Mendelssohn’s “Reformation” Symphony

Refresh your mind and spirit with Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5, a triumphant work of “Reformation” featuring hymns and quotations from both Protestant and Jewish influences. In it you'll find youthful energy and dramatic tension—a thematic emancipation of Protestantism from Catholic doctrine and (less intentionally) a window into Mendelssohn’s artistic struggle in the shadow of Beethoven.