Other notes - Mendelssohn

Surprisingly little attention has been paid to Mendelssohn’s smaller sacred works. They include a series of eight chorale cantatas, inspired equally by Mendelssohn’s admiration for the music of Bach (whose St Matthew Passion he famously revived in Berlin in 1829 at the age of 20!) and by his love of Martin Luther’s hymns.

Wer nur den lieben Gott, his third chorale cantata, was composed on a trip to England in April of 1829. While Bach’s influence is clear, research shows that it was only after he finished his setting that he discovered the Bach cantata setting using the same chorale, BWV 93.

The central part of the composition, the idea of confidence and trust in God, finds its musical counterpart in the second movement as the upper voices and strings subtly interact with scalar passages while the basses intone the chorale melody. A delicate, lyrical soprano aria sets the third verse. Notice the gentle footsteps in the violins depicting Jesus’ hushed arrival. The final chorale summarizes the theme of the certainty of faith, together with the powerful unison of the choir singing the chorale.