Sonata No. 6 in d minor: "Chorale and Variations",
"Finale - Andante" - Felix Mendelssohn
Hymns:#423 Laudaute Dominum, #488 Slane,
#760 New Life, #427 Laudes Domini
This week’s music is from the pen of Felix Mendelssohn
(1809-1847). The prelude and postlude are from the Opus 65 organ sonatas and
the communion anthem is taken from Elijah,
Opus 70. Although Mendelssohn only lived to be 38 he made major contributions
to the classical canon. The six organ sonatas and his oratorio as well as his
symphonies, Songs Without Words for piano, violin sonata, and incidental music
including his Wedding March from A Midsummer Night’s Dream have placed
him among the greatest composers of classical music.
Elijah along with
Handel’s Messiah and Haydn’s The Creation are perhaps to be considered
the triumvirate of oratorio literature. The work was written for the 1846 Birmingham
Festival, a four day event which included performances of the aforementioned
works as well as portions of the Beethoven Missa
Solemnis. The text for this work is taken from the Old Testament books of 1
and 2 Kings. It tells the story of the prophet Elijah and his struggle to lead
the Israelites away from the pagan worship of Baal, the god of Queen Jezebel
and back to the God of their ancestors. The work also depicts Elijah’s personal
struggle to retain his own faith and to continue serving God amid the
challenges of the world around him. The work is often cited as Mendelssohn
identifying with his Jewish heritage by setting the story of one of the
greatest Old Testament prophets. Scholars have however suggested that
Mendelssohn actually focuses on Elijah as a Christ figure rather than as an Old
Testament Jewish hero.
The aria If With All
Your Hearts is the fourth movement of the oratorio and is sung to Elijah by
the prophet Obadiah. According to the Rabbinic tradition Obadiah was the head
steward to Ahab and Jezebel who was chosen to prophecy to the Edomites because
he was one of them and because he lived with these two wicked people but did
not become like them. He received the gift of prophecy for hiding the one
hundred prophets of God from Jezebel. In this aria Obadiah reminds Elijah that
if the Israelites seek God that they will find Him and the drought will be
ended. The aria is in ABA from and scored for flute, clarinets, bassoons, and
strings. The opening line has a beautiful operatic quality to it with a large
leap from “if” to “all” followed by suspensions highlighting the word “seek”. The
B section becomes more agitated with the text “Oh that I knew where I might
find him” this is accompanied by throbbing chords in the orchestra before the
tenor returns with the A theme. This return has a heightened sense of strength
and comfort which is supported by the slightly varied line and stronger
accompaniment which leads into a coda that allows the tenor to showcase both
his musicianship and range drawing the listener in with the final statement “ye
shall ever surely find me, thus saith our God.”
The six organ sonatas were commissioned by the English
publishing company, Coventry and Hollier in 1844. In addition to his
contributions as composer, conductor, and pianist, Mendelssohn was a virtuoso
organist and enjoyed a concert career in England. He was asked to write a set
of three voluntaries but as he was working he quickly realized that his project
was larger than the scope of the commission. These pieces were so influential
that they helped to change the way that organs were built in England. Prior to
the writing of these pieces English organs rarely had pedal boards and possessed
shortened swell keyboards. These works would have been unplayable on these
instruments.
This sixth sonata in d minor opens with a chorale and
variations on Vater Unser im Himmelreich
(Our Father, who art in heaven). We first hear the harmonized chorale which
then seamlessly flows into the first variation with the tune played on 8’ and 4’
flutes in the right hand with flowing sixteenth notes in the left and a sighing
appoggiatura figure in the pedal on an 8’ stop without 16’ sound at all. In the
second variation the manuals play sharp chords while the pedal plays a buoyant
line in walking eighth notes. The third variation is a common chorale treatment
with the melody played on a reed stop in the tenor register with the right hand
and pedal providing the accompaniment. This flows into another seamless
transition leading to a toccata with the chorale in the pedal and then in long
notes in the soprano before the final statement of the chorale on full organ at
the end of the movement.
The finale is further evidence that these pieces were not
conceived as sonatas but rather as individual movements that were grouped
together by Mendelssohn’s publisher. The first movement gives way to a fugue
that is still based on the chorale melody but this final movement in 6/8 is
based on the English hymn tune Rockingham
which is commonly paired with the test When
I Survey the Wondrous Cross. This meditative close to the sonata seems to
have little to do stylistically with the movements that precede it. The
movement lasts only two and a half minutes but in its short span it has
beautiful soaring lines, interesting harmonies, and it is accessible to most
organists and listeners. It is a beautiful piece and a suitable opening to the
liturgy.
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