From the sky high (Mendelssohn)
The Christmas cantata Vom Himmel hoch ( MWV A 10) is a choral cantata by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy from 1831 about the Christmas carol of the same name by Martin Luther . Already during Mendelssohn's apprenticeship years with Carl Friedrich Zelter , the chorale arrangement played a major role in Mendelssohn's oeuvre, which is not least due to his preoccupation with Bach's work.
The cantata provides for a five-part mixed choir (SSATB), solos ( soprano / baritone ) and a classical orchestra (2.2.2.2. 2.2.0. Timp. Str.). The text does not contain free poetry, but only uses stanzas from the underlying hymn. This results in the following sequence:
- Choir: Vom Himmel hoch ( Choral verses 1 and 2)
- Aria (baritone): It is the Lord Christ, our God (chorale verse 3 / beginning 4)
- Choral: He brings you all bliss ( Choral verse 4)
- Aria (soprano): Be welcome, you noble guest (Choral verses 8 and 10)
- Arioso (baritone): So you liked that (chorale verse 12)
- Choir: Praise, honor be to God in the highest throne (chorale verse 15)
The performance lasts approx. 16 minutes.
literature
- Karen Lehmann (Ed.): Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Vom Himmel hoch. Choral cantata about Luther's Christmas carol. Carus, Stuttgart 1985, ISMN M-007-06457-0 (score) / ISMN M-007-06458-7 (piano reduction).