Mendelssohn Festival

Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at 8:00pm

Among all 19th Century composers, there was probably no one who composed as much choral music as Felix Mendelssohn; and the breadth of his output was truly amazing: from short a cappella works to giant oratorios filling a whole evening. And, in all of the works, his mastery at composing for “the choral instrument” was unequalled by anyone else in the century. The music seems to sing itself and make a chorus sound beautiful.

This concert will be a celebration of his remarkable body of great choral music. 

We will begin with works for a cappella chorus. Many of these pieces were composed for the professional choir at the cathedral in Berlin where he was once choirmaster. Our 40 professional singers should sound glorious indeed, reveling in the wonderful choral textures of these seldom-performed pieces.

Mendelssohn also composed a large number of works for organ and chorus. None of them, however, is as famous as his Hear my Prayer. Originally composed for “the Swedish Nightingale,” Jenny Lind, the work will certainly be one of the highlights of the evening.

Inspired by composers of the Baroque period, Mendelssohn became the most important creator of the oratorio in the 19th Century. Our celebration will include excerpts and scenes from oratorios you have never heard as well as from the great and deservedly famous St. Paul and Elijah.