CONCERTS IN CHURCHES AND SYNAGOGUES

Since 2002, a key component of The Mendelssohn Project has been its performances in religious institutions. TMP has given concerts with world premieres, USA premieres, and known works in churches and cathedrals. The union of religion and music has been inseparable over many centuries, and for the music of both Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn there is no exception. Their wondrous sacred music is ideally suited for the vaulted beauty of a church.

There has been one notable aspect missing, however. To this point, The Mendelssohn Project has yet to give a concert in a synagogue. This is an omission which TMP plans to rectify very shortly. The Mendelssohns were Jewish by their birth and their grandfather, the great philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, was the founder of the Jewish Emancipation of the 18th Century. Despite having been baptized as Christians at young ages, the Mendelssohns, Felix in particular, spent the final decade of their lives acquainting themselves with the grandfather they never met and the religion they had never been taught.

Of the many choices for works to perform in a synagogue, the most obvious one is Felix Mendelssohn's grand oratorio, Elijah , which although widely accepted as a work of Christian origin is also deeply rooted in the composer's Jewish heritage. This is observed through a variety of sources, not the least of which being Mendelssohn's own writing in his letters at the time.

The Mendelssohn Project plans to open discussions with the leaders of prominent synagogues in America and in Europe to give performances of Elijah (which comprises of text almost exclusively from the Old Testament) in Jewish places of worship, hence exposing and celebrating this work in a vastly different context than is normally expected. TMP also plans to invite key musicological figures and religious historians to be on hand to speak to the audiences before the concerts, as well as to be available for discussions afterwards.

In addition to its concerts in synagogues, TMP also plans to continue fundraising in order to keep presenting concerts in churches. The music of Felix Mendelssohn is considered standard repertoire in churches world-wide; not only his sacred music, but his large output of organ music, as well.  

Felix Mendelssohn was the most prolific writer of sacred choral music of the 19th Century. Fanny Mendelssohn wrote religious music of untold beauty. The text of their vast output ranges evenly between the Old and New Testament, thereby creating a large spectrum of music to present in both churches and synagogues.

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