It's Those Anniversaries Again

The BBC is now in full swing with its' "celebrations" of the composers it has deemed to be Composers of the Year based on death / birth anniversaries. This month's BBC Music magazine cover disk plays a part, featuring Mendelssohn. The work is one that I wasn't familiar with and this is the first recording that I have. It is his Symphony No 2, subtitled Lobgesang or Hymn of Praise. It also serves as a further nod towards the late Richard Hickox who is the conductor here of the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales. Soloists are Veronique Gens, soprano, Pamela Helen Stephen, mezzo and the tenor Robert Tear. As can be seen from the presence of chorus and soloists, this is a choral symphony taking the form of a substantial sinfonia as introduction and then an almost oratorio like final two thirds. There are both forward and backward influences apparent. It is clear that Mendelssohn had been influenced by exposure to the oratorio heritage of Handel. But the work also looks forward to the oratorio style that he pioneered himself with Elijah and which lead on to a genre in England pursued by Elgar and even Walton among others. This is not an area of mussic of which I am particularly fond but I found the disk more amenable on second hearing and am glad to have it. I was also struck by the use of leitmotif recurring throughout the work and ponder on who that may have influenced ( though such an influence would never have been admitted ! )