), Op. 72: 3. Allegretto
15. Kinderstücke (6) for piano ('Christmas Pieces'), Op. 72: 4. Andante con moto
16. Kinderstücke (6) for piano ('Christmas Pieces'), Op. 72: 5. Allegro assai
17. Kinderstücke (6) for piano ('Christmas Pieces'), Op. 72: 6. Vivace

Disc 3:

1. Preludes & Fugues (6) for piano, Op. 35: No. 1 in E minor. Allegro con fuoco
2. Preludes & Fugues (6) for piano, Op. 35: No. 1 in E minor. Andante espressivo
3. Preludes & Fugues (6) for piano, Op. 35: No. 2 in D major. Allegretto
4. Preludes & Fugues (6) for piano, Op. 35: No. 2 in D major. Tranquillo e sempre legato
5. Preludes & Fugues (6) for piano, Op. 35: No. 3 in B minor. Prestissimo staccato
6. Preludes & Fugues (6) for piano, Op. 35: No. 3 in B minor. Allegro con brio
7. Preludes & Fugues (6) for piano, Op. 35: No. 4 in A flat major. Con moto
8. Preludes & Fugues (6) for piano, Op. 35: No. 4 in A flat major. Con moto, ma sostenuto
9. Preludes & Fugues (6) for piano, Op. 35: No. 5 in F minor. Andante lento
10. Preludes & Fugues (6) for piano, Op. 35: No. 5 in F minor. Allegro con fuoco
11. Preludes & Fugues (6) for piano, Op. 35: No. 6 in B flat minor. Maestoso moderato
12. Preludes & Fugues (6) for piano, Op. 35: No. 6 in B flat minor. Allegro con brio
13. Prelude & Fugue for piano in E minor: Prelude - Allegro molto
14. Prelude & Fugue for piano in E minor: Fugue - Allegro energico
15. Preludes (3) & Etudes (3) for piano, Op. 104: Prelude No. 1 in B flat major. Allegro molto e vivace
16. Preludes (3) & Etudes (3) for piano, Op. 104: Prelude No. 2 in B minor. Allegro agitato
17. Preludes (3) & Etudes (3) for piano, Op. 104: Prelude No. 3 in D major. Allegro vivace
18. Preludes (3) & Etudes (3) for piano, Op. 104: Study No. 1 in B flat minor. Presto
19. Preludes (3) & Etudes (3) for piano, Op. 104: Study No. 2 in F major. Allegro con moto
20. Preludes (3) & Etudes (3) for piano, Op. 104: Study No. 3 in A minor. Allegro vivace
21. Etude for piano in F minor

Disc 4:

1. Variations sérieuses, for piano in D minor, Op. 54
2. Fantasies or Caprices (3) for piano, Op. 16: 1. Andante con moto
3. Fantasies or Caprices (3) for piano, Op. 16: 2. Scherzo. Presto
4. Fantasies or Caprices (3) for piano, Op. 16: 3. Andante
5. Variations for piano in E flat major, Op. 82
6. Fantasy for piano in F sharp minor ('Sonate écossaise'), Op. 28: 1. Con moto agitato
7. Fantasy for piano in F sharp minor ('Sonate écossaise'), Op. 28: 2. Allegro con moto
8. Fantasy for piano in F sharp minor ('Sonate écossaise'), Op. 28: 3. Presto
9. Variations for piano in B flat major, Op. 83
10. Fantasy on 'The Last Rose of Summer' for piano in E major, Op. 15

Disc 5:

1. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 1, Op. 19b: No. 1 in E major. Andante con moto
2. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 1, Op. 19b: No. 2 in A minor. Andante espressivo
3. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 1, Op. 19b: No. 3 in A major. Molto allegro e vivace (Hunting Song)
4. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 1, Op. 19b: No. 4 in A major. Moderato
5. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 1, Op. 19b: No. 5 in F sharp minor. Poco agitato
6. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 1, Op. 19b: No. 6 in G minor. Andante sostenuto (Venetian Gondola Song)
7. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 2, Op. 30: No. 1 in E flat major. Andante espressivo
8. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 2, Op. 30: No. 2 in B flat minor. Allegro di molto
9. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 2, Op. 30: No. 3 in E major. Adagio non troppo
10. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 2, Op. 30: No. 4 in B minor. Agitato e con fuoco
11. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 2, Op. 30: No. 5 in D major. Andante grazioso
12. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 2, Op. 30: No. 6 in F sharp minor. Allegretto tranquillo (Venetian Gondola Song)
13. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 3, Op. 38: No. 1 in E flat major. Con moto
14. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 3, Op. 38: No. 2 in C minor. Allegro non troppo
15. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 3, Op. 38: No. 3 in E major. Presto e molto vivace
16. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 3, Op. 38: No. 4 in A major. Andante
17. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 3, Op. 38: No. 5 in A minor. Agitato
18. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 3, Op. 38: No. 6 in A flat major (Duetto). Andante con moto
19. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 4, Op. 53: No. 1 in A flat major. Andante con moto
20. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 4, Op. 53: No. 2 in E flat major. Allegro non troppo
21. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 4, Op. 53: No. 3 in G minor. Presto agitato
22. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 4, Op. 53: No. 4 in F major. Adagio
23. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 4, Op. 53: No. 5 in A minor. Allegro con fuoco (Folksong)
24. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 4, Op. 53: No. 6 in A major. Molto allegro vivace
25. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 5, Op. 62: No. 1 in G major. Andante espressivo
26. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 5, Op. 62: No. 2 in B flat major. Allegro con fuoco
27. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 5, Op. 62: No. 3 in E minor. Andante maestoso (Funeral March)
28. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 5, Op. 62: No. 4 in G major. Allegro con anima
29. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 5, Op. 62: No. 5 in A minor. Andnate con moto (Venetian Gondola Song)
30. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 5, Op. 62: No. 6 in A major. Allegretto grazioso (Spring Song)

Disc 6:

1. Characteristic Pieces (7) for piano, Op. 7: No. 1 in E minor. Andante
2. Characteristic Pieces (7) for piano, Op. 7: No. 2 in B minor. Allegro vivace
3. Characteristic Pieces (7) for piano, Op. 7: No. 3 in D major. Allegro vivace
4. Characteristic Pieces (7) for piano, Op. 7: No. 4 in A major. Con moto
5. Characteristic Pieces (7) for piano, Op. 7: No. 5 in A major. Fuga
6. Characteristic Pieces (7) for piano, Op. 7: No. 6 in E minor. Andante
7. Characteristic Pieces (7) for piano, Op. 7: No. 7 in E major. Presto
8. Gondollied, for piano in A major ('Barcarole')
9. Albumblatt for piano in E minor, Op. 117
10. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 6, Op. 67: No. 1 in E flat major. Andante
11. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 6, Op. 67: No. 2 in F sharp minor. Allegro leggiero
12. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 6, Op. 67: No. 3 in B flat major. Andante tranquillo
13. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 6, Op. 67: No. 4 in C major. Presto
14. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 6, Op. 67: No. 5 in B minor. Moderato
15. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 6, Op. 67: No. 6 in E major. Allegretto non troppo
16. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 7, Op. 85: No. 1 in F major. Andante espressivo
17. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 7, Op. 85: No. 2 in A minor. Allegro agitato
18. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 7, Op. 85: No. 3 in E flat major. Presto
19. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 7, Op. 85: No. 4 in D major. Andante sostenuto
20. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 7, Op. 85: No. 5 in A major. Allegretto
21. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 7, Op. 85: No. 6 in B flat major. Allegretto con moto
22. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 8, Op. 102: No. 1 in E minor. Andante un poco agitato
23. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 8, Op. 102: No. 2 in D major. Adagio
24. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 8, Op. 102: No. 3 in C major. Presto
25. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 8, Op. 102: No. 4 in G minor. Un poco agitato, ma andante
26. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 8, Op. 102: No. 5 in A major. Allegro vivace
27. Songs without Words (6) for piano, Book 8, Op. 102: No. 6 in C major. Andante
28. Song without Words for piano No. 41 in A major, Op. 85/5
29. Song without Words for piano No. 44 in D major, Op. 102/2

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #63472 in Music
• Released on: 1997-10-07
• Number of discs: 6
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .85 pounds

Amazon.com
Whether in the large-scale Op. 6 Sonata and Variations Serieuses or the gentle yet cogently proportioned Songs Without Words, the indefatigable Martin Jones plays this music with assurance, insight, and a singing tone that never cloys. Moreover, Nimbus's rock-bottom price is hard to beat for customers wishing to acquire Mendelssohn's entire solo piano output in one fell swoop. --Jed Distler

Customer Reviews

An okay recording...
For the price, you really can't find a real deal... but in a lot of places, it's obvious why the price is as low as it is. First of all, the recording is awfully muddy and the piano's tone suffers as a result, often sounding more like it's underwater than anything else.

The second thing is that the pianist makes a fair amount of mistakes in the music he is playing, some of them often grating, something that is unacceptable in a studio recording. But I'm still giving it a middle-of-the-road score because the performances aside from the mistakes are often quite good.

very poor sound quality almost ruins it
This is no doubt to me great piano music played by a great performer. I can't find anything wrong with that. The only problem is the recording quality is very poor, almost intolerable at times. This was recorded in the early through late 70s. I disagree with the previous reviewer, the sound isn't crisp or clear at all, it's very staticy and recorded at a very low volume so you have to crank up the volume creating more static. It's also hard to hear how beautiful the piano really is. To confirm what one of the other reviewers said it does sound as if the piano is underwater. Too bad the recording was not cleaned up to sound at least a little better.

Even at the price I paid ($25)it still may be over priced. It is a great way to get all of his solo piano music but if you want quality skip this and spend the extra money.

Some of the Most Complex Music of the Period!
Mendelssohn's piano music is an amazing body of work and if you are a classical music fan who has not been exposed to it yet, this is a wonderful way to get his entire piano output. Nimbus has Marvin Jones( winner of the 1968 Myra Hess Award ) performing this for us, recorded in the 1970's. It is in ADD, which is what one would expect from that time, but the sound is very crisp and clear, with the microphone placement not extremely close to the piano, so as to capture the room acoustics. Mr. Jones plays with great brilliance, clarity, and enthusiasm, and, most importantly, he seems to capture the true spirit of Mendelssohn. The set is nicely packaged in two triple cases in a sleeve with a booklet.