Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

TRADITION. SONG. FESTIVE DAYS.

Even long after Handel’s death, the genre of the oratorio enjoyed undiminished popularity in Great Britain. When Mendelssohn visited the country in the mid-1830s, it seemed natural that he should appear before his audience as the composer and conductor of a monumental oratorio. Mendelssohn’s ‘Paulus’ was a great success at the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival in 1837, and the organisers immediately commissioned the composer to write a follow-up work. Mendelssohn’s ‘Paulus’, however, is not only linked to Handel’s oratorios, but also to the tradition of Passion music as interpreted by Bach. The choral movements featured at this concert include chorales and chorale adaptations, and – just like in the case of Bach’s music – most of the arias include contemplative and lyrical commentaries on a particular event or situation.