If thou but suffer God to guide thee

During Mendelssohns years of study with Zelter, the arrangement of chorales already played an important role, and he continued to be occupied with the protestant chorale throughout his symphonic and oratorical work. The break Bach’s works in connection with the reperformance of the St. Matthew Passion led to a series of cantatas based on well-known chorale melodies for choir, instruments, and sometimes also for soloists.