A Midsummer Night's Dream

Bach’s music remained in relative oblivion for almost nearly eighty years. The fact that it has been able to be revered as one of the pillars of Western culture is, in large part, due to the revival work done by Felix Mendelssohn during the 1930s. Despite the legends describing this discovery as a fortuitous coincidence, Mendelssohn became acquainted with the music of the Bach family during his training at the Singakademie in Berlin, an entity focused on promoting the German sacred choral repertoire. In fact, the works of Mendelssohn’s youth — such as his chamber symphonies — owe much to the exuberant style of C.P.E. Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach’s second son. A stellar moment in the history of music is the rediscovery of the Passion According to St. Matthew under the baton of a young Felix Mendelssohn, in February 1829.

PROGRAM