This Lobgesang (Hymn of Praise) is a work with which critics don't feel comfortable: what genre is it? Is it a cantata? Is it a symphony with choral finale, like Beethoven's Ninth? Mendelssohn himself called it a "Symphony-Cantata on Words of the Holy Bible for Soloists, Choir and Orchestra." But after his death it was published as his Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major, a naming and a numbering that are not his. Although extremely popular during Mendelssohn’s lifetime, the Lobgesang became one of the least performed of his major works. That said, it also seems that in the last couple of decades it has begun to enjoy something of a revival. So what is this work like?
The Lobgesang was commissioned by the city of Leipzig (where Mendelssohn worked as Kapellmeister) for a celebratory concert given in 1840 to mark the 400th anniversary of the invention of printing by Johannes Gutenberg. Mendelssohn wrestled for a long time with the appropriate form for the
work, thinking of an oratorio or a large-scale psalm setting, until he
finally found the form that suited him in a mixture of symphony and
cantata. Mendelssohn selected the words himself from the Lutheran Bible, mainly
verses describing ‘triumph over darkness’ from the Psalms, Isaiah and
two of Paul’s Epistles. This is how the Lobgesang came into being, which was first
heard on 25 June 1840 in a large festive concert in Leipzig's
Thomaskirche. Later, Mendelssohn expanded the work with several more
movements. The second version of the work was first performed in Leipzig
on 3 December 1840.
The premiere of the Lobgesang was a considerable success, and the
piece became one of Mendelssohn's most performed works during his
lifetime. For Mendelssohn personally, the work represented the turning
point after a creative crisis lasting a decade and a half, during which
he had been unable to bring a multi-movement symphonic work to a
satisfactory conclusion. The composer had retreated from his
"Reformation" Symphony after unsuccessful performances, and he had
postponed work on both his "Italian" and "Scottish" symphonies because
he was no longer convinced of the beginnings of his compositions.
In the case of the "Lobgesang", the commissioner specified the
combination of a symphonic work with chorus, but it was this impulse
that enabled Mendelssohn to solve a typical aesthetic problem of
Romanticism and find a credible form for the interaction of poetry and
music. After solving this task, Mendelssohn was inwardly freer to bring
other works into a satisfactory form as well: He completed his
"Scottish" Symphony and published it in print as well as Die erste
Walpurgisnacht as his second symphonic cantata and secular counterpart
to the Lobgesang.
In 1842, Mendelssohn had published his "Scottish" Symphony as Symphony
No. 3, but a Symphony No. 2 had not appeared during his lifetime. The
composer had presumably intended this number for his earlier "Italian"
Symphony, which he had shelved for revision after its premiere in 1833
but never completed. The "Italian" was then published posthumously as
Symphony No. 4. Probably to close the numbering gap, the Lobgesang was
later, decades after Mendelssohn's death, included in the old
Mendelssohn Complete Edition as No. 2 in the series of symphonies,
although there is no indication that this corresponded to the composer's
intentions. In the new Mendelssohn catalogue raisonné (2009), the
Lobgesang is no longer listed among the symphonies, but among the vocal
works.
The work is in B flat major and is formally divided into two parts: the first, symphonic part, which accounts for about one third of the performance duration and consists of three instrumental movements that flow into each other without a break, is followed by the cantata part, which consists of numbers 2 to 10 of the work. However, the two parts of the work do not stand unconnected to each other, but are linked through the treatment of the musical themes. Thus, the powerful opening motif is only really revealed to the listener when it later frames the cantata section on the text "Alles was Odem hat, lobe den Herrn" and thus also gives the work its title.
The composer composed the text of the work from biblical quotations and the Protestant hymn "Nun danket alle Gott" by Martin Rinckart, working out three main themes: the praise of God, God's faithfulness to those who wait for his help and comfort, and the rise of God's people from darkness to light. Mendelssohn especially emphasizes the latter theme because he succeeds in linking the biblical themes to the occasion of the work: the development of printing and Gutenberg's first printed Bible are thus interpreted as the key event that leads Christianity out of the dark age of ignorance into a new epoch of enlightenment (!). This is brought out forcefully at the work's dramatic climax, when the solo tenor's repeated and increasingly pleading question "Guardian, is the night soon gone?" is affirmatively answered first by the soprano and then in the radiant tutti: "The night has passed!" Mendelssohn writes in a letter about this passage: "For the introduction to the chorus 'Die Nacht ist vergangen' I found words in the Bible that are not conceivable in a more beautiful way, and fit as if they had been written for this music ..." Several times, Mendelssohn also has passages of text first performed by the soloists and then repeated by the choir, symbolizing the spread of enlightenment among God's people.
A highlight is indeed the opening of the cantata section, scored for solo soprano, chorus and orchestra. The entrance of the choir with the words "Alles, was Odem hat, lobe den Herrn" makes a profound impression. The best-known section of Lobgesang is the duet for sopranos with chorus "Ich harrete des Herrn" (I Waited for the Lord) which forms the fifth movement. Right from the very beginning this movement has a dramatic effect. Devout and expressive, the Lobgesang maintains throughout a notable weight of sound.
So what is it? The long orchestral introduction forms the prelude to a large-scale and festive choral composition - in other words, a cantata, this is certainly not a symphony - also not a symphony with a choral finale, for the instrumental first movement is too short and not impressive enough to carry much symphonic weight - but as a prelude to a cantata it is perfectly suitable. Mendelssohn himself called Lobgesang a "universal hymn to the words of the last psalm: 'Everything that has breath, love the Lord'."
And to answer the question posed at the beginning: is it still worth listening to?, I can give a resounding "Yes!" I immensely enjoyed this unknown work by Mendelssohn, which I also heard for the first time.
Listen to: Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Groot omroepkoor & soloists, conducted by Markus Stenz.
[Incorporates translated and edited text from the article about Lobgesang in the German-language Wikipedia]
Choral Masterworks