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The immediate predecessor of the “Lutheran project” that Mendelssohn composed on his Italian journey, Aus teifer Not was begun in Vienna in 1830 and completed, as were a large number of chorale-based works, while he was in Italy. The text came from a collection of Luther’s hymns that he received from Franz Hauser. How does one best perform this mini chorale cantata? Some fi nd it awkward to present the work as indicated in many scores—unaccompanied with organ only on the tenor solo and on the chorus that follows. Nott indicates the possibility of an entirely unaccompanied performance by simply omitting the tenor solo and beginning the middle section with the chorus parts. 10 Musically, this is effi cient, but the darum auf [therefore] that begins the text of the chorus part does not fl ow logically from the end of stanza one. It demands the text of the tenor solo for full understanding. Certainly, Nott’s written out accompaniment could be used throughout the piece for church or concert use. Indeed, the implication of organo col basso from the Breitkopf & Häertel edition indicates the acceptability of continuous organ accompaniment. This also agrees with the infl uence of Bach on Mendelssohn’s church music. Some of Mendelssohn’s earlier works were created with almost a Baroque basso continuo. An organist doubling the bass line and fi lling in harmonies while occasionally bolstering individual parts would not offend the texture or the style. Though probably the longest work discussed in this article, more than twelve minutes in its entirety, this work, which has much to offer performers and listeners, deserves to be presented in church. The text is especially appropriate for times of penitence and would serve well for Lent or Holy Week services. Drei geistliche Lieder Op. 96 [Anthem] Charles Bayles Broadley, “an eccentric musical and literary amateur” 11 and a pupil of Mendelssohn’s friend Ignaz Moscheles, commissioned Mendelssohn to compose a setting of his choice of Psalms 13, 100, or 126. Mendelssohn chose to set Broadley’s versifi cation of Psalm 13 for alto or mezzo soprano solo, choir, and organ. He compressed fi ve of Broadley’s quatrains into a solo anthem in three movements (Andante, Chorale, Allegro) that was completed on December 12, 1840. For the German edition, the title was changed from “Anthem” to “Geistliches Lied mit Chor” and a German text, possibly by the composer himself, was inserted below the English text. Also, the meter of the chorale was changed from alla breve to common meter (in hopes of preventing the customary German practice of singing chorales very slowly) for this edition, and an indication that the movements were to be performed with no pause between them was added. 12 The published title of the German edition, issued August 1841, ended up as Drei geistliche Lieder für einen Altstimme mit Chor und Orgelbegleitung. The work was to undergo a further transformation. Later, in 1841, Broadley requested an orchestral version, which Mendelssohn agreed to do, but due to his mother’s death, did not complete until January 1843. For this version of the work, Mendelssohn composed a fourth movement. This Fuga was based on a rewording of the fi nal phrase of Broadley’s text for the third movement. The addition is somewhat Choral Journal • April 2010 35
Your Church Choir Can Sing Mendelssohn! redundant musically as well as textually. It causes the orchestral version to follow a fugal movement with a fugue and seems anticlimactic. Except in a transcription by Moscheles, this added movement was never published with organ accompaniment. 13 The four-movement orchestral version only appeared in print posthumously as Hymne, op. 96 in 1852. Until recently, this Anthem or Geistliche Lieder or Hymne has been only available in the United States as individual pieces. The fi rst movement alone had appeared with an English text until the late 1990s and the English texts were poetic translations of the German, not the original English text of Broadley. This text has been made available with the music through the Carus editions of the work. The three movements that comprised Mendelssohn’s original English language composition are considered here. Lass, o Herr, mich Hülfe fi nden [Help Me, Lord, in My Affl iction] Op. 96, No. 1 (Posthumous) The Andante fi rst movement, Lass, o Herr, mich Hülfe fi nden [Help me, Lord, in My Affl iction], is a prayer of penitence. A fairly simple ternary form in six-eight meter, this work has a B section that begins with the alto soloist presenting a melody that is repeated by the chorus in imitative fashion. This middle section uses staggered entrances, dense chromaticism, and melodic and harmonic diminished fi fths, which lead to the return of the opening solo on a cadence in the relative minor. The opening section of the work consists of a presentation of the lilting melody by the soloist. Four-part choir takes up the melody with sopranos echoing the fi rst phrase of the solo. Alto-tenor, sopranobass imitation begins the next phrase, which departs from the melody of the solo then leads to a cadence on the dominant with a descending sequence on the word “nevermore.” The shortened return of the A section consists of the soloist alternating phrases with the choir and then the choir joining soloist on the fi nal “nevermore.” Emphasizing the pleading of the penitent, the same text is used for both A sections. 36 Choral Journal • April 2010
Page 2 and 3: Your Church Choir Can Sing Mendelss
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

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