Episode 898
Festgesang
Sat, 2019-Oct-19 01:08 UTC
Length - 2:29
Direct Link
Welcome to random Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of a random Wikipedia page every day.
The random article for Saturday, 19 October 2019 is Festgesang.
The "Festgesang", also known as the "Gutenberg Cantata", was composed by Felix Mendelssohn in the first half of 1840 for performance in Leipzig at the celebrations to mark the putative quatercentenary of the invention of printing with movable type by Johannes Gutenberg. The full title is Festgesang zur Eröffnung der am ersten Tage der vierten Säkularfeier der Erfindung der Buchdruckerkunst auf dem Marktplatz zu Leipzig stattfindenden Feierlichkeiten. It was first performed in the market-square at Leipzig on 24 June 1840. The piece is scored for male chorus with two brass orchestras and timpani, and consists of four parts, the first and last based on established Lutheran chorales. Part 2, beginning "Vaterland, in deinen Gauen", was later adapted to the words of Wesley’s Christmas carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". The original German words for Festgesang were by Adolf Eduard Proelss (1803–1882). The use of a large choir and two orchestras was designed to make use of the natural acoustics of the market-place to produce an impressive, resonant sound.
Mendelssohn wrote at least two other "Festgesänge", with which the present work are sometimes confused, known as Festgesang an die Künstler (1846) and Festgesang (“Möge das Siegeszeichen”) (1838).
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:08 UTC on Saturday, 19 October 2019.
For the full current version of the article, see Festgesang on Wikipedia.
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This has been Brian. Thank you for listening to random Wiki of the Day.
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