Search

The article focuses on a debate about composer Felix Mendelssohn's German assimilation and examines the relevance of Ferdinand Hiller's oratorio, "Destruction of Jerusalem." Mendelssohn and Hiller were both described to be born into a Jewish family but converted into Protestantism. Hiller's oratorio reportedly conveyed that Mendelssohn employed contemporary attitudes towards Jews in his works to hide his Jewish roots.

The article discusses composer Felix Mendelssohn's "Reformation Symphony" in which he intended to convince Germans that he, a man from a prominent Jewish family, had assimilated. The symphony seeks to show Mendelssohn's hybrid spiritual identity through a part where the Judaic-sounding Andante moved without a break into the Lutheran Finale. Jewish conversion prompted by non-religious reasons as a way to be accepted by society was suggested to lead to fierce German rejection.