The 42nd Psalm (Mendelssohn)

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The 42nd Psalm op. 42 “How the Deer Screams” ( MWV A 15 ) is a cantata for soprano , mixed choir and orchestra by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy . The text is based on the Old Testament Psalm 42  Lut in the translation of Martin Luther .

History and reception

On March 28, 1837, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy married the pastor's daughter Cécile Jeanrenaud . Mendelssohn's setting of Psalm 42 was largely composed in 1837 during his honeymoon, which took the young couple through Alsace and the Black Forest , among other places . The first, second and sixth movements were written in Freiburg im Breisgau , the final chorus was added later in Leipzig , according to Ferdinand Hiller .

The first performance of the first version (with the current choir No. 4 as the final choir) took place on January 1, 1838 in the Leipzig Gewandhaus ; the revised, final version followed in the spring of the same year. The psalm cantata was performed frequently during the composer's lifetime and was also rated by the self-critical Mendelssohn as one of his best church compositions. Robert Schumann judged that the work was "the highest level that he [Mendelssohn] as a church composer, indeed modern church music in general, has achieved".

occupation

The performance lasts approx. 25 minutes.

In 2005, the composer Johannes X. Schachtner created an arrangement for solos, mixed choir and chamber ensemble ( flute , oboe , clarinet , bass clarinet , bassoon , horn and strings ).

Structure and text

1. Coro
As the stag cries for fresh water,
so my soul, God, cries out to you.
2. Aria (Soprano)
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God!
When will I come to
see God's face?
3. Recitativo (Soprano)
My tears are my food day and night,
because people say to me every day: Where is your God now?
If I am Whose held,
I pour out my heart to myself
(Aria con coro) (Soprano, Coro femminile)
because I wanted to go with the crowd
and with them to the house of God
with gladness and with thanksgiving
by the bunch of people celebrating.
4. Coro
How are you sad, my soul,
and are you so restless in me?
Wait for God!
Because I will still thank him for
helping me with his face.
5. Recitativo (Soprano)
My God, my soul is sad in me, that is
why I remember you!
Your tides rush so
that here a deep and there a deep rushes,
all your waves and waves pass over me.
My God, my soul is sad in me!
6. Quintetto (Soprano, 2 Tenori, 2 Bassi)
The Lord has promised his goodness
during the day, and at night I sing to him
and pray to the God of my life.
My God! My soul is sad inside me,
why have you forgotten about me ?
Why do I have to go so sad
when my enemy urges me?
7. Final chorus
What are you saddened, my soul,
and are you so restless in me?
Wait for God!
Because I will still thank him
that he is the help of my face and my God.
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
from now on and forever!

Work description

The soft-toned opening choir processes the theme presented by the alto choir in a contrapuntal way, with homophonically reinforcing objections and an internalized a cappella section at the end. In the two following arias, the solo soprano first conducts a dialogue with the oboe based on the example of Bach's arias , then with the women's choir. An affirmative choir that picks up elements of polychoralism forms the middle section of the work, which is followed by a quintet of solo soprano with male voices. The final chorus, reminiscent of Handel , takes up the theme of the fourth part and ends in a broad fugue on the text “Praise be to the Lord”, which is added to the psalm text as Gloria Patri , a little doxology .

For text design

Mendelssohn set almost all of the text of the Psalm to music. Only verse 7b with unimportant geographical information is completely missing; Furthermore, verse 11, which takes up some earlier passages, has been replaced by literal repetitions.

Eric Werner comments critically that this work was occasionally "composed beyond the text". “Just compare the psalm text (the German translation of which already weakens the wild fervor of the original text) with its musical interpretation. Everything that penetrates the reader in the poem with strong words and passionate images and memories is weakened here. "Werner is particularly critical of the fact that Mendelssohn adds a" Praise be to the Lord "to the original psalm text:" [...] a freedom, which would make sense for a liturgical work, but was not in place for one intended for the concert [...] If this 'optimistic' praise already contradicts the problem-laden text, the associated music has an unpleasantly unctuous character [...] here Mendelssohn did not compose the psalm, but a trivial theological tirade with an operatic touch. "

However one evaluates Mendelssohn's reinterpretations of the text: in this psalm cantata the composer creates a deeply felt picture of longing and search for God, which finds fulfillment in comfort and trust in God.

literature

expenditure

  • The XLII. Psalm; op.42 score. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel 1839 (first edition)
Digitalisat , City Library Lübeck
  • Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: The 42nd Psalm op. 42. How the deer cries. Edited by Günter Graulich. Piano reduction by Volker Blumenthaler. With an afterword by Thomas Kohlhase . Carus, Stuttgart 1986, ISMN 979-0-007-06062-6 (search in the DNB portal) .

Secondary literature

  • Hans Gebhard (Ed.): Harenberg Chormusikführer. Harenberg, Dortmund 1999, ISBN 3-611-00817-6 .
  • Werner Oehlmann : Reclam's choir music and oratorio guide. 7th edition. Stuttgart, Reclam 1999, ISBN 3-15-010450-5 .
  • Andreas Bomba: Booklet for CD Hänssler 38.907. Stuttgart 1998.
  • Jean-Yves Bras: Booklet for CD harmonia mundi France 901272. Arles 1988.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Description of the work at the music publisher Sikorski.
  2. ↑ a b c Eric Werner: Mendelssohn. Life and work in a new perspective. Atlantis, Zurich 1980, ISBN 3-7611-0571-1 , p. 378 f.