Choir
SKU:
BR.SON-442
Complete Works.
Composed by Felix
Bartholdy Mendelssohn.
Edited by Clemens
Harasim. Linen. Complete
Works. Romantic period.
Complete Works. 188
pages. Breitkopf and
Haertel #SON 442.
Published by Breitkopf
and Haertel (BR.SON-442).
ISBN 9790004803509. 10
x 12.5 inches.
This
volume contains three
reworkings and
orchestrations of
religious works by Felix
Mendelssohn Bartholdy
which were originally set
for smaller ensembles
(solo voices, four-part
chorus and organ). They
were composed at
different times and for
different occasions, two
of them as commissions.
The anthem ,,Why, o Lord,
delay forever MWV A 19
was originally the sacred
vocal piece MWV B 33,
published in England in
1841 with the additional
title ,,[…] The
Thirteenth Psalm, and in
Germany in the same year
as ,,Lass, o Herr, mich
Hilfe finden with the
title ,,Drei geistliche
Lieder which was composed
at the suggestion of the
English literature and
music lover Charles B.
Broadley who also
provided the paraphrase
of the psalm text. After
Mendelssohn had refused
an initial request by
Broadley to furnish the
anthem post festum with
an organ prelude, the
composer did not want to
turn down a second
request to orchestrate
the work and he even
expanded the existing
material with a lengthy
closing fugue involving
additional trumpets and
timpani. The ,,Ave Maria
MWV B 19 was written in
connection with
Mendelssohn's appointment
as municipal music
director, a position
which at the same time
included the
responsibility for the
musical organization of
church services. The
instrumentation of the
work with an
accompaniment of two
clarinets and two
bassoons as well as low
strings was due to the
fact that the organ in
Dusseldorf's principal
church St. Lambertus was
out of order for an
extended period of time,
and Mendelssohn
considered this solution
explicitly only as a
surrogate for the organ
should there be none. A
further psalm paraphrase
in English, this time by
William Bartholomew, of
the hymn ,,Hear my prayer
MWV B 49 was set to music
in early 1844; the
orchestration of the
organ part commissioned
by the distinguished
Dublin musician Joseph
Robinson was not
completed until 1847 so
that the premiere finally
only took place after
Mendelssohn's death. In
the further course of the
century ,,Hear my prayer
would, particularly in
the version with organ
accompaniment, come to
enjoy great popularity in
Great Britain and
Ireland.
