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Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809–1847) Sechs Spruche Op. 79 (1843-46) [9:44] Hear my Prayer (1844) [10:38] Beati Mortui Op. 115, No. 1 (1833) [2:54] Die deutsche Liturgie (1846) [6:26] Ave Maria Op. 23, No. 2 (1830) [6:40] 100th Psalm (1842) [4:02] Laudate Pueri Op. 39, No. 2 (1830) [5:37] Magnificat Op. 69, No. 3 (1847) [8.37] Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge/Richard Marlow rec. 14-17 January 2000, Chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge CHANDOS CHAN 10363 [74:03]

By one of those strange chances of CD publishing, the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, under Richard Marlow and St. John’s College, Cambridge, under David Hill, both have discs of Mendelssohn’s sacred choral music in the catalogue. Though both discs were released recently, this one from Trinity College was actually recorded in 2000.   The Choir of Trinity College is mixed; it uses female sopranos and altos. This gives the upper lines a warm, flexible sound and combined with Marlow’s approach to Mendelssohn is rather Romantic. The choir respond well to his direction and give some fine, shapely performances.   Though Mendelssohn was a devout Lutheran Protestant - albeit one with Jewish forebears -  he was flexible when it came to writing sacred music. This disc includes some of his best and best known pieces and they range from settings of Latin texts, through music written for the Lutheran church and even canticle settings written specifically for Anglican Evensong.   Trinity open their disc with the Sechs Spruche, a cycle of six pieces which cover the entire church’s year, each chorus is associated with a particular festival. This is Mendelssohn at his most mature, writing fluid polyphonic lines. Trinity shape this music beautifully.   Hear my prayer is one of Mendelssohn’s most popular sacred pieces. Mendelssohn composed it at the behest of the English translator of many of his works, but the final work was dedicated to the musical director of the Berlin Royal Opera. Though traditionally associated with a boy treble, Rachel Bennett sings the solo part here and she certainly gives the boys a run for their money. Whilst not quite as thrilling a Quintin Beer on the St. John’s disc, Bennett wins over Beer because of her beautiful phrasing and intelligent musical performance.   Beati Mortui, written for male voice chorus, is closer to the chorlied than to sacred choral music. It is an early work that was not published until after Mendelssohn’s death. Smoothly homophonic, it receives a fine performance here.   Ave Maria is another of Mendelssohn’s best known pieces. His Op. 23 choruses were written in direct response to his first visit to the Vatican City. It is written for soloists, chorus and organ but the bulk of the solo work falls to Trinity’s mellifluous tenor soloist.  Laudate pueri is similarly early; written for women’s voices, it is one of the most attractive of Mendelssohn’s Latin pieces and receives a fresh performance from the women of Trinity.   The Deutsche Liturgie is a late work; one that Mendelssohn left incomplete at his death. These lovely pieces were intended for use within the Lutheran church. The Three Psalms Op. 78 are amongst Mendelssohn’s mature works in the genre and rank as one of his masterpieces. In them he left behind his dependence on baroque models and produced some of his most fluid, romantic music utilising contrasting blocks of vocal colour and varying the tonal weight from full eight-part choir to soloists. Trinity give strong performances of these pieces and I could recommend this disc for the performance of these works alone.   Mendelssohn’s last completed choral works were the Three Choruses Op. 69, which comprise a Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis and setting of the 100th Psalm, all intended for use within the Church of England. Trinity complete their disc with a performance of the Magnificat notable for the richness of it vocal textures.   Mendelssohn’s sacred choral music tends to get overshadowed by that of Brahms and by Mendelssohn’s own works in other genres. This highly recommendable disc brings his sacred music to the fore in fine, flexible performances from Richard Marlow and choir.   Robert Hugill   BUY NOW  AmazonUK   AmazonUS     Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage There will be NO VAT Rises [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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