Schneider: Das Weltgericht

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A magnificent oratorio, long forgotten, has been rediscovered in Leipzig. Gregor Meyer conducts the Gewandhaus Chorus and the camerata lipsiensis in Friedrich Schneider’s Das Weltgericht. The composer, pianist, organist, and Anhalt-Dessau court music director Friedrich Schneider was one of the most creative and productive minds in the Central German music world during the first half of the nineteenth century but today is unfortunately a forgotten man. Das Weltgericht was once one of the most famous German oratorios, inspired euphoric headlines everywhere when it was first composed, and occasioned genuine storms of enthusiasm among concertgoers. The libretto is by August Apel, who based his text on the biblical accounts of the Last Judgment in Matthew 24-25 and the Revelation of John. A plot in the strict sense is not narrated; rather, the persons are biblical messengers who tell us of heaven, hell, and earth. This oratorio situated between classicism and romanticism was often performed but then was forgotten for many decades. The conductor Gregor Meyer wants to stimulate a new discussion about the oeuvre of Friedrich Schneider, who once lived and worked in Leipzig. A critical edition of the source materials will assist him in this project.