Lord, have mercy upon us

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Lord, have mercy upon us WoO. 12, MWV B 27, is the beginning of a motet for four-part a cappella choir that Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy composed in 1833 for use in Anglican worship . It is also known in English as Responses to the Commandments (Answers to the Ten Commandments ), and in German as Zum Abendsegen . The motet was published in English in 1842, and posthumously also in Germanwith the text Herr, sein grazig .

history

Mendelssohn composed the motet in 1833 for Thomas Attwood for use in Church of England services . The autograph is signed “24. March 1833 ”. This original version is entitled Kyrie Eleeson (sic!), And an organ accompaniment is added to the choral movement . The text is based on liturgical responses from the Book of Common Prayer to the Ten Commandments. In 1841 Mendelssohn sent the editor Rudolf Hirsch a fair copy of the score in which he dispensed with the organ part. The work was printed by Boesenberg in Leipzig in 1842 , in an album for singing under the liturgically misleading title To the Evening Service . The motet was then published by JJ Ewer in London around 1844 under the title Responses to the Commandments , which was also not from Mendelssohn, but was more relevant .

With a German text underlaid, the work was first published posthumously around 1854 in an arrangement for solo voice and piano under the title Der Abendsegen , which was published by Verlag Schuberth (Hamburg); the text was different from the wording customary today, "God be gracious on us". The text version "Herr, sein gnädig unserm Flehn", which is now widely used in German-language sheet music editions, was first published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1875 as part of the old Mendelssohn Complete Edition.

Text and music

The text is based on traditional answers in the reading of the Ten Commandments from the Book of Common Prayer :

Lord, have mercy upon us,
and fill us with thy spirit;
O Lord, have mercy
and inscribe thy commandment in our hearts.
O Lord, hear us!

Lord, be gracious to our supplications,
and fill us with your spirit;
Lord, be gracious
and write your commandment in our hearts.
Lord hear us!

In the underlaid German text, the wording is slightly tightened: "Lord, have mercy on our supplication, incline our hearts to your word, and write your commandment in the heart that seeks you." The music is in one sentence, in A minor and 4th / 4-time, labeled Andante . It begins with two long chords, both with a fermata called “Lord! Lord!". Then the tenor begins a theme for a fugitive development, in the style of Renaissance music , followed by entries in alto , soprano and bass . The words "Lord" and "Mercy" are intensified by a melisma , first a rising melody, then a phrase with an upward tritone . A slow chromatic line appears first in alto, then in soprano and increases the word “mercy”. Then follows the second part of the text “and write all these thy laws in our hearts”, the only section in homophony . The text is repeated, but now with the theme and imitation of the beginning. After two further chromatic increases, which now intensify the word "hearts", the work ends. In an introduction in 2006, Julian Haylock wrote: "The piece is filled with a poignant intensity that arises from Mendelssohn's subtle (and smooth) contrapuntal overlay."

Robert Schumann used elements of the theme in the slow movement of his first piano trio in D minor , op. 63, which he finished in 1848. In 1856 Johannes Brahms took over elements of the theme in his unprinted Missa canonica , which he wrote as an exercise for counterpoint studies with Joseph Joachim . He broadened the tempo and reduced the notes to the text Agnus Dei , which included the plea for mercy.

Recordings

The motet was recorded together with other motets by Mendelssohn by the RIAS Chamber Choir , directed by Marcus Creed . In 2005 she appeared sung by the St John's College Choir Cambridge, conducted by David Hill. The Chamber Choir of Europe, which recorded all of Mendelssohn's sacred choral works, sang them in 2006, conducted by Nicol Matt. The Stuttgart Chamber Choir under the direction of Frieder Bernius recorded the work on episode 7 of its complete recording of Mendelssohn's sacred choral works.

literature

  • Reger Sühring: To the evening service / For the evening blessing "Lord, have mercy upon us" / "Herr, sei gnädig" for mixed choir a capella with organ ad libitum MWV B 27. In: Matthias Geuting (Ed.): Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy . Interpretations of his works. Volume 1. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2016, ISBN 978-3-89007-717-8 , p. 481 f.
  • Ralf Wehner: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Thematic-systematic directory of musical works (MWV) . Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-7651-0317-9 , p. 53.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Ralf Wehner: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Thematic-systematic directory of musical works (MWV) (=  Leipziger Mendelssohn edition . Volume 13.1 ). Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-7651-0317-9 , pp. 53 ( limited preview in the Google book search - see online directory of the Saxon Academy of Sciences ).
  2. ^ Nicholas Temperley:  Attwood, Thomas. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
  3. ↑ Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix, 1809–1847. Lord, have mercy upon us ( English ). Library of Congress , (Accessed February 17, 2019).
  4. ↑ a b Estate Volume 28, Mus.ms.autogr. Mendelssohn Bartholdy, F. 28 . Berlin State Library . Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  5. ↑ The Book of Common Prayer, Etc ( English ). John Baskett, 1719 (Retrieved March 2, 2019).
  6. ↑ Rudolf Hirsch (Ed.): Album for Singing . tape 1 . Boesenberg, Leipzig 1842, p. 42–44 ( staatsbibliothek-berlin.de [accessed on July 13, 2019]).
  7. ^ A b John Michael Cooper: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: A Guide to Research . Routledge, New York and London 2001, ISBN 0-8153-1513-9 , pp. 271 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  8. ^ Hofmeister's monthly reports October 1854 . See also the print as a sheet music supplement in: The New York Musical World XVII, no. 319, (May 9, 1857).
  9. ↑ a b c d e Julian Haylock: To the evening blessing, Op posth. ( English ). Hyperion Records , 2006 (Retrieved February 17, 2019).
  10. ↑ a b c evening blessing . Bärenreiter , 1987.
  11. ↑ a b c Christopher A. Reynolds: Harvard University Press ( English ) 2003 (accessed March 9, 2019).
  12. ↑ Joan Chissell: Mendelssohn Motets . Gramophone, 2000 (Retrieved February 17, 2019).
  13. ↑ Mendelssohn: Choral Works (SACD) ( English ) 2006. Retrieved on February 17, 2019.
  14. ^ Robert Hugill: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847) / Sacred Choral Works ( English ) May 2012. Accessed on February 19, 2019.
  15. ↑ Felix MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809-1847) Complete Sacred Choral Music , musicweb-international.com, accessed on July 13, 2019