CD1
The Five Psalm Cantatas, for mixed choir,
soloists and orchestra, Nos. 1-3:
1) Psalm 42 "Wie der Hirsch schreit"
op. 42
2) Psalm 95 "Kommt, lasst uns anbeten"
op. 46
3) Psalm 98 "Singet dem Herrn" op 91.
CD2
The Five Psalm Cantatas, for mixed choir,
soloists and orchestra, Nos. 4-5:
4) Psalm 114, "Da Israel aus Ägypten
zog" op. 51
5) Psalm 115 "Nos nobis Domine" op.
31
The Eight Chorale Cantatas Nos. 1-3:
1) Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein
2) Christe, du lamm Gottes
3) Jesu, meine Freude
CD3
The Eight Chorale Cantatas for mixed
choir, soloists and orchestra Nos. 4-8:
4) Haupt voll Blutt und Wunden
5) Verleih uns Freiden
6) Vom Himmel hoch
7) Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt
walten
8) Wir glauben all an einen Gott
Herr Gott, dich loben wir
CD4
1) Hymn / Three sacred songs and fugue
Op. 96, for mixed choir, soloists and
orchestra
2) Hymne "Hor mein Bitten",
for mixed choir, soloists and orchestra
3) Kyrie in D minor, for mixed choir,
soloists and orchestra
4) Lauda Sion Op. 73, for mixed choir,
soloists and orchestra
5) Tu es Petrus, Op. 111, for mixed
choir, soloists and orchestra
CD5
1) Magnificat, for mixed choir, soloists
and orchestra (1822)
2) Gloria, for mixed choir, soloists
and orchestra (1822)
CD6
1) Hora est, for four 4-part mixed choirs
and organ (1828)
2) Te Deum, for 4-part mixed choir,
soloists and organ
3) Ave Maria, for 8-part mixed choir
and 8 soloists, Op.23
4) Te Deum, for soloists, 2 x 4-parts
mixed choirs and organ
CD7
Three Kirchenmusiken op. 23:
1) Aus tiefer Not, für vierstimmigen
gemischten Chor, Soli un Orgel
2) Mitten wir im Leben sind, für
achtstimmigen gemischten Chor
3) Jesus, meine Zuversicht, für
Soli, fünfstimmigen gemischten
Chor und Orgel
Three Motets, für Soli, fünfstimmigen
gemischten Chor, op.69:
1) Herr, nun lassest du deinen Diener
2) Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt (Psalm
100)
3) Mein Herz erhebet Gott, den Herrn
(Magnificat)
CD8
Three Psalms, for double choir, Op.
78:
1) Warum toben die Heiden (Psalm 2)
2) Richte mich Gott (Psalm 43, Erstfassung)
3) Mein Gott, warum hast du mich verlassen
(Psalm 22)
Six Anthems, for 8-part choir 4, Op.
79:
1) Advent: "Lasset uns frohlocken"
2) Weihnachten: "Frohlocket, ihr Völker"
3) Neujahr: "Herr Gott, du bist unsere
Zuflucht"
4) Passionszeit: "Herr, gedenke nicht"
5) Karfreitag: "Um unserer Sünden
Willen"
6) Himmelfahrt: "Erhaben, o Herr"
The German Liturgy, for soloists and
two 4-part choirs:
1) Kyrie in A
2) Gloria "Ehre sei Gott"
3) Sanctus "Heilig, heilig, heilig"
CD9
Choral-Harmonisierungen, für vierstimmigen
gemischten Chor
Kyrie in C, für Soli und zwei vierstimmige
gemischte Chöre (1823)
Jube Domne, für Soli und zwei vierstimmige
gemischte Chöre (1822)
Cantique pour l’Église Wallone,
für vierstimmigen gemischten Chor
Zwei englische Psalmen (Tate), für
vierstimmigen gemischten Chor:
1) Psalm 5
2) Psalm 31
Sieben Psalmen (Lobwasser), für
vierstimmigen gemischten Chor:
1) Psalm 2
2) Psalm 24
3) Psalm 31
4) Psalm 91
5) Psalm 93
6) Psalm 98
7) Psalm 100
Dreizehn Psalmmotetten, für zwei
- bis vierstimmigen Chor
CD10
Three Motets for Women's Choir and Organ,
Op. 39:
1) Veni Domine, für dreistimmigen
Frauenchor und Orgel
2) Laudate pueri, für Soli, drei
stimmigen Frauenchor und Orgel
3) Surrexti pastor bonus, für vierstimmige
Soli / Frauenchor und Orgel
Hebe deine Agen auf, for 3-part women’s
choir
O beata et benedicta, for 3-part women's
choir and organ
Vespergesang "Adspice domine / Schaue
herab "op. 121 für Soli, Männerchor,
Violoncello un Kontrabass
Zwei geistliche Männerchöre,
für vier Stimmen, Op. 115:
1) Beati mortui / Selig sind die Toten
2) Periti autem / es strahlen hell die
Gerechten
Trauersgesang, op. 116 for 4-part choir
(Fassung des Autographs)
Jauchzet dem Herrn alle Welt, for 8-part
choir
Denn er hat seinen Engeln, for 8-part
choir
Zum Abendsegen "Herr, sei gnädig"
for 4-part choir
We are informed that this ten disc box set marks
an important milestone in the collaboration between Brilliant
Classics and the Chamber Choir of Europe as this is the premier
release of the complete choral works of Felix Mendelssohn. More
accurately the set is a generous collection of Mendelssohn’s
sacred choral works. It does not include the secular choral works
or any of the oratorios St. Paul, Elijah and Christus.
I do not subscribe
to the view that if music is high-quality
then it will always be in the public
gaze. Top quality does not always rise
to the top. Often certain types of music
from the great composers will need a
push. Very often a major company will
re-record yet another version of a famous
symphony rather than look further into
a great composer’s repertoire. Thankfully
record companies such as Brilliant Classics
are recording works from major composers
that rarely get onto disc. This is sterling
work making rarely heard music available
to a wider audience and at super-budget
price too.
It is generally acknowledged
that the choral music of Mendelssohn
owes a tremendous debt to J.S. Bach.
Mendelssohn used the ‘great master’
as a model to enable him to write the
type of liturgical music that he wanted
to. So impressed was Mendelssohn with
Bach’s music that he arranged and conducted
a revival of the ‘Great’ St. Matthew
Passion at a time when Bach’s music
was very much out of favour.
We are informed by
Brilliant Classics that, "This
set is a treasure trove of choral works
in which Mendelssohn expresses his love
for choral singing and his incredible
skill of counterpoint writing. Mendelssohn,
a protestant Jew, wrote many works for
liturgical use. As the protestant tradition
cannot boast of a great corpus of high
quality liturgical works, Mendelssohn’s
output forms an invaluable contribution
to this genre."
Revered in his lifetime
as one of the greatest composers, Mendelssohn
has become much less highly regarded
principally since the mid-twentieth
century. It is only a handful of compositions
that keeps Mendelssohn’s name in the
spotlight: works such as the Violin
Concerto, the Overture to a Midsummer
Night’s Dream, the Italian Symphony
and the Octet. The choral works
are in fact one of the highlights of
his output, albeit they are rarely heard,
with only the oratorios St. Paul
and Elijah consistently performed
by choral societies. It is to be hoped
that this Brilliant Classics release
will help redress the balance.
Mendelssohn’s choral
music is not to everyone’s taste. I
have checked back to a review which
I remember was terribly disparaging,
with the reviewer comparing Mendelssohn's
choral music to a ‘limp salad or soggy
cereal’. In my opinion Mendelssohn’s
choral music provides a great link between
J.S. Bach’s late-Baroque and Brahms’s
high-Romanticism. Few would disagree
with the contention that the music never
quite reaches the sacred reverence of
Bach or attains the wonderful melody
of Brahms. The choral music has a unique
appeal for me which I find to be most
convincing and expressive: bright and
airy in tone with a gentle serenity
and a rare beauty.
The first of the longer
works is the 42nd Psalm, ‘Wie der
Hirsch schreit’ (As the heart beats)
for mixed choir, soloists and orchestra,
op. 42 (CD1). In seven sections
and lasting for twenty minutes the work
reaches heights of sublime passion in
praise of the glory of God. The psalmist’s
words are the primary concern of the
composer and these are set to thoroughly
fine musical effect. The singing of
the well-matched soloists and choir
is exuberant and passionate with orchestral
playing of the highest-quality; particularly
the wonderful brass section. The performance
of soprano soloist Isabella Muller-Cant
is a highlight for her smooth tone and
clear enunciation.
The 95th Psalm ‘Kommt,
lasst uns anbeten’ (O, come let us worship)
for mixed choir, soloists and orchestra
op. 46 (CD1) is in five sections
and uses a baroque-like piety. The tenor
soloist Daniel Sans is prominent throughout
and performs most commendably.
An ambitious work the
Lauda Sion, for mixed choir, soloists
and orchestra Op.73 (CD4) was commissioned
for the Roman Catholic Church of St.
Martin in Luttich. It combines Catholic
restraint with a degree of baroque festivity.
There are solemn and often heavy textures
contrasted with occasions where more
relaxed moods gain the upper hand.
Mendelssohn was only
thirteen when he composed the Magnificat
and the Gloria (both on CD5),
for mixed choir, soloists and orchestra.
The booklet notes have these two works
down incorrectly as being for organ
only and not orchestra. There is a remarkable
mixture of musical influences, strongly
influenced by Handel and Bach, with
wonderful chorus writing. In its medium
weight textures the Magnificat features
some marvellous singing for the bass
part in the Fecit potentiam and
has a most glorious Sincut erat conclusion.
The Gloria contains attractive
and restrained choral writing with light
and sensitive orchestral accompaniment.
The longest work in
the set is the Te Deum, for soloists,
2 x 4-parts mixed choirs and organ (CD6)
from 1826. Again there is a remarkable
mixture of musical influences in the
score. The Te Deum is a most
sacred work, intensely deep in feeling
with the part-writing really bringing
out the devotional nature of the score.
Composed in 1847 the
Three Motets, for soloists, five-part
mixed choir, op.69 (CD7) is an a
cappella work and comprises a Nunc
Dimittis, a setting of the Psalm
100 and a German Magnificat.
The work takes the choir to exalted
heights and ends with an extended and
movingly reverent Amen. We are
informed that the Three Motets, Op.
69 were Mendelssohn’s last completed
choral works: sublime musical expression
with an intensity of Romantic feeling.
Of the shorter works
there are so many gems to be discovered
in this set. I have singled out my particular
favourites for special praise as follows.
In the Kyrie in D minor for mixed
choir, soloists and orchestra (CD5)
from 1825, the glorious orchestral opening
could have easily come from the pen
of Beethoven and is a work with choral
writing of high quality. Composed in
1828, the Hora est (The hour has
come) for four 4-part mixed choirs and
organ (CD6) makes full use of the
Chamber Choir of Europe and reminded
me at times of a Christmas carol or
hymn. The final work on this release
is the A cappella work Hebe
deine Agen auf, for 3-part women’s choir
(CD10) which sounds very Brahmsian
and is wonderfully sung by the choir.
I have nothing but
praise for the Chamber Choir of Europe
and the Württembergische Philharmonie
Reutlingen under Nicol Matt who can
be well pleased with their memorable
performances. The forces respond throughout
the works with commendable spirit in
interpretations that have enormous concentration,
humanity and dignity. There is an abundance
of drive and brilliance, subtlety and
fine detailing.
I’m almost getting
used to the Brilliant Classics quirky
annotation; namely the mediocre proof-reading
and how they translate some but not
all of the German and Latin into English.
The release does include full texts
but unfortunately none have been translated
into English. I must congratulate Brilliant
Classics for the essay in the booklet
notes by Christian Wildhagen (translated
by Stephen Taylor) which is of a high
standard and far better than I have
been used to of late from this company.
Many of the ten CDs are on the short
side with an average timing of only
of 57 minutes per disc. I have estimated
that the ten CD set could have been
accommodated on eight or nine discs.
The compact box set is really well presented
in nicely designed card slip-cases.
At super-budget price the set represents
marvellous value.
The recorded sound
is cool and clear, somewhat on the dry
side and occasionally blurring in the
Forte passages but really nothing
too troublesome.
This is all well recorded
and beautifully performed. Full credit
to Brilliant Classics for this wonderful
and revelatory set of Mendelssohn’s
complete sacred choral works. Don’t
miss this super bargain!
Michael Cookson
see also
review by Terry Barfoot
Chamber Choir of Europe and Württembergische
Philharmonie Reutlingen/Nicol Matt 
for details