The English would also have been drawn to Mendelssohn’s choice of
subject thanks to its very Handelian, very Old Testament preference.
But Mendelssohn’s choice was doubly astute since Elijah is the Jewish
prophet who, with Moses and Christ, makes an appearance in the
Transfiguration as recounted in the New Testament. So his religious
appeal is wide. But Elijah’s story also contains some of the Old
Testament’s most dramatically drawn moments. It includes his public
knock-out contest with the priests of the idolatrous religion of Baal,
worshipped as the god of rain and thunder. There is also the prophet’s
touching and miraculous recall of the widow’s son from the dead, and
then to cap it all, his whirlwind ascent into heaven on a fiery chariot.
On a more personal plane, one meets with the subject of Elijah’s own
spiritual life — a man called by God, a typically stern prophet, but also a
man who is very human, ready and able to feel pity, grief, compassion,
exhaustion and even despair. Without doubt the figure of Elijah offered
the English much to enjoy, to wonder at, and to respond to.
In the end though, the secret of Elijah’s success is in its blend of
musical and dramatic power. It offers a rich and powerful story, set
to music that is eminently approachable, carefully crafted and often
overwhelming. In terms of the performers, variety is the musical spice of
this work’s life. Although the five soloists naturally take the lead, it’s the
magnificently supportive and sometimes alarmingly fierce background
of the choruses that make Elijah into such an arresting drama. Neither
must one forget the range of voice groupings, including a treble soloist,
a quartet, a double quartet, a double chorus, and even a trio of angels
who seem to float in from Heaven, that source of renewal to which they
direct Elijah in the famous words “Lift thine Eyes”.
The first performance of this great oratorio took place in Birmingham on
26 August 1846, when eight items were encored. In 1847, Mendelssohn
returned to England, and gave three more highly publicised
performances. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were in the audience
and sent a note of admiration and thanks to the composer. Later that
same year, Elijah had its first German hearing in Hamburg, but by the
time it reached its début performance in Vienna on 14 November that
same year, the youthful Mendelssohn was already dead.
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