Zum Abendsegen (‘To the Evening Service’) is a moving, contrapuntal miniature in A minor, one of the most ‘ancient’ in feel of all Mendelssohn’s choral works, which possesses a poignant intensity arising out of his subtle (and supple) handling of contrapuntally overlapping textures. Mendelssohn’s mastery of temporal pacing ensures that although the work builds towards and relaxes away from a central climax in little more than two-and-a-half minutes, nothing feels remotely forced.
from notes by Julian Haylock © 2006
;)
