Paulus, by Felix Mendelssohn

In 1832 Felix Mendelssohn was commissioned to write an oratorio honoring the life of Paul. Paulus is an amazing work that showcases not only characteristics of the Romantic era in which it was written, but also those of Baroque and Classical oratorio styles. For example, Mendelssohn uses Romantic qualities such as chromaticism, beautiful melodies, and new orchestration practices while staying true to Baroque and Classical traditions, such as the thunderous choruses of Handel and Bach. Paulus is a masterpiece that deserves more academic attention and inclusion into the Canon.

Paulus consists mostly of sacred texts set to chorales, recitatives, and arias, and uses a variety of texture styles such as homophony, polyphony, and counterpoint in this two act oratorio. The first half tells the story of St. Stephen, his encounters with Paul (named Saul at the time), and his eventual martyrdom. The second half focuses on Paul's missionary work alongside his fellow prophet Barnabas, and ends with Paul's dramatic death by an angry mob. The work includes a chorus and a solo soprano, alto, tenor, and bass who depict different characters in the oratorio's storyline - for example, a bass plays the role of Paul while a tenor sings as Stephen and Barnabas.

Mendelssohn was a brilliant composer and able to create beautiful sounds from his orchestra, as shown in the opening overture. The audience is introduced to many themes, varying from majestic and beautiful melodies that simply soar, to portentous melodies with strings that seem to shiver in angst. Immediately following the overture, a booming chorus sings "Herr! Der du bist de Gott," similar to the overwhelming nature of Handel oratorios. The work continues as Mendelssohn uses recitatives to narrate the oratorio, beginning with the story of Stephen. Particularly stirring is the scene of a growing mob that eventually stones Stephen to death. Here the chorus sings eerie, threatening thematic material, while the orchestra adds to the ominous feeling using a shivering strings theme from the opening overture. Though the oratorio is dedicated to the life of Paul, much time is spent on Stephen's martyrdom. This is because Stephen's story is the first time that Paul is mentioned in the Bible, and by focusing on Paul's persecution of Christians, this leads to a more dramatic scene with his eventual conversion to Christianity. As the chorus plays the role of God in singing "Wachet auf! Ruft uns die Stimme," the first act ends with Ananias baptizing Paul and a choral piece proclaiming the glory of God.

The second half of Paulus tells the story of Paul and Barnabas' travels as apostles of Christ. It begins with praise of God's presence on earth in "Der Erdkreis ist nun des Herrn," with the choir singing homophonically then suddenly splitting into imitative polyphony, singing a fugue! I found this shift stunning, and I assume this is honoring past styles and composers such as Bach, the father of the fugue. The second half continues as the people are inspired by Paul the apostle and they begin to praise him. Paul becomes angry and scolds the people for looking to him, not God, and they soon turn into an angry mob. A soprano narrator begins to describe Paul's persecution by the angry mob while a tenor's simple air symbolizes Paul's unwavering devotion to God, even to his death.

In Paulus, the orchestra's role is different than in past oratorios. Romantic orchestras are known for being more than mere accompaniment, as they play a vital role in setting specific moods and are able to depict actions without need for actors or words. Mendelssohn does this wonderfully throughout the oratorio. He makes the orchestra nearly equal to the chorus, a very Romantic idea and different than in past oratorios.

I feel that this work may have been particularly special to Mendelssohn due to the amount of time he spent on it. Mendelssohn was a very prolific composer and could compose much music in a short time span; however, this oratorio took him four years, leading one to believe he worked particularly hard on this piece and wanted every detail to be perfect. Also, this work closely focuses on presenting the biblical story accurately rather than entertaining the audience, perhaps inferring Mendelssohn's reverence and seriousness to this work and the oratorio as a compositional form.

I find this piece especially provocative due to Mendelssohn's complicated religious heritage. His grandfather was a Jewish rabbi and scholar, though with anti-Semitism on the rise, the family used the name Bartholdy. And during all this time Mendelssohn was a devoted Lutheran! In fact, it was Felix's father Abraham that pushed for him to write the Paulus oratorio. This puts things more into context and adds an interesting twist to the back-story of this piece.

When scholars look at Mendelssohn's oratorios today, Elijah is the piece include in the Canon, not Paulus. Paulus has been deemed boring and long-winded, while Elijah has a more exciting plot to today's listeners and may be sung in English. Audiences today aren't as receptive to Paul's conversion as audiences in the 19th century, which is why, ironically, Paulus was the more popular piece of its day. This is just one of the reasons I believe Paulus should be included in the Canon. If scholars want to better understand the public's music preferences in the Romantic era and the social environment in which these works were presented, Paulus, as the more popular work, must be further studied. I also believe this oratorio should be included in the Canon because of the impact Mendelssohn had on resurrecting genres of the past. Choruses and oratorios were on the decline in the Romantic era and by Mendelssohn accepting this project, he was trying to save the genre, or at least show reverence to the lessening art form and its past composers. Mendelssohn appreciated the works of these composers and continually paid homage to them by resurrecting their pieces and performing in their styles. I feel that Mendelssohn felt that this was his purpose and to exclude this piece from the Canon would go against everything he stood for. This work belongs in the Canon. It is a compositional masterpiece of a well known Biblical figure and it includes a wide variety of compositional styles and techniques that are the perfect tool for comparing Romantic works with musical characteristics of the past. I was blown away by this piece and learned much from it, and by adding Paulus to the Canon, others too will have the chance to be exposed to a brilliant piece of Romantic music literature.

"Mendelssohn Really Was a Lutheran," The Wall Street Journal, 17 Aug 2009, sec. A, p. 10.
Robinson, George. "Mendelssohn, Lost and Found. The New York Jewish Week. Vol 221, Iss. 35 (Jan 2009): 33.
Seaton, Douglass. The Musical Genesis of Felix Mendelssohn's "Paulus" (Florida State University, 1998), 310.