# Mendelssohn - Op. 107 - Symphony No. 5 in D major/D minor ("Reformation")



## HansZimmer (11 mo ago)

How do you rate this piece?

Conductor: Christoph von Dohnányi 
Orchestra: Wiener Philharmoniker


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

It's the one Mendelssohn symphony I enjoy, especially the introduction - very good.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I enjoy playing the Reformation, but I rarely listen to it. The 3rd and 4th are better.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

The five Mendelssohn symphonies all end up in different tiers when I spin the Artrockometer - from 6/6 down to 2/6. The Reformation symphony is smack in the middle.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

One of my favorite symphonies and Mendelssohn pieces. Also my favorite Toscanini recording for his measured and dramatic approach.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

It's a very uneven piece (the two middle movements are too light and short and don't really fit with the rest) and the composer basically disowned it (therefore the high number and posthumous publication) but I like it a lot and the outer movements are quite impressive, so I gave it very good despite the flaws.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

While we're on the Reformation: the score calls for a Serpent. Nowadays that part is given to the contrabassoon and it does make a great addition to the scoring. Every time I play it, at that first entry of the contra so many heads in the orchestra look my way they're so stunned at the sudden enrichment of the sound. Very effective and very wrong, of course. Does anyone know of a recording where they pushed HIP to the edges and actually used an ungodly sounding serpent? I have heard it played with ophicleide, but it's not the same.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I really like this one. The one flaw is in the last movement: the transition from the first to the second theme is, as one commentator described it, flabby. Maazel is one of the few conductors to compensate for that with an extra push in the tempo. 

From what I hear, the piece is about the building of the "mighty fortress," inspired through the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the recurrence of the Dresden Amen, going upward in the first movement and going downward in the second movement. The hammer-blows of conflict of the first movement end up in the last movement as the hammers of construction, building what the Apostle Paul calls "a habitation of the Spirit." At the end, there is a hush as the headstone is put on, then it rushes headlong into the chiming of the bells until the chorale is intoned as the builders stand in admiration. Maybe that's subjective, but it makes sense to me.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Good, the only specially conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado .
I prefer the other 4.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

A very good symphony, but not one of my favorites from Mendelssohn. To me it's a 7.5 out of 10 in terms of how much I like it.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

An enjoyable enough listen but one which has never really drawn me in like the "Italian" does. It's exactly halfway on my list of Mendelssohn symphonies, which runs 4/3/5/2/1.


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## starcat (6 mo ago)

It gets a "very good" from me. I do like this one but prefer the Scottish and Italian symphonies of Mendelssohn.


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