Klarinet Archive - Posting 000092.txt from 1997/07

From: Josias Associates <josassoc@-----.com>
Subj: RE: Mendelssohn Symphony #5 "Reformation" & Elijah
Date: Thu, 3 Jul 1997 19:04:13 -0400

Jacqueline and Dan,

I've performed the Mendelssohn 5th twice, the first time with a
Bb clarinet (before I owned a C) and the second time with both the C and Bb
instruments as scored. My personal reaction about use of the C instrument
is that it gives the woodwind section a more distinctive, brighter sound,
which is not only what the composer apparently wanted, but which I also
prefer in that setting.

As you may already know, the 5th (1830) was written before the 3rd
(1842) and the 4th (1833) symphonies. (The 1830 date is from the 1988
edition of the "Norton Grove Encyclopedia of Music.")

I was surprised to learn that, although Mendelssohn's music never
dropped out of the repertoire, the composer's reputation took a sharp
dip earlier in the 20th Century ("The Lives of the Great Composers" by
Harold C. Schonberg). Paul Rosenfeld, an American music critic whose views
were shared by avant-garde thinkers, had nothing but contempt for such
scores as "Elijah" and "Saint Paul." His articles suggested that the
composer was a Jewish snob trying to pass into Christian society using
religious scores as his passport.

However, Rosenfeld's citing of "Elijah" seemed to me a curious
choice to prove his point. Although List members are far from agreement
on this composition, I not only find "Elijah" to be one of his greatest
scores (I played the oratorio about 12 years ago), it also deals with
Old-Testament themes (the prophet Elijah lived ca. 800+ BC). I was told
by a music historian that some musicologists speculate that Mendelssohn
wrote "Elijah" in 1846, his last year, in part as an exploratory
reconsideration of his ethnic roots. In any event, Mendelssohn's choice of
"Elijah" as subject material would seem to refute some of Rosenfeld's
assertions.

But, I don't know from my limited source material that "Elijah"
actually caused any philosophical changes in the composer's thinking.
Until shown otherwise, I still agree with Dan that the composer
maintained his religious beliefs, in much the same way as, say, Max
Bruch, a Lutheran, maintained his after writing his famous
cello-orchestral fantasy, "Kol Nidre," which was based on a sacred
Jewish melody from the Yom Kippur service.

One last dissociated fact: One of the interesting points arising
out of this thread regarded Mendelssohn's literacy in English. About a
year ago I was surprised to learn that Mozart was also literate in
English, which he practiced on his friend, the famous Irish tenor of
the day (whose name eludes me at the momnent), during his visits to
Mozart when they invariably played billiards and drank beer.

Connie

Conrad Josias
Engineering Consultant
La Canada, California