May 10, 2026 · 11 min · 10 segments
It's Part 3, time for the heavy third movement of Mendelssohn's iconic Reformation Symphony. We hope you're enjoying this series as we're in the home stretch! Be sure to like, and share with a friend!…
So of course, Mendelssohn wrote this symphony to represent the Reformation, which was a kind of fight, a civil fight [laughs] between the Catholic Church and the new Lutheran faction that was, of course, led by none other than Martin Luther.
Mendelssohn used a more traditional Baroque sound throughout this symphony to evoke the older Catholic religion.
And obviously, Lutheranism was around during the Baroque period as well, but a majority of Europe at the time was still staunchly Catholic, and Mendelssohn was strictly referencing the likes of the Catholic Baroque, like Palestrina, Vivaldi, et cetera, not the Lutheran Baroque, like Bach.
This third movement, which happens to be the slowest of the symphony, is still meant to be or evoke a Baroque aria.
It's also the shortest of the movements, being only 54 big old measures long, but it still packs a pretty emotional punch.
So of course, Mendelssohn wrote this symphony to represent the Reformation, which was a kind of fight, a civil fight [laughs] between the Catholic Church and the new Lutheran faction that was, of course, led by none other than Martin Luther.
Mendelssohn used a more traditional Baroque sound throughout this symphony to evoke the older Catholic religion.
And obviously, Lutheranism was around during the Baroque period as well, but a majority of Europe at the time was still staunchly Catholic, and Mendelssohn was strictly referencing the likes of the Catholic Baroque, like Palestrina, Vivaldi, et cetera, not the Lutheran Baroque, like Bach.
This third movement, which happens to be the slowest of the symphony, is still meant to be or evoke a Baroque aria.
It's also the shortest of the movements, being only 54 big old measures long, but it still packs a pretty emotional punch.
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