Composed to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press and taking Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony as his model, Felix Mendelssohn’s immense Symphony No. 2, sub-titled ‘Hymn of Praise’, enjoyed great success following its 1840 première in Leipzig. Using texts from the Lutheran Bible, he created a stirring symphonic cantata in which the whole world unites in a triumphant song to the Heavenly Father. Jun Märkl, whose Naxos recordings have gained high praise, leads an outstanding line-up of artists in this thrilling performance.