ABSTRACT
Felix Mendelssohn’s op. 67, no. 4 from the Lieder ohne Worte—the celebrated “Spinnerlied”—begins with a two-measure introduction of continuous sixteenth notes revolving or circling chromatically around G4. In fact, the editorial addendum linking Mendelssohn’s instrumental composition to spinning was likely inspired by similar figurations occurring in earlier texted compositions. Franz Schubert’s “Gretchen am Spinnrade” contains the most famous musical spinning wheel. The spinning-wheel topic inevitably signifies the female gender and domesticity. Spinning has always been associated with women in Western culture, and the ancient spindle symbolizes female productivity and wisdom. Franz Joseph Haydn’s spinning song, in the winter segment of The Seasons, vividly portrays a spinning party as described by Patricia Baines. Young girls received similar messages connecting spinning with prospects of marriage in many folktales collected and edited between 1812 and 1856 by Jacob Jolij and Wilhelm Grimm. Industrialization in Europe had an impact on the changing social attitude toward spinning and spinners.
