Paulus, Mendelssohn's other large oratorio, has never had as strong a grip on the public imagination as Elijah (1846), and it's not too hard to see why. Elijah uses as its basis one of the most psychologically interesting characters in the Hebrew Bible, and the episode that's the focus of the oratorio is one of its oddest and most dramatic stories. Paul's life has no shortage of incident and high drama, but the composer used a libretto, that after Saul's life-changing conversion on the road to Damascus, doesn't capitalize ...
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Paulus, Mendelssohn's other large oratorio, has never had as strong a grip on the public imagination as Elijah (1846), and it's not too hard to see why. Elijah uses as its basis one of the most psychologically interesting characters in the Hebrew Bible, and the episode that's the focus of the oratorio is one of its oddest and most dramatic stories. Paul's life has no shortage of incident and high drama, but the composer used a libretto, that after Saul's life-changing conversion on the road to Damascus, doesn't capitalize on the engrossing details of the reminder of Paul's life, but amounts to a theological discourse. The preachy text didn't consistently bring out Mendelssohn's strongest inspiration. Fresh from his immersion in Bach's St. Matthew Passion, he made significant use of chorale melodies and Baroque counterpoint. Particularly in the choruses, he relied heavily on the models of Bach and Handel, with the result frequently sounding like imitation Baroque note-spinning, and the recitatives are...
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