Program Notes
Originally intended as one of the movements of the Organ
Sonatas (Op. 65), Mendelssohn vigorously rejected the Allegro moderato maestoso [March in C Major] by drawing a very
large X across the entire page. It remained unpublished until 1988—an
attractive example of the composer’s oft repressed fondness for marches on the
organ.
The Andante in G Minor (1833), a
genuine and apparently Mendelssohn’s only miniature for organ, was inscribed on
a single page in Vincent Novello’s autograph album. It is a charming example of
the composer’s ability to shape a skillfully finished and polished work in nuce. Präludium in C Minor (1841) is
an occasional work, written for the Edinburgh
Präludium in C Minor (1841) is an occasional work, written for the
Edinburgh organist and conductor, Henry Dibdin, who requested a “long measure
psalm tune”. Mendelssohn, having no idea what that was, sent him this prelude.
Clearly based on the Andante in G Minor (track 2), it expands Mendelssohn’s
original thought and demonstrates his deft contrapuntal hand when operating
within a limited scope.
Perhaps the most pertinent observation one might make about Mendelssohn’s Sechs Sprüche is that they are almost never performed. And
on those rare occasions when performances are given, they invariably take place
in a concert rather than liturgical setting. The original purpose for which
Mendelssohn wrote them—each as part of the Prussian king’s new liturgical order
of service—has vanished, and with it their musical raison d’être. Thus liturgically marooned, they have long
existed in a kind of repertorial limbo. Between twenty and forty measures in
length, these pieces are terse statements: too long for introits and generally
too short for motets, which, in fact, they are. Written for the Berlin Cathedral
Choir, which consisted of some of the most highly trained professional singers
in the German capital, these six a
cappella motets for double
chorus are among the composer’s more demanding choral works. This is Mendelssohn
at his most intellectual, and most austere.
Neither the order in which the Sprüche
were written (between 1843 and 1846) nor the
jumbled sequence in which they were originally published has anything to do
with their thematic order in the liturgical year. Because there seems to be no
reason for the order of their original sequences, they are performed here according
to their chronological place in the liturgical year: Advent, Christmas, New Year’s
Day, Holy Week, Good Friday and Ascension. None of these seasonal or specific
days necessarily falls on a Sunday, and thus the proscription against the use
of “Halleluja” in the penitential seasons would seem to apply. Contrary to
Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions, however, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV’s
service protocol clearly endorsed the use of “Halleluja” on virtually any
occasion. The concluding “Halleluja” in each Spruch, although
individually different and distinct, thus constitutes a common link within the
entire set.
Composed at different times and under different circumstances, there is little
other musical cohesion in the set. The two Sprüche for
Advent and Christmas share G Major as their common tonality, and each begins
with the outline of an ascending G major triad, while both are also linked by a
textual exhortation to rejoice.
In contrast Mendelssohn’s first work written for organ and composed at age
eleven, the Präludium in D
Minor (1820) was doubtless a
byproduct of his recently begun organ lessons with August Wilhelm Bach. Although
it is manifestly a youthful endeavor—block chords predominate and pedals are
largely ignored—Mendelssohn nonetheless managed to infuse it with a sense of
direction and cohesion that holds the listener’s interest for more than one hundred
thirty bars.
The Allegro in B-flat Major (Dec. 1844?) was originally intended as the
final movement of Organ Sonata IV. Mendelssohn had severe reservations about it
and finally discarded it in April 1845. Virtually never found on recital programs
and almost never performed, this Allegro is certainly Mendelssohn’s strangest
organ work. Pianistic in character, its driving force is the relentless
rhythmic pattern of descending chords against a melodic line that alternately
soars above and below it. Despite its unorganistic nature, the Allegro possesses
a contagious charm and deserves to be better known. A transparent three-voiced
movement, this attractive Andante
in F major (1844) was the first
piece composed by Mendelssohn, when he began work on what would eventually
become Six Organ Sonatas (Op. 65). Although at first glance it appears to be a
trio, the absence of an active and independent pedal part eliminates it as an organ
trio in the traditional sense. It may, however, be more accurately
characterized as a two-part invention over a supportive pedal line. In this
respect it is not unrelated to the Allegretto of the Fourth Organ Sonata.
Originally intended for inclusion in the Organ Sonatas, but probably eliminated
because of its length, the Andante
in D Major [with Variations]
(1844) was apparently dear to Mendelssohn’s heart, since two surviving
fragments suggest that he continued to tinker with it later. Here, in its
definitive form, Mendelssohn features the theme in both the right and left
hands, and against triplets, and in 6/8 meter. Predictably, at the end he restates
the theme in its original harmonized form.
Inspired by a small volume of Luther’s chorales given him by his Viennese host,
Franz Hauser, upon his departure for Italy in 1830, Mendelssohn eventually
composed a half dozen chorale cantatas based on the chorales in his Lutherisches Liederbüchlein. Among the first of what he referred to as the
“Lutheran Chorale Project” was “Aus
tiefer Noth”, completed in Venice
on 19 October 1830. It is the only one of the set that he published during his
lifetime (Drei Kirchemusiken, Bonn, 1832).
Surrounded in Venice by magnificent examples of Renaissance and mannerist
architecture, Mendelssohn seems to have found inspiration for “Aus tiefer Noth”
as much in the late Renaissance and early baroque composers as he did in J. S. Bach.
Framed at the beginning and end by straightforward statements of the Chorale,
the cantata is neatly constructed of five roughly equal parts. The two settings
of the Chorale differ harmonically only to a slight degree: the first is more
restrained and terse. The second setting of the chorale, at the end, is
slightly more ornate, but otherwise, the differences are minor. This simple
framework not only gives a contained form and shape to the motet, but it is
also reminiscent of Bach’s chorale partitas for organ, in which the composer normally
repeats the Chorale as the concluding movement.
The second movement is a fugue, with the first phrase of the Chorale as the
subject. Mendelssohn changed the first note from a quarter to a half note, a
move that caused him such concern, that he sought the advice of his teacher,
Carl Friedrich Zelter, as to whether such an alteration was permissible (14
October, 1830). The Fugue itself is a model of 16th/17th century counterpoint and
could quite conceivably have been written two hundred years earlier. Although impersonal
stylistically, Mendelssohn was nonetheless as keenly aware of the overall sonority,
as he was elsewhere in his choral music. The Fugue, unintentionally perhaps,
also provides a valuable glimpse into Mendelssohn’s understanding and
appreciation of the popular “Palestrina Style” movement of mid-nineteenth
century Germany. (Giuseppe Baini’s seminal study of Palestrina’s life and works
had appeared only three years earlier, 1828.)
Mendelssohn’s score implies that the third movement, the Aria with Chorus, should
flow seamlessly out of the Fugue. Here, at the center of the work, Mendelssohn’s
style changes abruptly, as the impersonal gives way to the personal, Mendelssohn
seems to have found inspiration for “Aus tiefer Noth” as much in the late
Renaissance and early baroque composers as he did in J. S. Bach. Framed at the
beginning and end by straightforward statements of the Chorale, the cantata is
neatly constructed of five roughly equal parts. The two settings of the Chorale
differ harmonically only to a slight degree: the first is more restrained and terse.
The second setting of the chorale, at the end, is slightly more ornate, but
otherwise, the differences are minor. This simple framework not only gives a contained
form and shape to the motet, but it is also reminiscent of Bach’s chorale partitas
for organ, in which the composer as counterpoint
yields to harmony, and Mendelssohn’s antiquarian stance is replaced by a
clearly contemporary, indeed, intimate manner. Floating above a simple organ
accompaniment that doubles the melody, the tenor solo melds almost imperceptibly
into the full choir, which in large measure is a reprise of the Aria. Handled
with consummate restraint, the tempo is Adagio throughout, as is the dynamic
marking, piano.
In the fourth movement, a figurierter Choral, the tutti soprano
line carries the chorale melody against a contrapuntally worked out development
in the three lower voices (all Solo),
continuing the tempo and mood of the third movement (Andante, Dolce). In closing the movement,
Mendelssohn allows himself a brief indulgence in one of his favorite devices, durezze e ligature, as the soprano line remains
stationary for the final seven measures over constantly moving harmonic line.
In the fifth movement, a restatement of the chorale, Mendelssohn looks back to the
Fugue (second movement) and again transforms the opening note of the chorale
from a quarter- to a half-note. Otherwise, the reiteration of the unadorned
chorale serves as a symmetrical conclusion to the cantata.
Written in Rome during Mendelssohn’s Grand Tour, the Nachspiel (“Postlude”) is Mendelssohn’s
most enigmatic organ work. Specifically, its purpose is unknown (i.e., postlude
to what?) Most probably, Mendelssohn intended it as a postlude to his chorale
cantata “Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott”, although that cannot be documented.
In 1844 Mendelssohn returned to the Nachspiel and, with a slightly changed rhythmic pattern and minus its fugue,
used it as the final movement of his Second Organ Sonata.
Although clearly an apprenticeship work, in which the composer is still trying
to establish his own distinct approach and style, this amiable Andante in D Major seems to have been influenced, if
not inspired, by one of many similar short movements, romantically described as
sanft (gentle, soft, tender) by his
former organ teacher, August Wilhelm Bach.
The Allegro
[Chorale and Fugue] in D/d was
the last of four movements written in the first inspirational heat of July 1844,
as Mendelssohn began work on his “Voluntary” project, commissioned by his English
publisher, Charles Coventry. Covering nearly two hundred measures, it is Mendelssohn’s
longest work for organ, which may well be the reason why it was finally culled
from the movements chosen for inclusion in his Six Organ Sonatas. This tripartite
composition opens with a fiery toccata-like fantasy on a bold theme. Improvisatory
in style and imbued with a ferocity and intensity virtually unparalleled in
Mendelssohn’s oeuvre
for organ, the composer combines rapid scale
passages with block chords in an upward journey, that culminates with the
Chorale bursting forth in D Major. The Chorale itself is an original
four-square statement, alternating with and without pedals, and the Fugue that follows
grows directly out of the final chord of the Chorale. The careful listener will
hear in the fugal subject the opening melody of the Andante in D Major with
Variations that Mendelssohn had completed only a day or so earlier. Curiously,
Mendelssohn offers only the dynamic indication, f[orte] at the beginning of the Allegro, despite the fact that several implicit, but
significant dynamic variations occur in the course of the work. Equally
curious, but nonetheless characteristic, Mendelssohn concludes the Fugue in a
descending, rather than ascending, direction, and ends at the rather low pitch
of D above middle C.
Unlike “Aus tiefer Noth” or the other chorale cantatas, all of which were part
of the Lutheran Chorale Project and based on chorale canti firmi, “Verleih
uns Frieden” is not grounded in a
chorale, but is an entirely original creation, a kind of nonsectarian cantique or sacred song. The text is simply a
translation of the prayer for peace, “Da/Dona nobis pacem”, which is the
concluding prayer in numerous liturgical contexts.
Although Mendelssohn gave the opening melody no specific designation, it would
be quite appropriate to describe it as an Aria, precisely as he had explicitly titled
the central movement of his cantata “Aus tiefer Noth”. Apparently not noticed until
now, these two movements are intimately related; the opening eight bars of both
the Aria and “Verleih uns Frieden” are virtually identical.
The intent, as Mendelssohn originally planned it, was simplicity itself: “a
canon with cello and basses”. As the work progresses, however, Mendelssohn
brings in more instruments and more voices, but without losing in any way the
work’s crystalline purity. The principal melody that Mendelssohn called his
“little song” (“das kleine Lied”) ranks among the most moving and beautiful
ever to come from the composer’s pen, yet strangely, the cantata is rarely
heard. Robert Schumann was among the first to recognize this “uniquely beautiful
composition”, and announced that it “deserves to become world-famous”. After
all, “Raphael and Murillo cannot remain hidden for very long.” (Robert Schumann,
Gesammelte Schriften, III.40).
After a short introduction by the bassoons, violoncelli and contrabass/organ, which
sets the serene mood of the work, the melody is first quietly intoned in the
bass (p e dolce). Then, after the briefest of interludes,
the alto repeats the melody (p
e dolce) in dialogue with the bass. The use of low
tessitura in both the choral and instrumental lines, to enhance the calm and peaceful
aura that pervades the work, is characteristic of Mendelssohnian technique. Leading
into the third and concluding part of the cantata the composer gradually introduces
other instruments, and finally the full chorus enters in a conventional four part,
hymn-like harmonization, but still at mezzoforte. In the final dozen or so bars Mendelssohn
introduces a subtle figuration of the original melody and closes with a diminuendo to pp
in all parts. Extending for a mere 102 bars,
“Verleih uns Frieden” could perhaps also be described as a choral miniature. In
the course of the entire cantata the range of every voice, with but a single
brief exception, never exceeds an octave. —WM. A. LITTLE
_______________________________________________ Producer's notes:
This recording was
made in two acoustics: Christ (Episcopal) Church and Fountain Court in the Memorial
Art Gallery, both in Rochester, NY. Fountain Court, which houses Eastman’s
historical Italian Baroque Organ is blessed with superb acoustics for a cappella singing. The organ solo works, and choral
works with organ were recorded using the Craighead-Saunders Organ at Christ
Church. This is our third recording on this instrument (see also Loft Recordings
LRCD-1115 “The Craighead-Saunders Organ” and Gothic Records G-49278-2 “Bach:
Art of Fugue”) and its musical flexibility never ceases to amaze this listener.
In this recording in particular one can hear how readily the organ’s foundation
stops blend with strings and the human voice, particularly in the final track where
string instruments with gut strings were employed.
Recording sessions in both places used only two high-quality, omni-directional microphones.
There were no transformers in the signal path, and no artificial “reverb” was
added, or necessary. Soloists were recorded with their actual, natural balance
to the other instruments and singers. The organ was manually pumped to provide
wind pressure and as a result, bellows sounds can occasionally be heard in the
background.
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