Christ (Mendelssohn)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The oratorio Earth, Hell and Heaven ( MWV A 26 ; mostly referred to as Christ ) has remained a fragment. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was unable to complete it due to his unexpected and early death. It would have been the third oratorio alongside Paul from 1836 and Elias from 1846. Mendelssohn had no intention of creating a trilogy, however.

It was published posthumously in 1852 under the title Christ . It bears the unauthorized posthumous opus number 97.

The work was an idea by Christian Karl Josias von Bunsen , who also compiled the texts (mainly biblical quotations ) for it.

structure

Since the work remained unfinished, but Mendelssohn changed the conception of the work several times during the composition phase and worked with various librettists, it is no longer possible to clarify with any certainty which structure the composer ultimately intended for his work. The editors chose a two-part structure for the posthumous publication of the executed fragments:

First part (nativity)

In the first section, Mendelssohn describes the birth of Christ. The recitative “When Jesus was born”, the men's trio “Wo ist der neueborn König” (tenor and two basses) and the choral movement “A star will rise from Jacob” are fully edited.

Part Two (Passion of Christ)

In the second section, the composer describes the indictment before Pontius Pilate and the people's insistence on the death penalty for Christ. Mendelssohn alternates between recitatives ( evangelist ) and popular choirs. Finally, what happened is processed in a chorale for four-part male choir.

Mendelssohn could no longer set a planned third part to music.

However, there are indications that Mendelssohn intended to divide the work into three parts analogous to the intended work title Earth, Hell and Heaven :

earth

The surviving fragments of the work would therefore all belong to the first part, which was supposed to describe the ministry of Jesus Christ on earth.

hell

Mendelssohn could no longer set the second part, which was supposed to deal with Christ's descent into hell, presumably based on the Gospel of Nicodemus .

sky

Mendelssohn was also unable to set the third part, which was supposed to deal with the resurrection of Christ, to music.

literature

  • Raphael von Hoensbroech : Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's unfinished oratorio Christ (= Cologne contributions to musicology.  6). Bosse, Kassel 2006, ISBN 3-7649-2706-2 (also: dissertation at the University of Cologne, 2005).
  • R. Larry Todd (Ed.): Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Christ (= CV 40131-01). Score. Carus, Stuttgart 1994, ISMN 979-0-007-06264-4 (search in the DNB portal) .

Web links