It is a delightful notion that Felix Mendelssohn thought of the Engelberg mountains and nature in this magnificent landscape when he composed this catchy and concise motif.

The fact is that the 22-year-old Mendelssohn stopped in Engelberg from August 21st to 24th in 1831 during his trip through Switzerland. Coming from Meiringen, he subsequently described his experiences and the capricious weather conditions prevailing at that time in letters.

The fact is also that in 1840 a composition was to be created for the Leipzig celebration of the 400th anniversary of the invention of printing by Gutenberg. Mendelssohn chose the ensemble for soloists, choir and large orchestra. At the premiere on June 25, 1840 in Leipzig, more than 500 (!) performers were involved.

Another fact is that this music, the textual basis of which was largely taken from the Psalms of the Bible, was not intended as liturgical music. In this service, they were heard together with the two movements from Schubert’s German Mass and the added plea for peace “Grant us peace”, which also comes from Mendelssohn.

The musicians were:

Gabriela Bürgler, soprano
Aline Willi-Jayet, soprano
Livio Schmid, tenor and music teacher at the Stiftsschule since 2024

Ad hoc orchestra with alumni

Vlad Pescaru (concertmaster), Izabela Iwanowska, Sandra Kirchhofer
Doris Estermann-Renzler, Djordje Stevanovic, Carol Perrin; violin
Beat Marthaler and Vera Hux; viola
Sara Käser and Cyprian Feller; violoncello
Stefan Zweifel Ehrenfellner; double bass
Deborah Regez; flute
Julia Rechsteiner; oboe
Olivia Rava; clarinet
Markus Boppart; bassoon
Anita Surek; horn
Ueli Eggenberger; trombone
Norbert Kiser; trumpet
Thomas Scheibel; timpani
Georg Commerell; organ

Ruth Mory-Wigger; director of music

Would you like to sing along sometime? The choral project meets in the summer for a concentrated rehearsal period and is open to everyone who enjoys singing. Further information and other projects to sing along with can be found on the monastery’s website under Stiftschor.