by Montie Meyer
Starting at a tender age, Felix Mendelssohn continuously paid homage to music of bygone compositional times—summarized sardonically by Hector Berlioz as “[loving] the dead a little too much.” Yet, bypassing the implied accusation of sentimentalism and conventionality, Mendelssohn chose to revive one of J.S. Bach’s most original and emotionally gripping works, the St. Matthew Passion BWV 244, whose libretto describes events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus and whose memorably expansive melodies offer a bridge to Romanticism. Written and premiered in 1727 in Leipzig, the Passion was occasionally performed at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche after Bach’s death in 1750, but otherwise was not widely known outside the city.
Considered too complex and inaccessible to interest large audiences, Bach’s music was nonetheless already well respected by professional musicians and middle class intellectuals. Its aficionados included Mendelssohn’s maternal great-aunt Sara Levy, a harpsichordist who studied with Bach’s eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, and commissioned works from his other son Carl Philip Emmanuel. With her flutist husband, Levy performed works of J.S. Bach at musical salons in their home. In 1820, Felix and his sister Fanny joined the choir of the Berlin Singakademie. A few years later, when Felix was fifteen, his maternal grandmother Bella Salomon gifted him a copy of the Passion’s score. Salomon’s sister Sara had acquired the copy from Carl Friedrich Zelter, Felix and Fanny’s music theory instructor and the head of the Singakademie.
In 1827, Felix and a few friends—including Eduard Devrient, an actor and principal baritone at the Berlin Royal Opera—began weekly rehearsals of the Passion. In early 1829, Devrient persuaded Felix to ask Zelter for the support of the Singakademie in supplying its chorus and orchestra for a public performance of the work. Devrient made the verbal entreaties in their joint meeting with Zelter, hoping to sing the part of Jesus, as he eventually did. Zelter reluctantly gave his approval, noting that the choristers would simply stop showing up to rehearsals if the project went poorly. The inaugural performance occurred on March 11th, 1829 and differed—perhaps in a democratic direction—from historical standards. It involved a much larger, mixed amateur-professional 158-voice choir with Fanny singing and Felix, now twenty, conducting from piano as opposed to harpsichord. In addition, the three-hour work was halved in duration. Mendelssohn changed the orchestration, and cut more of the solo arias than the chorales, both to emphasize the dramatic arc of the Passion and suit available personnel. The concert drew a capacity audience including King of Prussia Wilhelm Friedrich III, poet Heinrich Heine, philosopher Friedrich Hegel, and virtuoso violinist Niccolò Paganini. The demand for tickets was so high that up to one thousand people were turned away at the door, necessitating repeat performances on 3/21 (Bach’s birthday) and 4/17 (Good Friday; conducted by Zelter). This event sparked additional performances across Prussia, followed by an overall revival of Bach’s works in Europe.
Despite its great success, the Passion revival proved insufficient for Mendelssohn to be elected leader of the Singakademie upon Zelter’s death in 1833. The post went instead to Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen, and Mendelssohn departed for Dusseldorf and Great Britain soon thereafter. Scholars have speculated that this was a result of concerns about Mendelssohn’s youth and possible interest in innovation as well as of anti-Jewish sentiment. Though baptized Lutheran in childhood, Felix was the grandson of Jewish Enlightenment philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, who forcefully promoted social and religious equality for Jews and non-Jews alike. Mendelssohn consciously honored his heritage, retaining the surname and promoting the publication of his grandfather’s writings. The Passion revival led to one of Mendelssohn’s few explicit references to his cultural origins: "To think that it took an actor [Devrient] and a Jew's son to revive the greatest Christian music for the world!"
Cecilia’s upcoming exploration of the Bach/Mendelssohn connection includes:
JS Bach’s setting of the Martin Luther hymn, Vom Himmel Hoch, da komm ich’ her’
JS Bach’s Jesu, Meine Freude: BWV 227—the longest and most musically complex of Bach’s motets, set in 11 movements, and the first to be recorded
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s Gebet in der Christnacht (A Prayer on Christmas Eve)—an early Romantic setting of the poem by Wilhelm Müller
Felix Mendelssohn’s rarely performed polyphonic double chorus motets, Sechs Sprüche, Op. 79—Weihnachten (Christmas) and Lasset uns Frohlocken (Advent).