Chor der Studienstiftung München: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy – Die erste Walpurgisnacht

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy - The First Walpurgis Night

Munich Academic Foundation Choir
Soloist: Thomas Meinrad Bolz
Pianists: Marita Matschke, Patrick Müller
Conductor: Constantin Baedeker

Tuesday, July 21, 2026
8:00 p.m.
Luther Church
Bergstr. 3, 81539 Munich
Organizer: Alumni of the Studienstiftung e.V.

Free admission; donations are appreciated. No ticket reservation required. Duration: approximately one hour. An accessible entrance is available across from Giesinger Bräu.

About the play:

According to medieval legend, witches and wizards gather every year on Walpurgis Night for a grand celebration on the Blocksberg (Brocken in the Harz Mountains). While Goethe follows the conventional demonic portrayal in the Walpurgis Night scene in *Faust*, his ballad “The First Walpurgis Night” traces the legend’s historical origins. His theory: When the Germanic tribes were Christianized in the pre-Carolingian era, recalcitrant tribes in the Harz Mountains may have continued to practice their pagan rites. These tribes, who are said to have held a nighttime festival with a large bonfire in the spring, were demonized as witches and devils in Christian tradition: “Oh, here comes all of hell! Look, how the bewitched bodies glow through and through with flames!”

Mendelssohn composed a secular cantata based on Goethe’s text, whose tension-filled drama blurs the boundaries with opera. After a gripping, confrontational build-up of tension that explodes into the flight of the Christian guards, the work ends on a conciliatory note: “The flame purifies itself of smoke; so purify our faith! And even if they rob us of the old custom, your light—who can rob us of it?”