Felix Mendelssohn
KUSC’s Alan Chapman has a lot to say about music, but can he say it in 60 seconds? That’s the Chapman Challenge. We ask a question and Alan has a minute to answer it.
Today’s question is from Anthony in Los Angeles who writes, “I heard that Mendelssohn started a Bach revival. Why did Bach have to be revived?
The new music of the time sounded like this:
That’s a symphony by Giovanni Battista Sammartini, part of the birth of the Classical style that will flower throughout the 18th century.
Giovanni Battista Sammartini
Bach was mostly out of sight until 1829, when the twenty-year-old Felix Mendelssohn conducted a performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.
People took notice. Bach was rediscovered, which led to the publication of a complete edition of his works and renewed attention to the Baroque period.
Johann Sebastian Bach
That’s today’s Chapman Challenge. Is there a question you’d like to have answered in 60 seconds? Send it to us at [email protected].
