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Your Church Choir Can Sing Mendelssohn! Robert Chambers Often, when church choral conductors think of works by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, they call to mind the popular choruses excerpted from his oratorios: “He, Watching Over Israel,” “Lift Thine Eyes,” “He That Shall Endure to the End,” “How Lovely Are the Messengers,” “But the Lord Is Mindful of His Own,” “There Shall a Star from Jacob Come Forth,” etc. Some may be familiar with the Op. 78 psalm settings for eight-part choir, or the recently popular, if the number of editions is any indication, “Heilig, Heilig ist der Herr Zebaoth.” However, many conductors appear to be unaware of the other fi ne choral works Mendelssohn wrote for the church, or that are appropriate for church use, even if they were created for a choral society. In fact, a recent biography of Mendelssohn mentions only one of these works, and then Robert Chambers is a lecturer at Johnson Bible College in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he conducts the Campus Choir, Tintinnabulation (handbell choir), and teaches conducting, music ministry, worship, and private voice. He holds a BM and MME from Texas Christian University and a DMA from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. only as representative of the infl uence of Bach on his compositions. 1 A limited number of these works can be sung by almost any four-part choir. These pieces include unaccompanied works for organ and choir, and a few pieces originally set to English texts. This article proposes to familiarize the reader with these works. The works for organ and choir include Op. 23, No. 1 Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir; the Drei geistliche Lieder: Lass, O Herr, mich Hilfe fi nden, Deines Kind’s Gebet erhöre, and Herr, wir traun auf deine Güte; Hear My Prayer; and the Te Deum, We Praise Thee, O God (Preis sei dir, O Gott). For this article, the three motets of Op. 69: No. 1, Lord, Now Lettest Thou Thy Servant Depart in Peace; No. 2, O Be Joyful in the Lord; and No. 3, My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord, will be considered works with organ accompaniment although they were printed posthumously as unaccompanied pieces with German text. Among the unaccompanied works, the four-part settings of the Hundredth Psalm, Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt and the evening blessing, Zum Abendsegen, Herr, Herr, sei gnädig unserm Flehn [Lord, Lord, Have Mercy upon Us] will be considered here. Choral Journal • April 2010 33
Your Church Choir Can Sing Mendelssohn! Op. 23, No. 1 Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir [From Depths of Grief I Call to Thee] Aus tiefer Not, Op. 23, No. 1, for four-part chorus, alto, tenor, bass soloists, and organ is divided into fi ve sections. Four of the sections are unaccompanied or, in one edition, organo col basso, 2 another indicates orgel mit dem Bass when the choir enters after the solo in the middle section, 3 which is a tenor solo accompanied by organ. Another edition has an organ accompaniment throughout. 4 Except during the tenor solo, this organ part is a doubling of the choral parts. This work… [U]nites chorale setting, motet-like through-imitation, soloistic and choral song form in a connected form, which structure—also without instruments—reminds one of a cantata, had its forerunners nevertheless in the motets of Bach’s time. 5 The fi rst and last sections are simple chorale harmonizations with the last one having greatly changed harmony. When he was beginning his work on this piece, Mendelssohn had written Zelter (his composition teacher and conductor of the Berlin Singakademie) to ask “whether it would be all right to lengthen the fi rst note of the chorale!” 6 He did lengthen this note in the second and fi fth sections. Each of the fi rst two sections sets the fi rst stanza of the chorale. The second section is a double fugue with a main subject (Figure 1a.) and two secondary subjects (Figure 1b. c.). The main subject (Figure 4a), which, in its fi rst statement, is an exact reproduction of the fi rst chorale phrase is accompanied for the fi rst third of the section by fi gure 4b. It is then introduced and accompanies the main theme to the midpoint of the section. The climax of the section is the presentation of the slightly altered main subject by the basses at measure sixty-eight. A wonderful dialogue between sopranos and tenors/basses eventually leads to the last entrances of fi gure 4a fi rst in the bass (with its initial interval expanded to an octave) then alto and fi nally, soprano. In Baroque-like fashion, the section closes with a homophonic phrase in long notes, constituting a written-out ritardando. The Adagio aria for tenor and organ, which is repeated by the chorus with few changes, seems estranged from its surroundings. Krummacher called the inclusion of this aria “a fl aw.” 7 In the relative A-fl at Major, it is the only section not based on the chorale and its cantabile style causes it to stand apart from the contrapuntal austerity of the two sections on either side of it. Optimism in this second stanza of the text justifi es the contrasting music and use of the solo voice. In response to the despair expressed in the previous sections, the text expresses confi dence in the forgiveness and goodness of God. A chorale concertato, which R. Larry Todd refers to as “Bachian,” 8 with the tune presented by the sopranos, forms the fourth section. Alto, tenor, and bass soloists introduce each text segment with independently composed materials. The fi nal note of each chorale phrase is overlapped by the soli anticipating the phrase that follows. The soloists usually enter imitatively except when following the fourth phrase. Similar treatment of the solo voices after phrases two, fi ve, and six add a greater sense of unity to this section. It is curious that the tenor and alto soloists sing the fi nal measure alone on a c 1 and a ♮2 respectively. A simple chorale harmonization—different from the fi rst—closes this work in F minor, but, like the previous section, with a picardy third. 9 34 Choral Journal • April 2010
- 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 10 and 11: Jubilate, one borrowed from Mendels
- 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
Your Church Choir<br />
Can Sing Mendelssohn!<br />
Robert Chambers<br />
Often, when church choral<br />
conductors think of works by<br />
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,<br />
they call to mind the popular choruses excerpted<br />
from his oratorios: “He, Watching<br />
Over Israel,” “Lift Thine Eyes,” “He That Shall<br />
Endure to the End,” “How Lovely Are the<br />
Messengers,” “But the Lord Is Mindful of His<br />
Own,” “There Shall a Star from Jacob Come<br />
Forth,” etc. Some may be familiar with the<br />
Op. 78 psalm settings for eight-part choir, or<br />
the recently popular, if the number of editions<br />
is any indication, “Heilig, Heilig ist der Herr<br />
Zebaoth.” However, many conductors appear<br />
to be unaware of the other fi ne choral<br />
works Mendelssohn wrote for the church,<br />
or that are appropriate for church use, even<br />
if they were created for a choral society.<br />
In fact, a recent biography of Mendelssohn<br />
mentions only one of these works, and then<br />
Robert Chambers is a lecturer at Johnson Bible<br />
College in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he conducts<br />
the Campus Choir, Tintinnabulation (handbell choir),<br />
and teaches conducting, music ministry, worship, and<br />
private voice. He holds a BM and MME from Texas<br />
Christian University and a DMA from Southwestern<br />
Baptist Theological Seminary.<br />
only as representative of the infl uence of<br />
Bach on his compositions. 1 A limited number<br />
of these works can be sung by almost any<br />
four-part choir. These pieces include unaccompanied<br />
works for organ and choir, and a<br />
few pieces originally set to English texts. This<br />
article proposes to familiarize the reader<br />
with these works.<br />
The works for organ and choir include Op.<br />
23, No. 1 Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir; the<br />
Drei geistliche Lieder: Lass, O Herr, mich Hilfe<br />
fi nden, Deines Kind’s Gebet erhöre, and Herr,<br />
wir traun auf deine Güte; Hear My Prayer; and<br />
the Te Deum, We Praise Thee, O God (Preis sei<br />
dir, O Gott). For this article, the three motets<br />
of Op. 69: No. 1, Lord, Now Lettest Thou Thy<br />
Servant Depart in Peace; No. 2, O Be Joyful in<br />
the Lord; and No. 3, My Soul Doth Magnify the<br />
Lord, will be considered works with organ<br />
accompaniment although they were printed<br />
posthumously as unaccompanied pieces with<br />
German text.<br />
Among the unaccompanied works, the<br />
four-part settings of the Hundredth Psalm,<br />
Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt and the evening<br />
blessing, Zum Abendsegen, Herr, Herr, sei<br />
gnädig unserm Flehn [Lord, Lord, Have Mercy<br />
upon Us] will be considered here.<br />
Choral Journal • April 2010 33
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