The year 1828 was a Dürer Year (300th anniversary of death), and the Berlin Dürer Festival was looking for a suitable composer to write the festival cantata. The renowned Carl Friedrich Zelter turned down the offer and recommended his pupil instead, the 18-year-old Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. He accepted, and, within a few weeks, the Festmusik MWV D1, was finished, his first full-scored sacred vocal work. Mendelssohns Festmusik subsequently fell into oblivion despite its much-applauded world premiere. The specific context and the rather wooden libretto most likely proved too prohibitive even though the young composer had given his best. This can now be confirmed for the first time by consulting the new printed edition.