Did Mendelssohn Revive Bach?

Description
Although not a superstar like Handel, J.S. Bach was prolific in his writing. Yet, after his death, his music remained relatively dormant for some time. So, was Felix Mendelssohn responsible for kickstarting Bach back into the limelight? Take a minute to get the scoop!

Fun Fact
At the time Mendelssohn was promoting Bach, there was already a Bach revival underway; in fact even Beethoven proclaimed Bach as being one of the greats. There was also the first biography of J.S. Bach published in 1802 by Johann Nikolaus Forkel.

About Steven
Steven is a Canadian composer living in Toronto. He creates a range of works, with an emphasis on the short-form genre—his muse being to offer the listener both the darker and more satiric shades of human existence. If you're interested, please check out his website for more.

A Note To Music Students et al.
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Transcript

Although J.S. Bach is now pretty much a household name, it wasn’t always the case.

During his lifetime, although prolific, he was certainly no international superstar, like his contemporary Handel. In fact, when Bach died in 1750, his music was virtually forgotten. 

It was early in the 19th century, thanks to the young and enthusiastic Felix Mendelssohn that Bach’s works began to get noticed again. 

In 1829, Mendelssohn, barely out of his teens, organized and conducted a performance of the St Matthew Passion. 

At the time, there was a noticeable shift in concert culture where people became more receptive to hearing live performances of music by dead composers, hence the Bach revival.

And certainly this trend has remained true in classical music culture today.

Interestingly enough, these efforts by Mendelssohn were spotlit again in 2016 when the original publishing contract for the St. Matthew Passion was auctioned off at Sotheby's.