Meyerbeer, Giacomo

iacomo Meyerbeer – Lost and Forgotten Vocal Pieces for One or More Voices (Volume 7)

(b. Berlin, 5 September 1791 – d. Paris, 2 May 1864)

Volume 7

Two Klopstock Lieder
(Nos. 3 and 5)

Vorbereitung zum Gottesdienst (Preparation for the Divine Service) p. 1
Nach dem Abendmahl (After Holy Communion) p. 10

Preface
Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864), the master of French Grand Opéra, is less well-known as a composer of songs. And yet Meyerbeer the songwriter is becoming better known as the extent of his oeuvre of over 80 Lieder, melodies and canzone is slowly rediscovered.

As in all his works, genre plays a crucial role, and Meyerbeer was gifted with an extraordinary capacity to live in the natural musical expressions of the various German, Italian and French milieux he lived in throughout his life, and to whose essential characteristics he responded with effortless intuitiveness. His unique cosmopolitanism, so characteristic of the 18th and early 19th centuries, was first hailed as an important binding force between nations. Later such trans-national characteristics were treated with scorn, even contempt, as extreme nationalism and wars beset the various countries of Europe.

The original publication1 printed the tenor parts on the now archaic C-clef (plate No. M.S. 2604, as illustrated in the picture on the half-cover of this volume). However, for the convenience of modern performers we have re-set the tenor parts on the more familiar G-clef.
The English translations are …

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