Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847)

Vom Himmel hoch

"ממרום השמים" - קנטטה לחג המולד

After his death, the music of J.S. Bach fell quickly out of fashion, though Mozart, Beethoven, and many other later musicians closely studied his keyboard music. It was only in the early 19th century that Bach's works began once again to be heard frequently on concert programs and appreciated by a wide audience. One musician responsible for this rehabilitation was Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). Mendelssohn championed Bach's music throughout his career, edited several of Bach's works, even led some of the first 19th-century performances of the Passions and cantatas. If Mendelssohn clearly paid tribute to Handel in his great oratorios St. Paul and Elijah, he was no less affected by Bach's music. He wrote to a friend that "...I have composed several works [as] the result of compulsion, just as one is sometimes led to read a particular book, the Bible. and derives a sense of satisfaction from doing so. If there is a resemblance to Seb. Bach I can't help that, because I have written as I feel the need to, and if the words have an association with old Bach, so much the better." Several of Mendelssohn's sacred works have a distinctly "Bachian" sound, as in the cantata Vom Himmel hoch. The cantata was written in Rome during the winter of 1830-31, shortly after Mendelssohn made a pilgrimage to Bach's Thomasschule in Leipzig. The work probably was intended as a favor to his former composition teacher Carl Friedrich Zelter, director of the Berlin Singakademie, and a fellow Bach enthusiast. Vom Himmel hoch was inspired by one of "old Bach's" tried and true forms, the chorale cantata: in which each successive movement sets verses from a Lutheran chorale, in this case Martin Luther's most famous Advent hymn. The work is in six movements, with substantial opening and closing five-part choruses setting the beginning and end of Luther's text. At the center is a starkly simple chorale in purest Bach style The baritone soloist is given a fine aria after the opening chorus and a more lyrical arioso that leads to the closing chorus. Mendelssohn probably had his friend Franz Hauser, a noted Berlin baritone, in mind as a soloist, and may originally have dedicated the score to him. The soprano sings two of the most personal and joyous verses of the hymn in a lovely aria. Though Vom Himmel hoch was undoubtedly performed in Berlin in the 1830s, Mendelssohn never published it, and the work was largely forgotten until it was edited some 150 years later by Karen Lehman in 1983.

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Texts and Translations

Mendelssohn, Vom Himmel hoch

1. Chorus

Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her,        I come to you from heaven above,
ich bring' euch gute neue Mär.          bringing good and new tidings;
Der guten Mär bring ich so viel,        I bring glad tidings of great joy,
davon ich sing'n und sagen will.        of which I shall now speak and sing.

Euch ist ein Kindlein heut' geborn      A child is born to you today,
von einer Jungfrau auserkorn,           from a chosen maiden,
ein Kindelein so zart und fein,         a child so sweet and delicate,
das soll euer Freund und Wonne sein.    that he will be your joy and delight.

2. Aria (Baritone)

Es ist der Herr Christ, unser Gott,     It is the Lord Christ, our God.
der will euch führ’n aus aller Not,     who wishes to free you of all needs,
Er will euer Heiland selber sein,       who wishes to become your savior,
Von allen Sünden machen rein.           to make you free of all sins.

Er bringt euch alle Seligkeit,          He brings all the blessings
Die Gott der Vater hat bereit,          which God the Father has readied,
dass ihr mit uns im Himmelreich         in order that you should be with us
Sollt leben nun und ewiglich.           in heaven now and forever.

3. Chorale

4. Aria (Soprano)

Sie willekomm du edler Gast!            You are welcome, O noble guest!
Den Sünder nicht verschmähet hast       You, who has not scorned the sinner,
und kommst ins Elend her zu mir,        and came in misery to me.
Wie soll ich immer danken dir?          How shall I ever thank you?

Und wär’ die Welt vielmal so weit,      And if the world was many times wider
von Gold und Edelstein bereit’t,       than it is, decorated with gold and jewels,
so wär’ sie doch dir viel zu klein,     it would still be far too humble
zu sein ein enges Wiegelein.            to be a suitable cradle for you.

5. Arioso (Baritone)

Das also hat gefallen dir,              It has pleased you to indicate
die Wahrheit anzuzeigen mir:            the truth in this way, so that
wie aller Welt Macht, Ehr und Gut       all of the world's power, honor, and goodness.
vor dir nichts gilt, nichts hilft       counts for nothing to you, nor is it any use.
   noch tut.

6. Closing Chorus

Lob, Ehr’ sei Gott im höchsten Thron,    Praise and honor to God on the highest throne,
der uns schenkt seinen ein’gen Sohn!     who gives to us his only-begotten son!
Des freuen sich der Engel Schar          In whom the angel multitude rejoices,
und singen uns solch neues Jahr.         and sings to us a happy new year.