In his psalm settings for double choir, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy engages consciously with the legacy of earlier sacred polyphony while speaking in a distinctly 19th-century musical language. Written for eight independent vocal lines, these works combine contrapuntal discipline with Romantic harmonic warmth and a heightened sensitivity to biblical text. Mendelssohn’s approach is neither antiquarian nor purely expressive: Renaissance models, Lutheran choral tradition, and modern choral sonority are brought into careful balance. Heard in an intimate sacred space and supported by organ, these psalms close the season by tracing a historical arc—from early Baroque origins to a renewed Romantic engagement with sacred tradition.

Performers

Andréa Walker and Elizabeth Tait soprano
Grace Kiver and Michael Skarke alto
Aaron Cates and Michaël Hudetz tenor
David Grogan and Peter Schoellkopff bass

Bryan Anderson organ

Mario Aschauer artistic director