On September 8th, we commence rehearsals for our new season of concerts, the first of which will be on November 28th when we perform Mendelssohn's wonderful oratorio St Paul. This rarely performed gem has many of the attributes of the later, famous Elijah and was particularly influential in the shaping of musical history - apparently, Wagner's early music was much influenced by this work, although Wagner, a notable critic of Mendelssohn, would have been loathed to acknowledge this.
Like a number of the previous works I have conducted, I have never previously performed this piece and so the music is pretty much new to me. However, I did a little homework prior to selecting the piece as repertoire for our new season. Initial impressions are extremely encouraging. The music features plenty of challenging and exciting choral movements, many references to Bach (now, I wonder why that might appeal!?) and a number of intriguing arias.
The Bach connection is always interesting with Mendelssohn. He was in the vanguard of the Romantic revival of Bach's music, particularly famous, when only 20 years old, for his 1829 revival of Bach's St Matthew Passion, possibly 100 years after its first performance. St Paul follows Bach's example in using the chorus as, amongst other things, a 'crowd' during the dramatic scenes. Additionally, the use of chorales is a key feature. The overture uses the 'Wachet auf' (Sleepers wake) chorale, and chorales are sung at several other points during the work. Above all, Mendelssohn liked to imbue his music with counterpoint, and a strong, bass-upwards sense of harmony, a Germanic tradition which captured the essence of Bach and which was continued beyond Mendelssohn by composers such as Schumann, Brahms and Bruckner.
Unlike Elijah, Mendelssohn initially composed St Paul to a German libretto. Whilst the work was an instant success, with over 60 performances in Germany during the year following its premiere, Mendelssohn was keen to bring his new music to an English audience at an early stage, and conducted the work for a second time in English in 1837. Mendelssohn's strong English connections are well worth exploring at a later date. Whether, or not, the English translation provided in the Novello edition is the same that Mendelssohn would have used is not known. I have already found some opportunities for 'editing' some of the words! Watch this space....
