Elijah (oratorio)
Encyclopedia
Elijah, in German: Elias, is an oratorio
written by Felix Mendelssohn
in 1846 for the Birmingham Festival
. It depicts various events in the life of the Biblical prophet Elijah, taken from the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings in the Old Testament
.
predecessors Bach
and Handel, whose music he loved. In 1829, Mendelssohn had organized the first performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion since the composer's death, and was instrumental in bringing this and other of Bach's works to widespread popularity. In contrast, Handel's oratorios never went out of fashion (in England at any rate). Mendelssohn prepared a scholarly edition of some of Handel's oratorios for publication in London. Elijah is modeled on the oratorios of these two Baroque masters; however, the style clearly reflects, in its lyricism and use of orchestral and choral colour, Mendelssohn's own genius as an early Romantic
composer.
The work is scored for four vocal soloists (bass/baritone, tenor, alto, soprano), full symphony orchestra (including trombone
s, ophicleide
, organ
), and a large chorus singing usually in four, but occasionally eight or three (women only) parts. The part of Elijah is sung by the bass/baritone and is a major role.
Mendelssohn originally composed the work to a German text by his friend Karl Klingemann, who earlier had provided him with the libretto for his comic operetta Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde
. Upon being commissioned by the Birmingham Festival to write an oratorio, however, Mendelssohn had the libretto translated into English, and the oratorio was premiered in the English version.
consumes an offered sacrifice in a column of fire, after a failed sequence of frantic prayers by the prophets of the god Baal
. Mendelssohn did not shrink from portraying the episode according to the stark account in the Hebrew Bible, as the discredited prophets of Baal are subsequently taken away and slain.
It is not agreed how Mendelssohn's own view of the Biblical text might have been shaped by his personal history (born into a Jewish family, he was brought up without religion until his baptism as a Lutheran at age seven), though many scholars have speculated about this. In the final section of the oratorio, some draw parallels between the lives of Elijah and Jesus
. The Rev. Julius Schubring, one of the librettists who had earlier supplied the text for the oratorio Paulus
(St. Paul), wanted to bring a Christian perspective to the end of the oratorio, but Mendelssohn insisted that the story of Elijah be presented faithfully and without revisionism.
Part I
Part II
A number of critics, however, including Bernard Shaw
have treated the work harshly, emphasizing its conventional outlook and undaring musical style:
Charles Rosen
praises the work in general — "Mendelssohn's craft easily surmounted most of the demands of the oratorio, and[ his oratorios, which also include St. Paul] are the most impressive examples of that form in the nineteenth century." However, Rosen additionally has characterized Mendelssohn as "the inventor of religious kitsch
in music". In Rosen's view, Mendelssohn's religious music "is designed to make us feel that the concert hall has been transformed into a church. The music expresses not religion but piety ... This is kitsch insofar as it substitutes for religion itself the emotional shell of religion."
Mendelssohn wrote the soprano
part in Elijah for the "Swedish Nightingale", Jenny Lind
. Lind was devastated by the composer's premature death in 1847. She did not feel able to sing the part for a year afterwards. She resumed singing the piece at Exeter Hall
in London in late 1848, raising £1,000 to fund a scholarship in his name. After Arthur Sullivan
became the first recipient of the scholarship, she encouraged him in his career.
Charles Salaman
adapted "He that Shall Endure to the End" from Elijah as a setting for Psalm 93
(Adonai Malakh), sung on most Friday nights in the sabbath eve service of the London Spanish & Portuguese Jewish
community.
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
written by Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
in 1846 for the Birmingham Festival
Birmingham Triennial Music Festival
The Birmingham Triennial Musical Festival, in Birmingham, England, founded in 1784, was the longest-running classical music festival of its kind. Its last performance was in 1912.-History:...
. It depicts various events in the life of the Biblical prophet Elijah, taken from the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings in the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
.
The music and its style
This piece was composed in the spirit of Mendelssohn's BaroqueBaroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
predecessors Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
and Handel, whose music he loved. In 1829, Mendelssohn had organized the first performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion since the composer's death, and was instrumental in bringing this and other of Bach's works to widespread popularity. In contrast, Handel's oratorios never went out of fashion (in England at any rate). Mendelssohn prepared a scholarly edition of some of Handel's oratorios for publication in London. Elijah is modeled on the oratorios of these two Baroque masters; however, the style clearly reflects, in its lyricism and use of orchestral and choral colour, Mendelssohn's own genius as an early Romantic
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
composer.
The work is scored for four vocal soloists (bass/baritone, tenor, alto, soprano), full symphony orchestra (including trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, ophicleide
Ophicleide
The ophicleide is a family of conical bore, brass keyed-bugles. It has a similar shape to the sudrophone.- History :The ophicleide was invented in 1817 and patented in 1821 by French instrument maker Jean Hilaire Asté as an extension to the keyed bugle or Royal Kent bugle family...
, organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
), and a large chorus singing usually in four, but occasionally eight or three (women only) parts. The part of Elijah is sung by the bass/baritone and is a major role.
Mendelssohn originally composed the work to a German text by his friend Karl Klingemann, who earlier had provided him with the libretto for his comic operetta Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde
Son and Stranger
Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde is a one-act Singspiel written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1829 to a German libretto by the composer's friend Karl Klingemann, a poet who would later provide the same service for the oratorio Elijah...
. Upon being commissioned by the Birmingham Festival to write an oratorio, however, Mendelssohn had the libretto translated into English, and the oratorio was premiered in the English version.
The Biblical narrative
For the Biblical background to the oratorio, see the article Elijah. Mendelssohn uses these Biblical episodes, which in the original are narrated in rather laconic form, to produce intensely — almost luridly — dramatic scenes. These were doubtless well fitted to the taste of Mendelssohn's time, and a Victorian sentimentality also seems detectable in places. Among the episodes are the resurrection of a dead youth, the bringing of rain to parched Israel through Elijah's prayers, and the bodily ascension of Elijah on a fiery chariot into heaven. Perhaps the most dramatic episode is the "contest of the gods", in which JehovahJehovah
Jehovah is an anglicized representation of Hebrew , a vocalization of the Tetragrammaton , the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible....
consumes an offered sacrifice in a column of fire, after a failed sequence of frantic prayers by the prophets of the god Baal
Baal
Baʿal is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor, cognate to Akkadian Bēlu...
. Mendelssohn did not shrink from portraying the episode according to the stark account in the Hebrew Bible, as the discredited prophets of Baal are subsequently taken away and slain.
It is not agreed how Mendelssohn's own view of the Biblical text might have been shaped by his personal history (born into a Jewish family, he was brought up without religion until his baptism as a Lutheran at age seven), though many scholars have speculated about this. In the final section of the oratorio, some draw parallels between the lives of Elijah and Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. The Rev. Julius Schubring, one of the librettists who had earlier supplied the text for the oratorio Paulus
St. Paul (oratorio)
St. Paul , Op. 36, is an oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn.The libretto was begun in 1832 by the composer with Pastor Julius Schubring, a childhood friend, pulling together passages from the New Testament and Old Testament...
(St. Paul), wanted to bring a Christian perspective to the end of the oratorio, but Mendelssohn insisted that the story of Elijah be presented faithfully and without revisionism.
Sections
The work opens with a declamation by Elijah, after which the overture is played. The list of sections in the score is as follows:Part I
- Introduction: As God the Lord of Israel liveth (Elijah) – Overture
- Help, Lord! (chorus)
- Lord! bow thine ear to our prayer! (chorus, soprano, alto)
- Ye people, rend your hearts (Obadiah)
- If with all your hearts (Obadiah)
- Yet doth the Lord see it not (chorus)
- Elijah! get thee hence (Angel I)
- Now Cherith’s brook is dried up (Angel I)
- What have I to do with thee? (Widow, Elijah)
- Blessed are the men who fear him (chorus)
- As God the Lord of Sabaoth liveth (Elijah, Ahab, chorus)
- Baal, we cry to thee; hear and answer us! (chorus)
- Call him louder, for he is a god! (Elijah, chorus)
- Call him louder! he heareth not! (Elijah, chorus)
- Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel! (Elijah)
- Cast thy burden upon the Lord (quartet)
- O thou, who makest thine angels spirits (Elijah, chorus)
- Is not his word like a fire? (Elijah)
- Woe unto them who forsake him! (alto)
- O man of God, help thy people! (Obadiah, Elijah, chorus, Youth)
- Thanks be to God (chorus)
Part II
- Hear ye, Israel (soprano)
- Be not afraid, saith God the Lord (chorus)
- The Lord hath exalted thee (Elijah, Queen, chorus)
- Woe to him, he shall perish (chorus)
- Man of God, now let my words be precious (Obadiah, Elijah)
- It is enough; Lord take my life (Elijah)
- See, now he sleepeth (tenor)
- Lift thine eyes, lift thine eyes (chorus)
- He, watching over Israel, slumbers not (chorus)
- Arise, Elijah, for thou hast a long journey (Angel I, Elijah)
- O rest in the Lord (Angel I)
- He that shall endure to the end, shall be saved (chorus)
- Night falleth round me, Lord! (Elijah, Angel II)
- Behold! God the Lord passeth by! (chorus)
- Above him stood the Seraphim (alto)
- Holy, holy, holy (chorus)
- I go on my way (Elijah)
- For the mountains shall depart (Elijah)
- Then did Elijah the prophet break forth (chorus)
- Then shall the righteous shine forth (tenor)
- Behold, God hath sent Elijah (soprano)
- But the Lord, from the north hath raised one (chorus)
- O come everyone that thirsteth (quartet)
- And then shall your light break forth (chorus)
Reception
Elijah was popular at its premiere and has been frequently performed, particularly in English-speaking countries, ever since. It is a particular favorite of amateur choral societies. Its melodrama, easy appeal, and stirring choruses have provided the basis for countless successful performances.A number of critics, however, including Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
have treated the work harshly, emphasizing its conventional outlook and undaring musical style:
- I sat out the performance on Wednesday to the last note, an act of professional devotion which was no part of my plan for the evening … You have only to think of ParsifalParsifalParsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
, of the Ninth SymphonySymphony No. 9 (Beethoven)The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
, of Die Zauberflöte, of the inspired moments of Bach and Handel, to see the great gulf that lies between the true religious sentiment and our delight in Mendelssohn’s exquisite prettiness.
Charles Rosen
Charles Rosen
Charles Rosen is an American pianist and author on music.-Life and career:In his youth he studied piano with Moriz Rosenthal. Rosenthal, born in 1862, had been a student of Franz Liszt...
praises the work in general — "Mendelssohn's craft easily surmounted most of the demands of the oratorio, and
Kitsch
Kitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
in music". In Rosen's view, Mendelssohn's religious music "is designed to make us feel that the concert hall has been transformed into a church. The music expresses not religion but piety ... This is kitsch insofar as it substitutes for religion itself the emotional shell of religion."
Mendelssohn wrote the soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
part in Elijah for the "Swedish Nightingale", Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...
. Lind was devastated by the composer's premature death in 1847. She did not feel able to sing the part for a year afterwards. She resumed singing the piece at Exeter Hall
Exeter Hall
Exeter Hall was a hall on the north side of The Strand, London, England. It was erected between 1829 and 1831 on the site of Exeter Exchange, to designs by John Peter Gandy, the brother of the visionary architect Joseph Michael Gandy...
in London in late 1848, raising £1,000 to fund a scholarship in his name. After Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
became the first recipient of the scholarship, she encouraged him in his career.
Charles Salaman
Charles Kensington Salaman
Charles Kensington Salaman was a British pianist and composer.Salaman was born and died in London. His music teachers included Charles Neate and William Crotch, and he became a member of the Royal Academy of Music at the age of ten. He studied in Paris under Henri Herz, and returned to London in...
adapted "He that Shall Endure to the End" from Elijah as a setting for Psalm 93
Psalm 93
Psalm 93 is the 93rd psalm in the biblical Book of Psalms. One of the Royal Psalms, Psalm 93-99, praising God as the King of His people.-Judaism:*Is the psalm of the day for the Shir Shel Yom on Friday....
(Adonai Malakh), sung on most Friday nights in the sabbath eve service of the London Spanish & Portuguese Jewish
Spanish and Portuguese Jews
Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the Jewish communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on...
community.
External links
- Free scores of this work in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)Choral Public Domain LibraryThe Choral Public Domain Library is a sheet music archive which focuses on choral and vocal music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing .-Description:...
- Full-text German-language libretto online http://www.karadar.com/Librettos/mendelssohn_elias.html
- Full-text English-language libretto online http://www.coker.edu/Elijah/text.htm
- "Elie ou la tentation d’une religion qui impose": a short but extensive introduction to "Elias" (in french), by a member of the Ensemble vocal de Villars-sur-Glâne, Switzerland