Mendelssohn - Op. 55 / MWV M12 - Incidental music for "Antigone" (1841)

[W.A. Mozart]

Mendelssohn composed this suite of incidental music for "Antigone" in 1841, when he was 32 years old.
The original recording also contains the speeches, but I removed them, so that we can enjoy the music alone, without interruptions.


The tragedy (written by Sofocle in 441 BC) tells the story of Antigone, who decides to bury the body of her brother Polynices, despite the decree of the new king of Thebes, Creon, forbidding it. Polynices died while attacking the city of Thebes, behaving like an enemy, and therefore, he is not to be given funeral honors. Discovered, Antigone is sentenced by the king to spend the rest of her days imprisoned in a cave. Following the prophecies of the seer Tiresias and the pleas of the chorus, Creon ultimately decides to free her, but it is too late because Antigone has already hanged herself. This leads to the suicide of Creon's son, Haemon, who was engaged to Antigone, and then of Creon's wife, Eurydice, leaving Creon alone to curse himself for his own stubbornness.


Performers:
- Berliner Rundfunkchor
- Männerchor "Carl Maria von Weber"
- Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
- Conductor: Stefan Soltész

Mendelssohn - Op. 55 / MWV M12 - Incidental music for "Antigone" (1841):
00:00 I. Overture (C minor)
04:18 II. Strahl des Helios, schönstes Licht" (C major)
10:37 III. "Vieles Gewaltige lebt" (A major)
16:16 IV. "Ihr Seligen, deren Geschick nie kostet' Unheil!" (F major)
22:46 V. "O Eros, Allsieger im Kampf" (G major)
29:03 VI. "Noch toset des Sturmes Gewalt" (E minor)
33:03 VII. Bacchus-Chor: "Vielnamiger! Wonn' und Stolz der Kadmos-Jungfrau" (D major)
37:55 VIII. "Hier kommt er ja selbst" (E flat major)