If music has always been the language through which man praises the divine, rare are the instances when a composer had to lend his own voice to the heavenly creator. But what does God sound like? In the oratorio St. Paul, Felix Mendelssohn finds an almost unprecedented solution: Jesus is expressed through a vocal quartet that, on the Road to Damascus, addresses the relentless persecutor of Christians and future Apostle to the Gentiles with the famous words “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4-5).
Mendelssohn composed the oratorio St. Paul consciously combining the Baroque tradition – it was he, after all, who organized the first revival of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in 1829, after the composer’s death – and the Romantic style. The work stands out for the leading role of the chorus, which functions both as a vehicle for the action and as a collective voice of faith, in episodes of great dramatic intensity, such as the martyrdom of Protomartyr Stephen or the Conversion of St. Paul. At the same time, however, the oratorio is embellished with moments of highly melodic lyricism, as in the popular soprano aria Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets (Matthew 23:37).
St. Paul was first performed in 1836 in Düsseldorf on Pentecost and shortly thereafter in an English version in Liverpool. It remained extremely popular until World War II, after which there was a general decline in interest in Mendelssohn’s work. Fortunately, since the end of the 20th century, interest in him and his music has been steadily rekindled, with St. Paul receiving notable performances and recordings, mainly in the Anglo-Saxon and German-speaking world.
The libretto is largely based on the Acts of the Apostles. After an extensive symphonic-choral introduction, Part I presents the martyrdom of Stephen and the persecution of Christians by Saul, culminating in his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, followed by his baptism and ordination by Ananias. Part II focuses on the actions of Paul and Barnabas as Apostles of the Church, with the famous chorus “How lovely are the messengers” as a central lyrical point. The narrative continues with the attempts of the Jews to trap Paul and the miracle of healing the lame man. The work concludes with Paul’s farewell to the Church of Ephesus and his departure for Jerusalem, leaving open the new challenges he will face.
Despite dramatizing critical episodes from the lives of Paul, Stephen, and Barnabas, St. Paul is an oratorio with the chorus as its protagonist – the fact that the initial impetus for its creation came from the Cäcilienverein (St. Cecilia Choir) of Frankfurt in 1831 is no coincidence, nor is it that it followed the revival of Bach’s work. In his own oratorio, Mendelssohn draws specific elements from Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel.
From Bach, he adopts elements such as the use of Lutheran chorales, the biblical narrative structure, and the dramatic choral “crowd” scenes reminiscent of the Passions. From Handel, he adopts the magnificent choral writing, clear tonal organization, and the shaping of the oratorio as a concert rather than liturgical work. The chorus plays a multiple role, functioning as narrator and commentator, as a dramatic “crowd,” and as the voice of the Lutheran devotional tradition, while the work is simultaneously enriched with Romantic characteristics such as more expressive harmony, richer orchestration, and greater musical flow.
Mendelssohn’s goal of reviving the great oratorio achievements of Bach and Handel perhaps somewhat resembles the historicist architecture of his era – the 19th-century Neo-Gothic churches, like the Anglican Church of St. Paul on Filellinon Street. Theoretically, it revives something older, but in practice, we admire it for what it brings new.
Felix Mendelssohn’s Oratorio St. Paul will be presented on Holy Monday, April 6, 2026, at the Athens Conservatoire. Performing soloists are: Eleni Kalenos, soprano, Eirini Karagianni, mezzo-soprano, Andreas Karaoulis, tenor, Christoforos Stamboglis, bass. Academic Youth Choir of Athens (AXNA) (choirmaster Nikos Maliaras), Mixed Choir of the National Conservatoire (choirmaster Spyros Klapsis), Apollo Voice Ensemble, from Heraklion, Crete (choirmaster Manos Panagiotakis) and Philarmonia Orchestra of Athens. Conducted by Nikos Maliaras.
