Saturday, April 18, 2015

April 19, 2015 - Easter 3

Hear My Prayer - Felix Mendelssohn

Hymns: #174 Salzburg, #82 Divinum Mysterium, 
              #212 Richmond


The anthem this week is one of Felix Mendelssohn’s best known English choral works after Elijah. Hear My Prayer is a cantata for soprano, mixed choir and organ or orchestra written in 1844.The text was written by William Bartholomew (1793-1867) (who also collaborated with Mendelssohn on Elijah) an English librettist, composer and writer that made a living as a chemist. The work was premiered by Ann Mounsey, Bartholomew’s wife. The work has enjoyed a great deal of popularity because of a very successful 1927 recording by boy soprano Ernest Lough . The cantata is in two parts. The first is a recitative-esque call and response section. The second part is a lovely lyric aria filled with rolling triplets that evokes the gentle “wings of the dove” which also points toward the coming day of Pentecost.

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