Shepherd’s Melody
Rainer Mohrs
Timeline
Rainer Mohrs (born 1953)
- Born 1953 in Andernach, Germany.
- Studied at Bernkastel-Kues in the Moselle
- 1976-8 studied piano at the conservatory in Cologne, and worked as a piano and cello teacher as well as a Baroque cellist in the ensemble Il Concertino Köln.
- Since 1987 he has been a lecturer at Schott Music in Mainz.
Style
Rainer Mohrs has written extensively on the life and work of composer and church musician of Hermann Schroeder (1904-1984). He also is an editor of music for children with Schott’s Music publishers.
Mohrs is a CONTEMPORARY composer but Shepherd’s Melody is rather like a folk song from long ago. It is in Ternary Form so has three sections ABA. Section A is wistful and sad in G minor but the middle section B is fast and lively and in G major.
Interpretation
- Think of the left hand chords like bells gently ringing in the distance. A touch of pedal on each one might help to give them more resonance. Also, play the melody legato but shape it in 4 bar phrases with a breath between each phrase:
- There is a lovely echo in bar 12 so take the dynamic down to a whisper here just for one bar:
- The Allegro middle section needs to really rhythmic. Make an impact from the start after slowing down with the ritardando in bar 16, then a tiny pause before setting the pace at the start of bar 17. In bar 18 sim. is short for simile which means continue in a similar way – so keep the tenuto/staccato articulation going here:
- Try to make the ritardando in bar 24 slow the music down seamlessly to lead back to the Largo at the beginning:
