We owe a lot to Felix Mendelssohn. Besides writing some lovely works for voice, piano, opera, and orchestra (not to mention some wicked hard clarinet licks), Mendelssohn brought the music of J.S. Bach back to life and re-introduced it to the world. Without his "Bach revival" we may not now have a full appreciation of all that the Baroque master gave us.
Mozart studied some of Bach's writings, and Beethoven studied the preludes and fugues of the Well-Tempered Klavier as a student. But after Bach's death in 1750, his music wasn't given much regard. In 1829, however, a twenty year old Felix directed a performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion, the first such performance of the work since nearly 70 years after Bach died and almost 100 years after the first performance of the piece (directed by the composer).
Listening to the Passion now, I am grateful to Mendelssohn for reminding the world how truly beautiful the large choral works of the Baroque era are. A restorative for the soul.
No comments:
Post a Comment