Symphony No. 5 (Mendelssohn)

The Symphony No. 5 in D-Dur/d-Moll Op 107 " Reformation Symphony" (MWV N 15 ) by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy is a romantic symphony in four movements. The performance lasts about 30 minutes.

Historical Background

The Jew converted to Protestantism, Mendelssohn was a deeply religious man. He was a need to mark the 300th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession in 1830 to compose a festive work without having received a commission. Because of the unrest as a result of the French Revolution of July but no celebrations were held, and the planned premiere of the symphony did not come first.

The symphony was born in winter 1829/30 as the second of five symphonies Mendelssohn. The composer later moved away from his work, the symphony was published posthumously in 1868 in the print production and was given the No. 5 because the resulting later "Italian ", " Hymn of Praise " and the "Scottish " had already been published.

The premiere took place on 15 November 1832 in Berlin under the baton of the composer instead, but had no lasting success.

Construction

Occupation

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, serpente (bass horn), 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani and strings.

Description of the work

The first movement in sonata form is preceded by a slow introduction with spiritual references, including Quotations from the Gregorian Magnificat and the Dresden Amen.

The final movement combines a chorale variation of Martin Luther's hymn A Mighty Fortress is Our God with the sonata form.

Key

On the cover sheet of the autograph score Mendelssohn noted as key of D major. In fact, the symphony begins with an introduction in D Major, but the main theme of the 1st movement and the cadence leadership are then in D minor. Since the key signature of a symphony normally depend on the primary subject, the key of the plant in many reference works musically correctly specified as D minor.