Organization

Singer

Soprano

Anne Schwanewilms

Soprano I

Petra Maria Schnitzer

Tenor

Peter Seiffert

Conductor

Riccardo Chailly

Gewandhaus Leipzig

Symphony No. 2, op. 52 -  (Symphony No. 2 in B-flat Major, op. 52 ("Hymn of Praise"))

Leipzig

Germany

Schumann-Haus Leipzig

I. Symphony: 
 ( 00:00 ) 1. Con moto maestoso - Allegro vivace 
 ( 11:12 ) 2. Allegretto un poco agitato 
 ( 17:24 ) 3. Adagio religioso 

 ( 24:09 ) II. Chorus: Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord 
 ( 28:33 ) III. Soprano Solo and Semi-Chorus: Praise the Lord, O my soul 
 ( 31:00 ) IV. Tenor Recitative: Let the redeemed of the Lord say so 
 ( 31:50 ) V. Chorus: Let those who were redeemed of the Lord say so 
 ( 33:50 ) VI. Soprano Duet and Chorus: I waited on the Lord 
 ( 39:02 ) VII. Tenor Aria: The chains of death bound us 
 ( 41:10 ) VIII. Chorus: Die Nacht ist vergangen (The night is past)
( 45:56 ) IX. Chorale: Nun danket alle Gott (Give thanks unto the Lord)
( 49:28 ) X. Tenor Aria: Drum singe ich mit meinem Liede ewig dein Lob (Therefore will I sing my song in thy praise for ever)
( 52:17 ) XI. Chorus: Ihr Völker, bringet her dem Herrn Ehre und Macht (Ye people, give honour and glory to the Lord)

It was Riccardo Chailly's inaugural concert as Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, for which the Italian conductor selected works by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). The highlight of the program was the ‘symphonic cantata’ Lobgesang (Hymn of Praise), Op. 52, for soloists, choir, orchestra, and organ – as it was premiered in December of 1840. With the program, Chailly paid homage to the man who was in some respects his predecessor; Mendelssohn himself was Kapellmeister of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, from 1835 to 1847. Chailly was to hold the same position from 2005 until 2016. 

With Lobgesang, Felix Mendelssohn created the new genre of the choral symphony – a hybrid between symphony and cantata. Great symphonic works with choral and solo singing had existed previously – with Beethoven's ninth symphony as the most famous example – but Mendelssohn's excursion within this hybrid form was a novum. The first movement is a sinfonia in which three symphonic movements are married together, unbroken. The fourth movement of the symphony is a cantata, itself consisting of ten individual movements for an array of vocal groupings. 

The symphonic cantata is held together thematically by the titular praise to God. Mendelssohn composed his chorale based upon the verse of Psalm 150:6 – “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." – which serves as a kind of leitmotif for the work. At the opening of the monumental piece, the chorale is played by the trombones, after which the orchestra takes it up, developing the theme across the symphonic movements. Finally, the biblical text arrives as song in the corresponding cantata section.

Mendelssohn's composition of the Lobgesang was commissioned for the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the moving-type printing press. A shorter version, later expanded upon by Mendelssohn, was performed at celebrations on June 25, 1840, with its full premiere in December, 1840. Lobgesang was an audience favorite even during Mendelssohn's lifetime, and remains one of his most frequently performed works. After his death, the expanded symphonic cantata – published as his ‘Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major’ – was attributed to Mendelssohn's symphonic oeuvre. To this day, the title 'Sinfonie No. 2' is still used to refer to the work. However; in the MWV – the new, 2009 index of Mendelssohn’s work – Lobgesang no longer figures amongst the composer's symphonies, but is rather counted as one of his vocal works.

Lobgesang Mendelssohn

Public

Symphony No. 2 in B-flat Major, op. 52 ("Hymn of Praise")

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