"Leipzig, 17 February, 1847.
"My dear Sir,—I write these lines merely to thank you for yours dated February 9th, and to tell you that I agree with all the different remarks you therein make about the wording of the translation (including 'commandments' instead of 'commands,' &c.). And I hope you will have received the MS. of Part II. soon after you wrote, for I sent it off on the 2nd, with the exception of the Final Chorus, which I sent a few days later. I daresay everything will now be safely in your and Mr. Buxton's hands, and now I may begin to think of something else, which indeed I have not been able to do all the time since, with this Oratorio, nearly but not entirely finished, weighing on my mind.
"Always very truly yours,
"Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy."
"Leipzig, February 25, 1847.
"My dear Sir,—I prefer[62]—
| Who hath believed our report [Listen] |
then: |
-vealed to [Listen] |
"It must be—
| be not afraid, be [Listen] |
and not: |
be not a- [Listen] |
which will not do for the quickness of the movement.
"Bar 89 is impossible as you propose, because on the a♯ and g♯, &c., there must be no words pronounced; they must be slurred notes, as in the German wording, and moreover they must be sung on a good syllable (no "u," or "o," or, &c.). So I should propose:—[63]
89. I, the Lord, will strengthen thee!
[Listen]
"And at any rate pray let the notes be slurred, because it is essential to the whole of the song. The same also when the passage is repeated, bar 140.
"Bar 148 must be so—
148. for I thy
[Listen]
"All those passages I do not mention here are quite excellent in the way you propose. Add a note for the served him and worshipped him. You are quite welcome to it.[64]
"You see that I really answer by return of post, for yesterday evening your letter came, and this morning this leaves. But I do not understand why there is such a hurry about the Pianoforte arrangement being finished, and why you say there is hardly time to wait my reply. For you know that it cannot be published a day before Simrock has also done it, and that will take much time still. However, I make haste answering, and shall also do so with your next. I do not think that I shall be able to be in London before the 13th April. But I am sure that is early enough, for I am sure everything which you take in hand is right.
"Always yours truly,
"Felix Mendelssohn."
"Leipzig, March 3, 1847.
"My dear Sir,—I have just received your letter of the 24th, and hasten to reply. I like all the passages of the translation you send me with but two exceptions. In No. 30, 'that Thou would'st please destroy me' sounds so odd to me—is it scriptural? If it is, I have no objection, but if not, pray substitute something else. And then in the new No. 8 [the widow scene]—the words from Psalm vi. which you hesitated to adopt are, of course, out of the question; but I also object to the second part of the sentence which you propose to add to the words of Psalm xxxviii. {6}, viz.: 'I water my couch,' etc. [Psalm vi., 6.]—I do dislike this so very much, and it is so poetical in the German version. So if you could substitute something in which no 'watering of the couch' occurred, but which gave the idea of the tears, of the night, of all that in its purity. Pray try!
"But what is this? Does Staudigl not come? Mr. Buxton told me last autumn he was sure to be there. I heard it since from all sides. And now he does not come? What is to become of my 'Elijah' then? I cannot write to Staudigl and persuade him to come, but I really do not know how the performance could match that of Birmingham without him—indeed I do not know how it could go. Of course Lockey would be quite sufficient for all the Tenor solos! But Staudigl! That word of yours has given me a great deal to think of.
"Always very sincerely and gratefully yours,
"Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy."
"Leipzig, March 10, 1847.
"My dear Sir,—Many thanks for your letter of the 1st. I really do not know what a synopsis of the oratorio should be good for—on the other hand, I do not see the harm it could do—and, therefore, leave it to you to decide this point as you think best. I shall send you the metronomes in a few days; the organ part I do not forget.
"But tell me, should the whole series of performances not be better postponed till autumn? What with your uncertainty about Staudigl, and with all this uproar in London about the two opera parties, and with Jenny Lind coming or not coming, and with the 'Tempest' or not the 'Tempest,' and with the difficulty you and Mr. Buxton have to make the parts ready—would not such a delay be beneficial to all of us, especially to the old prophet himself? Not to me certainly, who like to shake my English friends by the hand the sooner the better—but to all others?
"And now many thanks for your friendly advice in the opera affair. Some time before you wrote your letter to me, I had already informed Mr. Lumley that I should not be able to produce an opera of the 'Tempest' in the season 1847; and, according to the advice my friend Klingemann gave me some days before your letter came, I have since again written to Mr. Lumley (about the same words as you suggest), have asked Klingemann to take care of seeing the letter safely delivered, and have sent to him a duplicate of it. So that the whole of your advice, the same which my friend Kl. gave, has been followed literally, and I should be very glad if thus the affair would come to an end. Of this I think I may be sure, that Mr. Lumley will not continue his advertisements of my opera after he heard that I had taken the resolution not to write the 'Tempest' for the season 1847....
"And now forgive this dry letter, and believe me, yours very truly,
"Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy."
Reading between the lines of the last-quoted letter, it is easy to see that Mendelssohn was much annoyed at the public announcements, made by Mr. Lumley in his opera prospectus of 1847, to the effect that "The celebrated Dr. Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy will likewise visit England, and produce an Opera expressly composed for Her Majesty's Theatre, the Libretto, founded on 'The Tempest' of Shakespeare, written by Scribe." These advertisements were, to say the least, very premature, as Mendelssohn had not only disapproved of parts of the libretto, but had not written a note of the music! The suggestion contained in the above letter that he (Mendelssohn) should postpone his visit till the autumn, must have caused some consternation amongst his London friends, especially as all arrangements had been made for the various performances of the revised oratorio, which were to be given under his own personal direction. Bartholomew—ever resourceful and indefatigable—at once wrote the following letter to the composer:—
"2, Walcot Place, Hackney, March 19, 1847.
"My dear Sir,—Yours of the 10th came to hand last night, and in reply to it I can tell you twenty reasons why you should come, and not one why you should not come. Upon the faith of your letter, which Buxton has been obliged to quote from in order to prove his warranty to treat for your coming with the Committee at Exeter Hall, he has made the engagement for you with them, and they have made their engagements with others for April 16th and 23rd; and, I think, the 28th. The Manchester Hargreaves Society have fixed their date for one of the intervening days and advertised it.... Everybody is now in town expecting you and anxious to hail your appearance. Nobody will be in town in the autumn. (Is that a reason why you should come then?) If you don't come, 'Elijah' would go—for go it must—but I mean it won't go well....
"You have no idea how they are inundated with enquiries at Newgate Street [Ewer & Co.'s] as to when 'Elijah' will be published.... God bless you, dear Sir!
"W. Bartholomew."
Whatever influence this letter from Bartholomew may have had upon its recipient, and doubtless others wrote in the same strain, Mendelssohn duly came to London—alas! for the last time—at the beginning of April, 1847, the year in which he died.
The first performance of the revised version of "Elijah"—the form in which we now know the oratorio—took place, under the auspices of the Sacred Harmonic Society, at Exeter Hall, London, on Friday, April 16, 1847, conducted by the composer. Miss Birch, Miss Dolby (afterwards Madame Sainton-Dolby), and Mr. Henry Phillips replaced Madame Caradori-Allan, Miss Hawes, and Herr Staudigl, who had "created" their respective parts at Birmingham. "Lockey would be quite sufficient for all the tenor solos," wrote Mendelssohn, and so he proved to be.
Madame Sainton-Dolby records: "After I had sung 'O rest in the Lord,' Mendelssohn turned to me with tears in his eyes and said, with his bright frankness of manner, 'Thank you from my heart, Miss Dolby.' I shall never forget that look of brightness." Mr. W.H. Cummings, then a chorister of the Temple Church, sang alto in the chorus at the first London performance. He and some other boys were asked to help, as the alto part lay rather high for men's voices.[65] Master Cummings, as he was then, sat in the front row of the altos, and his enthusiastic singing attracted the notice of Mendelssohn, who asked the Temple chorister his name, which he wrote on one of his (Mendelssohn's) visiting cards, and gave to the youthful singer.
The first London performance was not without some humour. The Times said: "Mr. Perry, the leader, was constantly beating time with his fiddle-stick in such a manner as to obstruct the views of the Conductor and confuse the attention of the instrumentalists."[66] A Frenchman, seated on the orchestra behind the chorus, was so excited with the performance that, at the close, he effusively embraced Mendelssohn and tried to kiss him!
Fac-simile of Metronomic times for “Elijah” in Mendelssohn’s handwriting. The note, signed “W.B.” is in the handwriting of William Bartholomew. Slightly reduced from the original, in the possession of F.G. Edwards.
metronomic times
[Enlarge]
metronomic times
[Enlarge]
Three other performances were given in Exeter Hall, and under the same auspices, on the 23rd, 28th, and 30th of the same month (April), and were conducted by Mendelssohn. These four concerts attracted crowded audiences, and brought into the exchequer of the Sacred Harmonic Society a clear profit of £356.
The second performance (April 23) was honoured by the presence of the Queen and the Prince Consort. What the Prince felt on that occasion found graceful expression in the following tribute to Mendelssohn's genius, which he wrote in the book of words he had used at the concert:—
"To the Noble Artist who, surrounded by the Baal-worship of debased art, has been able, by his genius and science, to preserve faithfully, like another Elijah, the worship of true art, and once more to accustom our ear, amid the whirl of empty, frivolous sounds, to the pure tones of sympathetic feeling and legitimate harmony: to the Great Master, who makes us conscious of the unity of his conception, through the whole maze of his creation, from the soft whispering to the mighty raging of the elements.
"Inscribed in grateful remembrance by
"Albert.
"Buckingham Palace, April 24, 1847."
The original of this is now in the possession of Frau Wach, of Leipzig, Mendelssohn's younger daughter. In the few hours which elapsed between its receipt from the Palace and its presentation to Mendelssohn, the Sacred Harmonic Society had a fac-simile copy made, which was carefully sealed up. When the news arrived of Mendelssohn's premature death, the Prince Consort at once gave permission for this copy to be lithographed and circulated.
The following extract from the 1847 Report of the Sacred Harmonic Society records the presentation of the above "compliment" to Mendelssohn:—
"Both Her Majesty and Prince Albert were graciously pleased to express their gratification at the Performance, and the attention paid to them; and the Prince a few days afterwards condescendingly inscribed in a Book of the Words of the Oratorio, an elegant compliment to Dr. Mendelssohn, in his native tongue, which was handed to him on the morning of his departure from England, by a deputation from your Committee, and received by him with marked feelings of pleasure and gratitude.
"It cannot be described how deeply gratified Mendelssohn was on the presentation to him of this affectionate token of sympathy. His rapturous exclamations of delight, as over and over again he read each word of the inscription, his repeated expression of fears of his inability adequately to acknowledge this touching mark of appreciation, were again and again renewed."[67]
Mendelssohn also conducted performances of the revised work at Manchester (Hargreaves Choral Society) on April 20, and at Birmingham, April 27—a total of six performances, conducted by the composer, within a fortnight. At Birmingham, where "Elijah" was given for Mr. Stimpson's "benefit," Mendelssohn not only refused to take any fee, but also declined to accept his travelling expenses—thus he generously showed his appreciation of Stimpson's invaluable services at the initial performance in 1846.
"Elijah" was published in Germany by Simrock, Bonn; and in England by Messrs. Ewer & Co., who for some years previously had been Mendelssohn's sole publishers in this country. The then proprietor of the firm of Ewer & Co. was Mr. Edward Buxton, whose real business was that of a wool-broker, and who "had only taken to music publishing for his attachment to the art." The relations between the composer and his English publisher were of the most cordial nature. "Whatever you write, Dr. Mendelssohn," said Mr. Buxton, "I will publish, and pay you any terms you like to ask." Here was an ideal publisher, from a composer's point of view. Mr. Buxton had no reason to regret his words; and that Mendelssohn fully appreciated his publisher's generous offer, is abundantly shown in the "terms" he mentioned for the English copyrights of his compositions.[68]
Mendelssohn cannot be accused of being "hard" or "grasping" in negotiating with his publisher. The following letter shows the spirit in which he made his proposals for the publication of "Elijah" in England. It is written (in English) to Buxton, and dated "April 22, 1846":—
"I must beg you to tell me the price which you could give for the copyright of such a work. I do not fix the price, because I wish on such an occasion that neither you nor I should be the loser; you must know the sale of such works, and may thereby form an opinion. Indeed, I should not be able to name any sum for myself, and make conditions which would appear unpleasant to you; but as on the other hand I have been asked from England by different persons for the copyright of such a work, I must think that it may also have value for the publisher there, and you may easily form an opinion of this: therefore I beg you will let me know your answer as soon as you can."
Mendelssohn wrote to Moscheles for his advice on the subject of the "terms" for the English copyright of "Elijah." Here is Moscheles's reply:—
"I quite feel the responsibility of advising you in the matter; for if fifty years hence it is said, 'Mendelssohn received only so many pounds sterling for this grandest of works, this inexhaustible mine of wealth to the editor [publisher], and that at the suggestion of Moscheles,' my ashes will be disturbed in their rest. Well, well, you will nod your venerable head, and say, 'Never mind; Moscheles meant well.'
"You do not say what other offers you had, besides that from Buxton. I think you will find him straightforward in his dealings, and ready to recognise that the market value of your productions is constantly increasing. So I should say you might ask £50 more than you did for the 'Hymn of Praise.' [Moscheles had probably forgotten the amount, £25, that Mendelssohn received for the English copyright of his 'Hymn of Praise.'] One point to take into consideration is whether this work is richer than the other in solos, these being a better source of income to the publisher than choruses."[69]
Mendelssohn received 250 guineas for the English copyright of "Elijah." Shortly after the composer's death, Mr. Buxton voluntarily sent to Frau Mendelssohn an additional sum of £100 for "Elijah," which she gracefully acknowledged in the following extract:—
"I hesitated a moment whether I ought to accept the £100 which you sent me; but then I remembered the great pleasure it had given my husband when Mr. Simrock sent him an additional sum for his 'St. Paul,' on account of the success the oratorio had had. Why should I not feel a similar pleasure in hearing that his last work is being so fully appreciated in England? I thank you therefore that you think of us by sending this money as a proof of the success of 'Elijah.'
"Berlin (Spring, 1849)."
The work was published in June, 1847, as Op. 70. The lowest price of the first English edition—"Pianoforte score, with portrait on steel of the composer"—was thirty-six shillings! An octavo edition did not appear till five years later (1852): price ten shillings. A tonic sol-fa edition, published "by subscription" ("not less than 250 subscribers"), was issued in 1866.
The prosperity of "Elijah" was at once assured. The work bore upon it the imprint of success. It immediately shot into the front rank of popularity, a position which it has steadily maintained even unto this day.
The story has now been told. Six months after the strains of "Elijah" had died away in Exeter Hall, the genius-brain that had conceived that noble work was for ever calmed in death.
(Mendelssohn died at Leipzig, November 4, 1847, in his thirty-ninth year.)
A memorable performance of "Elijah" was given by Jenny Lind in Exeter Hall, December 15, 1848, in aid of the Mendelssohn Scholarship Fund. This performance, which Mr. Otto Goldschmidt happily terms the "corner-stone of the Fund," was a triumphant success.
No more fitting conclusion to this "History" could be found than the words of Jenny Lind, who, in writing to the composer's widow on her irreparable loss, said: "His 'Elijah' is sublime! In my opinion he never wrote anything finer; and assuredly could not have written anything loftier in the future! With what solemnity we all stood there (to perform it); and with what love do the people still speak of him!"
To this tribute of reverence from one great artist to the memory of another, I venture to subscribe a fervent "Amen."
Aix-la-Chapelle, 42
"As the hart pants", 9 note
"Athalie", 40, 48 et seq., 109 et seq., 116
"Auld Robin Gray", 67 et seq.
Ayrton, Wm., 92
Baal choruses, 52, 83, 100
Bach, J.S., 21
Bache family, The, 88 et seq.
Barrett, W.A., 93
Barry, Rev. J., 7 et seq.
Bartholomew, W. (and letters to), 41, 48 et seq., 81, 97 et seq.
Bassano, Miss, 82
Beethoven, 42 note
"Behold, God the Lord", 63, 104
Benecke, Mrs., 95
Benedict, 45, 82
Birch, Miss, 123
Birmingham Musical Festivals, 6, 19, 22, 28 et seq.
Birmingham Journal, 80
"Blessed are the men", 57, 99, 105, 114
Bowley, R.K., 128 note
Bragg, Mr. John, 46
Braham, John, 45
Brewer, T., 100
Buxton, E. (see also Ewer & Co.), 51, 53, 67, 98, 102, 110, 129 et seq.
Caradori-Allan, Madame, 45, 82, 87, 123
"Cast thy burden", 83, 96, 99, 106
Chorley, H.F., 84
Cologne Festival, 42
Cooke, Grattan, 78
Cooke, Tom, 45
Costa, 124 note
Cummings, Mr. W.H., 123
Dando, J.H.B., 45
Davison, J.W., 79 note, 80
Deakin, Mr. Andrew, 90 note
Devrient, E., 2, 41
Dolby, Madame Sainton, 34, 123
Düsseldorf, 1, 9
Ewer & Co. (see also Buxton), 98, 123, 129 et seq.
Exeter Hall, 122 et seq., 132
"Festgesang", 129 note
"For the mountains", 69, 74, 79, 83
Four-part songs, 130 note
Frankfort, 1, 5, 33
Frege, Frau, 86
"Garland," The, 130 note
Gauntlett, Dr., 45, 82
Goodwin and Tabb, Messrs., 93
Grisi, 45
Grove, Sir George, 2 note, 42 note, 99
Guildhall Library, 69 note
Härtel, Dr., 35
Handel, and Handel Festivals, 25, 44, 89, 93, 128 note
"Hark! the herald angels sing", 129 note
Hauser, 40
Hawes, Miss M.B., 71 note, 82, 88, 123
"Hear my prayer", 48, 130 note
"Hear ye, Israel", 36, 99, 107, 111, 117
Hensel, Fanny, 41
"He, watching over Israel", 78, 83
Hiller, F., 27
Hobbs, J.W., 77, 82
Hopkins, Dr. E.J., 79
"Hymn of Praise", 28, 131
"If with all your hearts", 55, 84
"Irish echoes", 71
"It is enough", 100
Jeanrenaud, Mdlle. Cécile, 1
"Judas Maccabæus", 4
Klingemann, Carl (and letters to), 2 et seq., 5 et seq., 11, 19, 42, 62, 68, 74, 76, 97, 121
Lablache, 45
"Lauda Sion", 42, 48
Lazarus, H., 78, 112 note
Ledsam, J.F., 93
"Lieder ohne Worte", 129 note
Liège, 42
"Lift thine eyes", 82, 85, 99, 112
Lind, Jenny, 35, 37 et seq., 40, 84, 88, 120, 133
Liverpool Musical Festival, 2 note
Lockey, Mr. Charles, 77, 82, 83, 86 note, 93, 120, 123
Lower Rhine Musical Festivals, 1, 42
Lumley, Mr., 116 note, 121
Machin, 82
Manchester (Hargreaves Society), 122, 128
Mario, 45, 124 note
Martineau, Mr. Russell, 88, 90
Mellon, Alfred, 90
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Paul, 85
"Messiah", 89
"Midsummer Night's Dream", 37, 80 note, 81, 129 note
Mitchell, Mr., 116 note
Moore, Joseph (and letters to), 29 et seq., 44, 49, 85, 91
Moscheles (and letters to), 19, 39, 40, 43, 45, 76, 81, 131
Mounsey, Miss, 71 note
Mounsey-Bartholomew, Mrs., 67, 69 note
Novello, Ewer & Co., Messrs., 78
Oberhofer, 42
"O come, every one", 72, 83, 90
"Œdipus at Colonos", 31, 49
"Og of Bashan!", 3, 4
"O rest in the Lord" 65 et seq., 72, 74, 76, 83, 90
Organ (and Organ Sonatas), 32, 44
Overture ("Elijah"), 61, 62, 72, 76
Perry, George, 124
Philharmonic Society, 43, 82
Phillips, Henry, 52, 82, 123
Pischek, 37, 42
Prince Consort, The, 110 note, 127
Psalm 42 (Mendelssohn's), 9 note
Queen, The, 93 note, 110 note, 127
"Rachel in Ramah", 31 note
Ramsgate, 95
Recit. in the style of Handel, 94
Rockstro, W.S., 77
Royal College of Music, 49 note
Sacred Harmonic Society, 100 et seq., 122 et seq.
"St. Paul", 1 et seq., 6, 10, 14, 15, 26, 28, 44, 101 note, 132
"St. Peter", 3, 4
"Saul", 4, 25
Schelble, 1
Schubring, Pastor (and letters to), 10 et seq., 26
Schumann and Madame Schumann, 35
"Scotch Symphony", 37, 128 note
Scribe, 122
Simrock, 119, 127, 133
Smart, Sir George, 2 note
"Son and Stranger", 2 note
Sonata, Pianoforte and Cello, in D, 130 note
"Sons of Art", 43, 109
Staudigl, 42, 45, 52, 82 et seq., 119 et seq.
Stimpson, J., 46, 82 et seq., 129
"Tempest," Opera of the, 116 note, 120 et seq.
Terms for copyrights, 129 et seq.
"Thanks be to God", 46, 83, 86
"Then shall the righteous", 86, 124 note
"There is nothing", 78
"Torches", 103
Trios (D minor and C minor), 127, 130 notes
"Variations Sérieuses", 129 note
Wach, Frau Geheimrath, 50 note, 127
"Walpurgis Night", 15 note, 20, 36, 48
Webb, Rev. John, 31, 92, 93 note
"Widow scene", 56, 89, 97, 99, 108, 114, 115, 119
Williams, the Misses, 82, 112 note
Willy, J.T., 45
"Zadok the priest", 93