Mendelssohn Hymn of Praise

YouTube ^ | Composed: 1840 | Felix Mendelssohn

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Felix Mendelssohn Symphony No.2 in B flat major, Op.52 Hymn of Praise

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Felix Mendelssohn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (German: [ˈjaːkɔp ˈluːtvɪç ˈfeːlɪks ˈmɛndl̩szoːn baʁˈtɔldi]; 3 February 1809 – 4 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn,[n 1] was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period.

A grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Jewish family. Although initially he was brought up without religion, he was later baptised as a Reformed Christian. Mendelssohn was recognised early as a musical prodigy, but his parents were cautious and did not seek to capitalise on his talent.

Mendelssohn enjoyed early success in Germany, where he also revived interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, and in his travels throughout Europe. He was particularly well received in Britain as a composer, conductor and soloist, and his ten visits there – during which many of his major works were premiered – form an important part of his adult career. His essentially conservative musical tastes, however, set him apart from many of his more adventurous musical contemporaries such as Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner and Hector Berlioz. The Leipzig Conservatoire (now the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig), which he founded, became a bastion of this anti-radical outlook.

Mendelssohn wrote symphonies, concerti, oratorios, piano music and chamber music. His best-known works include his Overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the overture The Hebrides, his mature Violin Concerto, and his String Octet. His Songs Without Words are his most famous solo piano compositions. After a long period of relative denigration due to changing musical tastes and anti-Semitism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, his creative originality has now been recognised and re-evaluated. He is now among the most popular composers of the Romantic era.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohn

Lobgesang

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lobgesang (Hymn of Praise), Op. 52 (MWV A 18[1]), is "A Symphony-Cantata on Words of the Holy Bible, for Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra" by Felix Mendelssohn. After the composer's death it was also published as his Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major, a naming and numbering that is not Mendelssohn's.

It requires two sopranos and a tenor as soloists, along with a chorus and orchestra. It lasts almost twice as long as any of Mendelssohn's other four symphonies.

History

It was composed in 1840, along with the less-known Festgesang "Gutenberg Cantata", to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the invention of printing.

In 1842 Mendelssohn had published his Scottish Symphony as "Symphony No. 3", however a "Symphony No. 2" had never been published during Mendelssohn's lifetime. Possibly the composer's intention was to spare this number for his earlier Italian Symphony, which he premiered in 1833, but afterwards withheld for a revision that was never completed. The Italian Symphony was published posthumously as "Symphony No. 4". Decades after Mendelssohn's death, the editors of the old Mendelssohn complete edition entered Lobgesang as "No. 2" in the sequence of this symphonies for editorial reasons.[1] However there is no indication that this represented the composer's intentions. The new Mendelssohn-Werkverzeichnis (MWV), published in 2009 by the Saxonian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, no longer lists Lobgesang among the symphonies, but rather among the sacred vocal works.[1][2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobgesang

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Thanks sincerely for posting this link to Mendelssohn. (I had no idea he passed so young, right on the eve of the upheaval and reaction of 1848. Always been a fan of his music, and I relish the prospect of listening to the whole set.