![Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy - Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) - Cover](https://www.breitkopf.com/media/a0/bd/51/1764007713/9790004213919.jpg?ts=1764007713 "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy - Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) | Breitkopf & Haertel")
Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony)
Urtext based on the Leipzig Mendelssohn Complete Edition
[orch] duration: 30' 2. 2. 2. 2. dble bsn. serp – 2. 2. 3. 0 – timp – str
Description
A Programmatic Declaration of Belief
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy composed his Reformation Symphony for the celebrations marking the 300th anniversary of the “Confessio Augustana,” the Protestant declaration of faith. Owing to various and only partially explained reasons, there was no performance in 1830, the year in question; it was only two years later that the composer conducted the premiere of his work, now heavily revised, in Berlin. There was only one more performance in Mendelssohn’s lifetime, this one conducted by Julius Rietz in Düsseldorf; the composer had since distanced himself from his opus.
Conceived for the concert hall, the symphony formulates its theological references through the integration of various motives. This occurs in the finale, for example, in which Mendelssohn quotes the Luther chorale “Ein feste Burg” in the flute, from where it builds up to a triumphant principal theme. The strong extra-musical aspect must have been one of the reasons for the composer’s later avoidance of this score, especially since Mendelssohn was becoming increasingly skeptical about explicitly programmatic music in the instrumental domain. Next to the Düsseldorf performance material of 1837, two scribal copies have been examined for the first time; they transmit the main stages of the version of 1830.
![PB 5598 - Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) - Cover](https://www.breitkopf.com/media/01/ae/47/1764007714/9790004214954.jpg?ts=1764007714 "Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) | Breitkopf & Haertel")
PB 5598
study score
EAN: 9790004214954
132 pages / 16.5 x 22.5 cm / 262 g / softbound
![OB 5581-15 - Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) - Cover](https://www.breitkopf.com/media/a2/7f/71/1764007742/9790004343203.jpg?ts=1764007742 "Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) | Breitkopf & Haertel")
OB 5581-15
violin 1
EAN: 9790004343203
20 pages / 25 x 32 cm / 102 g / stapled
![OB 5581-16 - Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) - Cover](https://www.breitkopf.com/media/92/d8/d7/1764007742/9790004343210.jpg?ts=1764007742 "Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) | Breitkopf & Haertel")
OB 5581-16
violin 2
EAN: 9790004343210
20 pages / 25 x 32 cm / 99 g / stapled
![OB 5581-19 - Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) - Cover](https://www.breitkopf.com/media/17/g0/be/1764007742/9790004343227.jpg?ts=1764007742 "Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) | Breitkopf & Haertel")
OB 5581-19
viola
EAN: 9790004343227
16 pages / 25 x 32 cm / 86 g / stapled
![OB 5581-23 - Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) - Cover](https://www.breitkopf.com/media/a9/60/5b/1764007742/9790004343234.jpg?ts=1764007742 "Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) | Breitkopf & Haertel")
OB 5581-23
violoncello
EAN: 9790004343234
16 pages / 25 x 32 cm / 81 g / stapled
![OB 5581-27 - Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) - Cover](https://www.breitkopf.com/media/93/5a/88/1764007742/9790004343241.jpg?ts=1764007742 "Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) | Breitkopf & Haertel")
OB 5581-27
double bass
EAN: 9790004343241
16 pages / 25 x 32 cm / 81 g / stapled
![OB 5581-30 - Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) - Cover](https://www.breitkopf.com/media/ca/51/31/1764007742/9790004343258.jpg?ts=1764007742 "Symphony No. 5 in D minor [Op. 107] MWV N 15 (Reformation Symphony) | Breitkopf & Haertel")
OB 5581-30
wind parts
EAN: 9790004343258
168 pages / 25 x 32 cm / 704 g / folder
Description
Description
A Programmatic Declaration of Belief
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy composed his Reformation Symphony for the celebrations marking the 300th anniversary of the “Confessio Augustana,” the Protestant declaration of faith. Owing to various and only partially explained reasons, there was no performance in 1830, the year in question; it was only two years later that the composer conducted the premiere of his work, now heavily revised, in Berlin. There was only one more performance in Mendelssohn’s lifetime, this one conducted by Julius Rietz in Düsseldorf; the composer had since distanced himself from his opus.
Conceived for the concert hall, the symphony formulates its theological references through the integration of various motives. This occurs in the finale, for example, in which Mendelssohn quotes the Luther chorale “Ein feste Burg” in the flute, from where it builds up to a triumphant principal theme. The strong extra-musical aspect must have been one of the reasons for the composer’s later avoidance of this score, especially since Mendelssohn was becoming increasingly skeptical about explicitly programmatic music in the instrumental domain. Next to the Düsseldorf performance material of 1837, two scribal copies have been examined for the first time; they transmit the main stages of the version of 1830.
Table of contents
| 1. | Andante – Allegro con fuoco |
| 2. | Allegro vivace |
| 3. | Andante |
| 4. | Chorale „Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott“: Andante con moto - Allegro vivace - Allegro maestoso |