It is commonly believed that Bach was rediscovered by Mendelssohn, and with his performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829, he launched a new cult of Bach. This was not in fact the case. Bach has always been present in the lives of every generation after him as the greatest composer. The most important intention of the Bach cult initiated by Mendelssohn was to perform Bach’s works in the style and instrumentation of the period they were written in. Yet perhaps no other composer has ever been as influenced by Bach as Mendelssohn: almost all his works reflect the spirit of his great predecessor to a greater or lesser extent. Furthermore, Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang is one of the best-known examples of the post-Bach tradition of Protestant music. The work, which the composer describes as a symphony, actually consists of an orchestral introduction (Movements 1-3) and a major oratorio movement (Movement 4 Finale), and it was written to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the invention of the printing press. The whole work is a true ‘hommage à Bach’.
