(Grant us peace) is a

chorale cantata A chorale cantata is a church cantata based on a chorale—in this context a Lutheran chorale. It is principally from the Germany, German Baroque music, Baroque era. The organizing principle is the words and music of a Lutheran hymn. Usually a chora ...

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

, setting a prayer for peace by

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

. Mendelssohn composed the short work in one movement for mixed choir and orchestra in 1831. It is also known as .

History

The text is

's "", a

paraphrase A paraphrase () is a restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words. The term itself is derived via Latin ', . The act of paraphrasing is also called ''paraphrasis''. History Although paraphrases likely abounded in oral tra ...

Da pacem Domine (Give peace, Lord) is the incipit of two different Latin texts, a hymn and an introit. Both have been the base for compositions to be used in church liturgy, beginning with chant. Paraphrased versions of the hymn were created by Martin Luther in G ...

, a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

prayer for peace from the 6th or 7th century based on biblical verses , and . It was a regular close of church services in Luther's time. Mendelssohn was exposed to

Lutheran hymn Martin Luther was a great enthusiast for music, and this is why it forms a large part of Lutheran services; in particular, Luther admired the composers Josquin des Prez and Ludwig Senfl and wanted singing in the church to move away from the '' ...

s during his studies with

Carl Friedrich Zelter Carl Friedrich Zelter (11 December 1758 15 May 1832)Grove/Fuller-Datei:Carl-Friedrich-Zelter.jpegMaitland, 1910. The Zelter entry takes up parts of pages 593-595 of Volume V. was a German composer, conductor and teacher of music. Working in his ...

, and when he revived Bach's ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets ...

'' in 1829, which was at the time thought to be the centenary of its first performance. He composed in 1831 as one of eight chorale cantatas based on Lutheran hymns which he wrote as studies. He later chose only for publication. The composition was published, edited by

Julius Rietz August Wilhelm Julius Rietz (28 December 1812 – 12 September 1877) was a German composer, conductor, cellist, and teacher. His students included Woldemar Bargiel, Salomon Jadassohn, Arthur O'Leary, and (by far the most celebrated) Sir Arthur ...

, by

Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf. The catalogue currently contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on ...

as part of Mendelssohn's complete works in 1875.

Carus-Verlag Carus-Verlag is a German music publisher founded in 1972 and based in Stuttgart. Carus was founded by choral conductor Günter Graulich and his wife Waltraud with an emphasis on choral repertoire. The catalogue currently includes more than 26,00 ...

published it in 1980, edited by

Günter Graulich Günter Graulich (born 2 July 1926)Klaus Hofmann: Carus-Verlag. In Ludwig Finscher (edit.): ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart''. Second edition, Sachteil, volume 2 (Bolero – Encyclopedie). Bärenreiter/Metzler, Kassel u. a. 1995, Online-Aus ...

, including an organ version. It has the text in German and Latin, which Mendelssohn had added, "Dona nobis pacem, Domine", and an English translation "In thy mercy grant us peace".

Music

Mendelssohn did not use the melody which was associated with Luther's text, which is surprising because he retained the traditional melody from Luther's similar German Agnus Dei as a

cantus firmus In music, a ''cantus firmus'' ("fixed melody") is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition. The plural of this Latin term is , although the corrupt form ''canti firmi'' (resulting from the grammatically incorrect tr ...

when he composed his first chorale cantata, ''Christe, du Lamm Gottes''. His new melody follows the style of recent hymns in clear major-key tonality. Originally Mendelssohn planned to use "cellos and basses", but in the final version scored the work for four-part choir

SATB SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part harm ...

and an orchestra of two flutes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two violins, viola, two cellos and double bass. It is in

E-flat major E-flat major (or the key of E-flat) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically ...

and marked Andante. The melody appears three times, rendering the complete text each time. It is introduced by the basses alone, then repeated by the altos, with the basses singing

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

, and finally appears in the sopranos with a mostly

homophonic In music, homophony (;, Greek: ὁμόφωνος, ''homóphōnos'', from ὁμός, ''homós'', "same" and φωνή, ''phōnē'', "sound, tone") is a texture in which a primary part is supported by one or more additional strands that flesh ...

four-part setting. The instruments provide independent moving material, with different scoring for the three entries.

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

said about the composition: "The small piece deserves to be world famous and will become so in the future; the Madonnas of Raphael and Murillo cannot remain hidden for long."

References

External links

*
Mendelssohn Verleih uns Frieden
in the

Choral Public Domain Library The Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL) is a sheet music archive which focuses on choral and vocal music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing (such as via permission from the copyright holder). It is a ...

Da pacem Domine
text and translations in the

* {{italic title Compositions by Felix Mendelssohn 1831 compositions Chorale cantatas