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Jubilate, one borrowed from Mendelssohn’s Sechs Sprüche. The German publisher, Breitkopf & Härtel designated the pieces motets and labeled them Op. 69, Nos. 1–3. Mendelssohn had requested that the German version not be printed with English texts, but the publisher insisted. The order of the songs was also changed, disregarding the original purpose as English service music. Sadly for many church choirs outside of England, the German version of these pieces became more widely known. Opus 69, No. 1 The Nunc Dimittis, Lord, Now Lettest Thou Thy Servant, is described by John Michael Cooper: leading to a peaceful end. The organ accompaniment doubles the voices throughout. Only in the last half of the fi rst section does Mendelssohn allow the bass of the organ to render moving quarters independent of the voices. Though not diffi cult, this Te Deum setting beautifully and effectively expresses a profound statement of faith. At present, the score can be obtained either in the Peters Edition of the choral works with organ or in the edition by Gunter Graulich. 22 No. 3, My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord As described above, these pieces were originally begun in 1832, and, with the Te Deum, were intended to fulfi ll the needs of the Anglican Morning and Evening Services. The three settings were completed during the summer of 1847 and published in England presumably about the time of Mendelssohn’s death on November 4 of that year. The English version utilizes choir, soloists, and organ. Shortly after the composer’s death, they were published with German texts unaccompanied and with an altered Gloria Patri (Ehre sei dem Vater in German) for the [M]endelssohn employs a fl uid imitative counterpoint evocative of late Renaissance polyphony in the context of an overarching modern ternary form (ABA’), with each section subdivided into three sections. 23 The A section remains solidly in E ♭ major while the B section, in C minor but mainly concerned with G minor, ends in G major. ARCHITECTURE THEATER RELIGION MUSIC LANGUAGE ART Op. 69: No. 1, Lord, Now Lettest Thou Thy Servant Depart in Peace No. 2, O Be Joyful in the Lord Creating interesting tour combinations is our specialty & we are never short on ideas. www.CulturalTourConsultants.com Toll Free 866.499.3799 Choral Journal • April 2010 41
Your Church Choir Can Sing Mendelssohn! most emotionally poignant episodes.” 24 When the A section returns it begins in G major but quickly fi nds the home key. Melodically, the piece opens with a theme Highest Quality at Best Prices 2012 China International Chinese Choral Festival Performance Opportunity at China National Center for the Performing Arts “Thank you for a world class tour! It exceeded our expectation in every aspect” - Dr. Donald Neuen, Director of Choral Activities, UCLA that moves through each voice featuring white notes with a single dotted-quarter-eighth rhythm (Figure 8). In the theme of the B section this rhythm becomes the dominant factor (Figure 9). The Gloria Patri is a straight-forward hymn-like setting. Cooper praises the Amen for its “artful chain of suspensions in an extended cadential descent, [which] offers a deceptively simple but highly effective close to one of the Gospel’s Opus 69, No. 2 The Jubilate in A major has two possible Gloria Patri settings. It is composed in three disparate sections, the outer sections in A major and alla breve, the middle section in A minor and common meter. The fi rst section, Allegro moderato, is made up of points of imitation. For seven measures, a rhythmic motive made up of the last three quarters in each measure drives the second half of this section to its E-major cadence. In the second section, Moderato, a single theme is initiated and carried throughout (Figure 10). The hymn-like third section, Andante, repeats a single sixteen-bar phrase three times and then closes with a shortened version of the phrase. The A minor Gloria Patri composed for the Anglican version resembles Anglican chant in its fi rst twelve measures, which feature two almost identical phrases in which soprano and alto answer tenor and bass. Renaissance-like imitation leads to the conclusion of this version. In the Gloria Patri for the German edition, a statement that expands to eight parts is made and then repeated. Following this, an Amen is added, which pyramids from bass II at one-bar intervals through soprano I with the men’s entrances outlining an F major-seventh chord and the women’s entrances outlining a B ♭ major six-four chord. In this Gloria Patri, four of the seven phrases are unison and the others are eight-part. The German Gloria Patri was borrowed by the publishers from Mendelssohn’s Sechs Sprüche, Op. 79 and transposed up one-half step to create a more uplifting ending. Neither version makes use of soloists. With alternate notes provided in one measure for the basses, this Jubilate presents the most moderate ranges for the singers of any of Mendelssohn’s choral works. The Anglican version is a beautifully subtle expression of joy. 42 Choral Journal • April 2010
Page 2 and 3: Your Church Choir Can Sing Mendelss
Page 4 and 5: The immediate predecessor of the
Page 6 and 7: Deines Kind’s Gebet erhöre [Fath
Page 8 and 9: the section began. This time, howev
Page 12 and 13: Opus 69, No. 3 As with its companio
Page 14 and 15: Conclusion Within these sacred work
Page 16: 13 NOTES Ibid., 6. 1 Peter Mercer-T

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