Of all the nearly forgotten music by
Mendelssohn, the most nearly completely forgotten is his music for chorus. Only his songs come close to being as almost entirely ignored, but because a few of them have earned a place in the recital hall, even they have a more prominent place in the repertoire. This 10-disc Brilliant set of
Mendelssohn's complete choral works featuring the
Chamber Choir of Europe under
Nicol Matt addresses this problem even though it may not solve it. The performances are uniformly excellent. The
Choir has a smooth tone and superb diction and
Matt elicits from them polished balanced and ardent interpretations. Despite the dearth of comparisons, these performances with their clean textures, light tempos, and devout tone are surely as close to definitive as is possible to imagine. For some listeners, of course, this may not be enough to redeem
Mendelssohn's heartfelt yet stolid music from obscurity. For others with more open minds, however, this set may serve to introduce a body of sacred works that certainly exceeds any other similar body of works from the same period in terms of skill and sincerity. Though a bit recessed, Brilliant's digital sound is cool and clear.