Assai tranquillo, inB minor, is a work written for cello and piano byFelix Mendelssohn. The piece was composed on 25 July 1835 on a journey fromDüsseldorf toLeipzig. Mendelssohn dedicated it to the cellistJulius Rietz, who was the composer's assistantKapellmeister in Düsseldorf.[1] The piece, whose parts serenely weave together, passing the melody and the running eighth notes back and forth, was likely left incomplete, as it ends with a pause on the dominant, an F♯.
The piece was not published until 1962, when a reproduction of the facsimile was included inReinhold Sietz's articleDas Stammbuch von Julius Rietz, and was first recorded byHyperion Records on their recording of Mendelssohn's complete works for cello and piano.[2]
