Starring Felix Mendelssohn as: Himself (Rondo Capriccioso)

Let's talk in hypotheticals for just a moment:

Say you're walking down the street, and a burly man in a Nixon mask decides to mug you. Let's suppose , for the sake of arguement, that this man is fairly educated.

Now, and this is the good part: suppose he says he won't take your wallet... but only if you can name one piano piece that is a near-perfect representative of who Mendelssohn is as both a composer and person.

What would your answer be?

Let's end the hypothetical... your answer should have been Mendelssohn's Rondo Capriccioso. Every aspect seems to scream Mendelssohn. The writing at the beginning (bass doubled in octaves with a chordal accompaniment around the midrange of the piano and a simple melody in the upper mid-range) might as well be right out of his Lieder ohne Worte. When the faster section enters, fingery, and virtuosic. Em Violin Conerto, anyone? Perhaps this is not as weighty, but it certainly has the same passion and momentum, and the same moments of simple poignancy that mark Mendelssohn's work: perhaps not as deep as other composers, but present nonetheless.