The Protestant Reformation changed the world forever.
Anticipating ideals of the Enlightenment, which swept across Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was a revolutionary movement which challenged the authority of the Catholic hierarchy, elevated the sanctity of the individual, and affirmed his direct relationship with God.
The 20-year-old Felix Mendelssohn chose to celebrate these exalted ideals, not with a choral work, but with a dramatic symphony. Completed in 1830, the “Reformation” Symphony was written to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in June of 1530. The primary declaration of faith of the Lutheran Church, it was a seminal document in the Protestant Reformation.
The Symphony was not performed as part of the anniversary celebration as Mendelssohn had hoped. Instead, Mendelssohn conducted the premiere on November 15, 1832 at Berlin’s Singakademie. He never returned to the work. It remained unpublished until 1868, twenty years after the composer’s death. Chronologically, it was the second symphony Mendelssohn wrote for full orchestra, but the publication order rendered it Symphony No. 5 in D major/D minor, Op. 107.
Born of Jewish heritage, Mendelssohn was a practicing Lutheran, who was baptized into the Protestant faith at the age of seven. Throughout his life, he was drawn to the sublime counterpoint of another devout Lutheran composer, J.S. Bach, and was influential in reviving interest in Bach’s music. Two years before finishing the “Reformation” Symphony, Mendelssohn organized the first public performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion in over 100 years. With a sense of irony, he later remarked, “To think that it took…a Jew’s son to revive the greatest Christian music for the world!”
The slow introduction which opens the first movement (Andante – Allegro con fuoco) gives us a magical sense of space, distance, and sound, with multiple voices and instrumental choirs. It begins with flowing chorale lines which are filled with reverence, awe, and quiet aspiration. Horn and trumpet calls ring out, as if to form a mystical summons. Gradually, these fanfares coalesce into a majestic invocation. Out of the final reverberations, a celestial string choir emerges with a statement of the Dresden Amen. Later quoted by Wagner in Parsifal as the leitmotif for the Holy Grail, this seven-note sequence, with its wide, sensuously spaced inner voices, was heard in both Catholic and Lutheran church services throughout the German state of Saxony.
The ethereal final bars of the introduction are swept away by the arrival of the exposition, which takes a sudden turn to fiery D minor amid swirling, tempestuous counterpoint. The Dresden Amen returns at the beginning of the movement’s recapitulation.
Moving to B-flat major, the second movement (Allegro vivace) is a cheerful scherzo. Its contrasting trio section in G major is a graceful waltz with bucolic undertones.
The brief third movement (Andante) resembles a song without words. Both melancholy and tender, it leads directly into the final movement (Andante con moto – Allegro vivace – Allegro maestoso). In addition to playing the lute and singing, Martin Luther was an accomplished flutist. It is the solitary voice of the flute which takes centerstage in the opening bars of the movement, and soon introduces the main theme: Luther’s chorale melody, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (“A mighty fortress is our God”). Following contrapuntal adventures, including a fugue, which pay homage to J.S. Bach, a final statement of Luther’s famous chorale brings the “Reformation” Symphony to a celebratory conclusion.
This performance, featuring Andrés Orozco-Estrada and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, was recorded in June 2021 at Kloster Eberbach as part of the Rheingau Musik Festival:
Five Great Recordings
- Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5 in D minor/D Major, Op. 107, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Tonkünstler-Orchester Amazon
- Kurt Masur and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig Amazon
- Claudio Abbado and the London Symphony Orchestra
- Christoph von Dohnányi and the Vienna Philharmonic
- Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1957 recording)
Featured Image: “Luther Posting the 95 Theses” (1872), Ferdinand Pauwels