Portrait of Felix Mendelssohn by James Warren Childe (1778–1862)
The Gustavus Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Gregory Aune, will feature Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5, the “Reformation” Symphony, on its Fall Concert, Sunday, November 8. The concert begins at 1:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel and is free and open to the public.
The Symphony will open Sunday’s concert with Beethoven’s Die Weihe des Hauses and Wagner’s Prelude to Act III of Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg. The Gustavus Choir then joins the orchestra to present Nänie by Johannes Brahms. Nänie (Latin for dirges) is one of Brahms’ masterful contributions to the literature and like his Ein Deutsches Requiem conveys comfort and consolation rather than despair in the inevitability of death.
Following intermission, the Symphony marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) with his Symphony No. 5. Mendelssohn completed the symphony in 1830 and hoped it would be premiered that year to mark the 300th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession. Although that did not happen until two years later, the symphony earned the common title of the “Reformation” Symphony as the thematic core of the final movement is Martin Luther’s hymn, Ein feste Burg is unser Gott.
Sunday’s concert performed by the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra, conductor Gregory Aune, and assisted by the Gustavus Choir, begins at 1:30 p.m.in Christ Chapel and is free and open to the public.