Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809 –
1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was
a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of
the early romantic period. Mendelssohn wrote
symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano music and
chamber music. His best-known works include his
Overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's
Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the
overture The Hebrides, his mature Violin Concerto, and
his String Octet. His Songs With...(+)
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809 –
1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was
a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of
the early romantic period. Mendelssohn wrote
symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano music and
chamber music. His best-known works include his
Overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's
Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the
overture The Hebrides, his mature Violin Concerto, and
his String Octet. His Songs Without Words are his most
famous solo piano compositions. After a long period of
relative denigration due to changing musical tastes and
antisemitism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
his creative originality has been re-evaluated. He is
now among the most popular composers of the romantic
era.
Mendelssohn enjoyed early success in Germany, and
revived interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach,
notably with his performance of the St Matthew Passion
in 1829. He became well received in his travels
throughout Europe as a composer, conductor and soloist;
his ten visits to Britain – during which many of his
major works were premiered – form an important part
of his adult career. His essentially conservative
musical tastes set him apart from more adventurous
musical contemporaries such as Franz Liszt, Richard
Wagner, Charles-Valentin Alkan and Hector Berlioz. The
Leipzig Conservatoire, which he founded, became a
bastion of this anti-radical outlook.
St. Paul (in German Paulus), Op. 36, is an oratorio by
Felix Mendelssohn. The composer oversaw versions and
performances in both German and English within months
of completing the music in early 1836. The libretto
"after words of holy scripture" was begun in 1832. The
composer with pastor Julius Schubring, a childhood
friend, compiled passages from the New Testament,
chiefly the Acts of the Apostles, and the Old, as well
as the texts of chorales and hymns, in a polyglot
manner after Bach's model. Composition of the music
started in 1834 and was complete in early 1836. The
work was premiered on 22 May 1836 (having been
completed in April of that year) at the Lower Rhenish
Music Festival in Düsseldorf. The English premiere was
in Liverpool on 3 October 1836 in a translation by
Mendelssohn's friend, Karl Klingermann. Contralto Mary
Shaw was one of the soloists at the English premiere.
The first performance in the United States was in
Boston on March 14, 1837. Mendelssohn himself conducted
the first performance in Leipzig in the Paulinerkirche
on 16 March 1837. Numerous performances followed in
Europe and in the United States.
"Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr" (Alone to God in the
highest be glory) is an early Lutheran hymn, with text
and melody attributed to Nikolaus Decius. With the
reformers intending church service in German, it was
intended as a German version of the Gloria part of the
Latin mass, used in almost every service. Decius wrote
three stanzas, probably in 1523, while a fourth was
added, probably by Joachim Slüter. It is included in
many German hymnals, including the current Protestant
hymnal Evangelisches Gesangbuch and (in three stanzas)
in the Catholic hymnal Gotteslob. Catherine Winkworth
translated it to "All glory be to God on high"
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paul_(oratorio)).
Although originally composed for Chorus (SATB), I
created this Interpretation of "Allein Gott in der Höh
sei Ehr" (Alone to God in the highest be glory) from
"Paulus" (St. Paul Op. 36 No. 3) for Organ (2 Manuals
w/o Pedals).
SHEET MUSIC