and my Prayer unto the God of my Life." The
response is full of hope and consolation; but through it all runs the
mournful strain of the soprano (forming a quintet at the end), coming to
a close only when the full chorus joins in a repetition of the fourth
number ("Trust thou in God"), this time elaborated with still greater
effect, and closing with a stately ascription of praise to the God of
Israel.

The Gutenberg Fest-Cantata.

The occasion for which the short festival cantata known as the
"Gutenberg" was written, was the fourth centennial celebration of the art
of printing, which was observed at Leipsic in 1840 by the unveiling of
Gutenberg's statue in the public square, and other ceremonies. The
direction of the musical part of the festivity was intrusted to
Mendelssohn. The text for the hymn to be sung at the unveiling, which
occurred on the morning of June 24, immediately after the public service
in Church, was furnished by Adolphus Proelsz, a teacher in the Gymnasium
at Freiberg. Lampadius, in his Life of Mendelssohn, says of the
performance:--

"Mendelssohn arranged it with trombone accompaniment. When the opening
words, 'Fatherland! within thy Confines broke the dawning Light,'--so
the opening ran, if my memory is correct,--were heard in the Music Hall
at the first rehearsal, the heartiest applause arose among the
performers as well as the invited guests. Nothing so simple, powerful,
joyous, and unconstrained had been heard for a long time.... Many will
remember how, on the very day of the public performance, the slight
form of Mendelssohn was seen moving nervously around to find just the
right place for the trombonists, and how nearly he came to a fall from
the platform. During that performance the singers were divided into two
choirs, which sat at some distance from each other; one of them was
conducted by David, and the other by Mendelssohn."

The cantata opens with a stately chorale ("With solemn Hymn of Praise")
set to the old tune "Honor to God alone," followed by the song in memory
of Gutenberg ("Fatherland! within thy Confines"), which has been
separately arranged and printed as a solo. The third number is a quick,
spirited movement for tenors ("And God said, 'Let there be Light'")
followed by another effective chorale ("Now, thank God all"), which
brings the work to a close. On the afternoon of the same day
Mendelssohn's much more important work, "