Words of the Pope at the end of the concert in his honour

(April 21.2012) Pope Benedict XVIth warmly thanked the Gewandhaus Symphony Orchestra of Leipzig that performed Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s 2^nd Symphony bearing the title “lobgesang” song of praise, on the occasion of his 85^th birthday. Praising the outstanding performance and fame of the Leipzig orchestra the Pope recalled the history of the piece they had rendered, first performed in 1840 and he admired the musical skill of Mendelssohn in the noble art of praising God. The Pope was at a loss to single out impressions of the marvellous concert. He did mention the duet between the soprano and choir on the words of the psalm: “I hoped in the Lord and he heard my cry.” He concluded with the words of Robert Schumann in a Music review after the first rendition of the symphony: “Let us abandon the works of darkness and take up the arms of light”.