Symphony No. 5 in D Minor

The Reformation Symphony, Mendelssohn’s second in order of composition, was begun in December 1829 to mark the 300th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession that June. Ill health meant it could not be finished until May 1830; he then revised it before its Berlin premiere on 15 November 1832. Mendelssohn remained dissatisfied with the piece, and its second performance and publication did not take place until 1868. The first movement’s introduction features ethereal statements of the “Dresden Amen” chant before its “Allegro con fuoco” proceeds combatively on its way to a powerful coda. The delightful scherzo revels in the contrast between its vivacious main theme and its winsome trio, while the “Andante” is less a slow movement than a song without words on a wistful melody for strings. This leads straight into the finale with a statement, on flutes, of the Lutheran chorale “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”—the basis of an “Allegro” whose fugal energy and surging emotion culminate in the chorale’s fervent return.