Psalm 42 (Mendelssohn)


Psalm 42, Op. 42 "Wie der Hirsch schreit" is a composition by Felix Mendelssohn composed and published 1837 for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra.
Mendelssohn set the music to Martin Luther's German translation of Psalm 42 from the Book of Psalms.
At the work's first performance, in Leipzig on 1 January 1838, Mendelssohn conducted the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, with Clara Novello as soprano. He was the orchestra's musical director from 1835 until his death in 1847.
Schumann opined in 1837 that Mendelssohn's setting of Psalm 42 was the "highest point that he reached as a composer for the church. Indeed the highest point recent church music has reached at all." Mendelssohn himself described it as “my best sacred piece… the best thing I have composed in this manner”, a work “I hold in greater regard than most of my other compositions.”

Structure

  1. Chorus: Wie der Hirsch schreit
  2. Aria : Meine Seele dürstet nach Gott
  3. Recitative and aria : Meine Tränen sind meine Speise – Denn ich wollte gern hingehen
  4. Chorus: Was betrübst du dich, meine Seele
  5. Recitative : Mein Gott, betrübt ist meine Seele
  6. Quintet : Der Herr hat des Tages verheißen
  7. Final chorus: Was betrübst du dich, meine Seele