Works for male chorus or mens voices a cappella run through Mendelssohns oeuvre like a fine red thread. Whoever is only familiar with the six Lieder op. 50, which were printed during the composers lifetime, will be surprised that the Mendelssohn Work Catalogue lists altogether 38 such pieces written between 1820 and 1847. Mendelssohn apparently wrote a number of individual vocal pieces for private occasions, commissions, or as gifts to male vocal societies. Some of them are being published for the first time ever in this volume. The works are so conceived that they can be performed both by solo voices and by a chorus.