Requiem by R. Schumann and Psalm 42 by F. Mendelssohn

Part 1 Requiem by R. Schumann
After the Schumanns moved to Dusseldorf towards the end of his life, Robert became interested in the musical forms of the Catholic church, and the Mass and the Requiem also satisfied the streak of mysticism that was present throughout his life, though in greater or lesser proportions depending upon circumstances. Like Mozart, he was composing a Mass for the dead during a time of illness and other hardships, and he expressed his fears that it was his own Requiem that he was writing. This performance marks only the second time Schumann’s Requiem has been performed in New Zealand and the Scholars Baroque Aotearoa are grateful to Bach Musica for providing us with the manuscript to be able to perform this moving work.

Part 2 Psalm 42 by F Mendelssohn
At the work's first performance, in Leipzig in 1838, Mendelssohn himself conducted the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Schumann, often a vocal critic of Mendelssohn and his music, opined that Mendelssohn's setting of Psalm 42 was the "highest point that he reached as a composer for the church. Indeed the highest point recent church music has reached at all." Mendelssohn himself described it as “my best sacred piece… the best thing I have composed in this manner”, a work “I hold in greater regard than most of my other compositions.”

Featured Guests
Elizabeth Mandeno - Soprano
David Burchell - Organist