Mendelswing is a jazz adaptation drawing on the music of Felix Mendelssohn, the prolific German Romantic composer whose catalog of over 750 works includes symphonies, concertos, overtures, chamber music, and choral pieces. While no composition titled Mendelswing appears in Mendelssohn's own catalog, the name suggests a swing-style reinterpretation of one of his melodies, a practice with precedent in jazz. The most likely source material is the hymn tune known as Mendelssohn, adapted from the second chorus of Mendelssohn's Festgesang cantata, composed in 1840 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Gutenberg printing press. That melody was later paired with the lyrics of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing by arranger William H. Cummings, making it one of the most widely recognized melodies in Western music. Mendelssohn's compositional style is characterized by lyrical, singable melodies and classical formal structures that lend themselves to rhythmic reinterpretation in a jazz context. The title Mendelswing, a portmanteau of Mendelssohn and swing, signals an arrangement that reframes the classical source material with jazz phrasing and rhythmic feel. The tune appears on violinist Nora Germain's 2024 album Postcards from Violin Mountain, where Germain performs a solo on violin. Germain, a jazz violinist with a dozen albums to her name, frequently bridges classical and jazz traditions in her work, making this kind of cross-genre adaptation a natural fit for her repertoire.
