Search - Felix [1] Mendelssohn, Johann Valentin Rathgeber, Vincent Lubeck :: Organ Music Sacred and Profane

The Six Grand Sonatas of Mendelssohn, Op. 65, were written at the commission of the English publishers, Coventry and Hollier, following a successful concert series by the composer in 1843. Neither "voluntaries," as the publisher had hoped, nor "sonatas," the compositions link traditional sacred forms (e.g., chorale, fugue) to the spirit of lyrical character pieces and virtuosic concert works, creating a unique synthesis of formal models. The first movement of the Grand Sonata in F Minor alternates fugal writing with statements of the chorale, Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh' allzeit. The second movement, a lyrical "song without words," leads to a subtle recitative alternating with fortissimo chords. Arpeggiated organ crescendos anticipate the fourth movement, a virtuoso toccata. The Aria Pastorella of Valentin Rathgeber likewise links the sacred and secular in the fashion of traditional Italian pastorella of the 17th and 18th centuries, merging the simple evocation of countryside life with the pastoral elements of the Christmas story.