St. Paul (oratorio)


St. Paul, Op. 36, is an oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn. The composer oversaw versions and performances in both German and English within months of completing the music in early 1836.

Background

The libretto "after words of holy scripture" was begun in 1832. The composer with pastor , a childhood friend, pulled together passages from the New Testament, chiefly the Acts of the Apostles, and the Old, as well as the texts of chorales and hymns, in a polyglot manner after Bach's model. Composition of the music started in 1834 and was complete in early 1836.

Performances

The work was premiered on 22 May 1836 at the Lower Rhenish Music Festival in Düsseldorf. The English premiere was in Liverpool on 3 October 1836 in a translation by Mendelssohn's friend, Karl Klingermann. Contralto Mary Shaw was one of the soloists at the English premiere. The first performance in the United States was in Boston on March 14, 1837. Mendelssohn himself conducted the first performance in Leipzig in the Paulinerkirche on 16 March 1837. Numerous performances followed in Europe and in the United States.

Observations about its popularity

During Mendelssohn's lifetime, St. Paul was a popular and frequently performed work. Today it is regularly performed in Germany and well disseminated in both of its original languages through an array of complete recordings.
Although not supported by the given link reference at Bard College, someone has written that "compared with such oratorios as Handel's Messiah, Bach's Christmas Oratorio and St Matthew Passion or even Mendelssohn's own Elijah, St. Paul has failed to maintain its place in the choral repertory and is now infrequently performed" in its entirety.

Instrumentation

Part One

APPEAL AND DOXOLOGY
SCENE ONE — STONING OF STEPHEN
SCENE TWO — CONVERSION AND BAPTISM OF SAUL

Part Two

SCENE THREE — MISSION OF PAUL AND BARNABAS
SCENE FOUR — PERSECUTION OF PAUL BY HIS FORMER FELLOW BELIEVERS
SCENE FIVE — FAREWELL OF PAUL FROM EPHESUS
SCENE SIX — MARTYRDOM OF PAUL

Recordings