ABSTRACT
The String Quartet in E-flat major in common with several of Mendelssohn's pieces is an example of a work using cyclic form. This new theme is left undeveloped and unresolved in the coda of the first movement, and consequently becomes the cyclic motivation for the rest of the work. This chapter focuses on the remarkable formal 'deformation' of the first movement, whereby the generative opposition between first and second subjects is replaced by that between the themes of the exposition and a new theme in the development. It provides from the idea of 'trauma', and Sigmund Freud's codification of the concept, as a useful way of interrogating Mendelssohn's work, though inevitably such a theoretical tool will exaggerate certain aspects of the music. The refined chiaroscuro of Mendelssohn's work, the subtle balance of light and shade, might appear slightly distorted in the lurid expressionist hues of Freud, through such an approach a genuine aspect of the work will be brought out.
