Mendelssohn and the Genesis of the Protestant a Cappella Movement

Drawing on his experiences in Berlin under Schleiermacher and his travels to the Vatican, Mendelssohn, as the Director of Prussian Church Music, wanted to offer an edifying worship experience where large-scale choral works would become an indispensable part of the liturgy, which he saw as a performative or representational act, centered around the life of Christ. Yet he quickly realized that the court and clergy were not interested in his foundational concepts; they merely wanted reforms based on the restauration ideals espoused by Winterfeld and Thibaut. Analyses of his 25 Domchor compositions and their revisions in this Element chronicle Mendelssohn's stylistic development and his ability to continue to offer a Christological worship experience within strictly prescribed parameters. The Berlin Domchor and its new repertoire by Mendelssohn and contemporaneous composers quickly became the model for the emerging a cappella movement throughout Protestant Germany.

Product details

• Authors: Siegwart Reichwald, Reichwald Siegwart
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 09.11.2023
• EAN: 9781009113359
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0911335-9
• No. of pages: 98
• Dimensions: 155 mm x 230 mm x 5 mm
• Series: Print on Demand; Elements in Music and Musicians 1750-1850
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Music > General, dictionaries; MUSIC / General, Worship, rites, ceremonies and rituals, Baroque music (c 1600 to c 1750), Protestantism and Protestant Churches, Sacred and religious music