Mendelssohn: Die erste Walpurgisnacht, MWV D 3, Op. 60

Composer: Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Format: Vocal Score Instrumentation (this edition): Piano Reduction, SATB Choir Originally for: SATB Choir, Orchestra Work: Die erste Walpurgisnacht (The First Walpurgis Night), MWV D 3, Op. 60 Binding: Saddle-Stitch Work Language: German ISMN: 9790004160145 Size: 7.5 x 10.6 inches Pages: 72 Look Inside! PDF Preview Description The First Walpurgis Night [The First Witches' Sabbath], Op. 60 is based on a ballad from 1799 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which tells of the pagan customs of Walpurgis Night on the Brocken Mountain. It reminds us of a religious and cultural conflict. Goethe describes how people try to protect their pagan rituals from emerging Christian influences. To scare off the "clerical Christians", the pagans dress up as witches and demons who wreak havoc on the heights of the Harz Mountains. Goethe originally commissioned Carl Friedrich Zelter to set the work to music, but Zelter passed the task on