The History of Mendelssohn's Oratorio "Elijah" Part 1

The History of Mendelssohn's Oratorio "Elijah"

by Frederick George Edwards.

INTRODUCTION.

I have been asked to say a few words as introduction to this volume, and I do so with pleasure.

To the ma.s.s of music-loving people of this country, however, I believe that Mendelssohn requires no introduction. It has been the fashion in some quarters to speak of him slightingly, nay injuriously; but this will pa.s.s, and he needs no defence--certainly not when "Elijah" is in question. In England the oratorio has taken its place, if not on a level with "The Messiah," very near it; and what more does any work of musical art require? Fortunately every additional fact that is elicited about this great composer testifies all the more to his insight, to the depth and warmth of his feelings, and to the indefatigable earnestness with which he worked until he had realised the entire meaning of his text and expressed it in music to the utmost of his power and with all the dramatic force that it was capable of.

The letters now given--many of them for the first time--abound in instances of this.

The information which my friend Mr. Edwards has so carefully collected and so clearly stated, the new portrait which is due to the kindness of Mrs. Victor Benecke, and the _fac-simile_, will be very welcome; and the book is in my opinion a gain to musical literature, while it forms the fittest symbol to mark the anniversary of the production of the greatest oratorio of this century.

GEORGE GROVE.

LOWER SYDENHAM, _January_ 27, 1896.

PREFACE.

It is fifty years since Mendelssohn's "Elijah" was first performed.

The place was Birmingham: the date August 26, 1846. The Jubilee of this event provides a fitting opportunity for presenting a history of Mendelssohn's familiar oratorio.

In compiling the following pages, I have been favoured in having had access to much original matter on the subject of "Elijah." Especially is this the case in regard to the numerous letters from Mendelssohn and his correspondents which are here made public for the first time.

These letters are not only unique in the information they convey, but they form the most interesting links in the chain of this "History."

For the rest, I have carefully kept in view the duty of the historian, which is--I take it--that he should tell his story in as accurate, straightforward, and pleasant a manner as he can.

I have to acknowledge the kind help of those who have so greatly facilitated my work. In addition to those specially mentioned in the course of the book, I tender my best thanks to Mrs. Carson (granddaughter of the late Mr. Edward Buxton, the former proprietor of the business of Messrs. Ewer & Co.); Dr. Carl and Dr. Felix Klingemann; Felix Moscheles, Esq.; William Moore, Esq.; and especially to Professor Dr. Julius Schubring of Lubeck, for their kindness in allowing me to publish the correspondence which pa.s.sed between Mendelssohn and their respective relatives. Except where it is otherwise stated, the letters are translated from the German originals.

Also to Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co., for extracts from "Mendelssohn's Letters from 1833 to 1847"; to my friends, Mr. Andrew Deakin, of Birmingham, and Mr. J.S. Shedlock, for their kind a.s.sistance; and in a special degree to Mrs. Victor Benecke (Mendelssohn's elder daughter), who has very kindly helped me to obtain permission to publish several letters relating to "Elijah"

which have hitherto been unknown. Mrs. Benecke has also allowed the portrait of her father, which forms the frontispiece to this book, to be published. It was taken in 1835, and is here reproduced for the first time.

My thanks are specially due to Miss Mounsey (formerly Miss Elizabeth Mounsey), without whose invaluable co-operation it would have been impossible for me to write this "History" with any approach to completeness. Miss Mounsey enabled me to acquire, three years ago, the originals of fourteen letters on the subject of the English translation of "Elijah," written by Mendelssohn to her brother-in-law, the late Mr. William Bartholomew. She subsequently placed in my possession a collection of MS. copies, parts, &c., of the oratorio, which were made for the production of the work at Birmingham, in 1846.

These sheets, with the exception of some engraved chorus parts, are all in Mr. Bartholomew's handwriting, but they also contain several alterations written by Mendelssohn himself. Some of them possess additional interest from the fact that they are the actual copies from which the soloists sang at the first performance. Not only am I greatly indebted to my good friend Miss Mounsey for these ma.n.u.scripts and a copy of the original word-book of 1846, but also for her encouragement and the kindly interest she has taken in this "History,"

from the time I first mentioned it to her to that of its completion.

My last word is one of grat.i.tude to Sir George Grove for his kindness in contributing an Introduction.

F.G.E.

HAMPSTEAD, _February_, 1896.

CHAPTER I.

THE LIBRETTO.

Mendelssohn had no sooner completed his first oratorio, "St. Paul,"

than he began to think about setting another Bible story to music.

"St. Paul" was produced at the Lower Rhine Musical Festival, Dusseldorf, May 22, 1836, under the composer's personal direction.

Mendelssohn was then twenty-seven years of age. He spent six weeks in the summer of that year at Frankfort-on-the-Maine, as _loc.u.m tenens_ for his friend Schelble, the founder of a Choral Society, famous then and now, under the name of the Cacilien-Verein.

During his temporary residence in the old Hanseatic city, Mendelssohn met Mdlle. Cecile Jeanrenaud, to whom he was betrothed in September.

He spent the month of August at Scheveningen for the benefit of the sea-bathing there, and also, as we learn from the "Recollections" of his friend Devrient, to test the strength of his affection for the beautiful Cecile. Although his thoughts naturally and constantly turned towards Frankfort, he did not neglect his beloved art. He wrote the following letter, hitherto unpublished, to his old and attached friend, Carl Klingemann, in London.[1]

[Footnote 1: Carl Klingemann (1798-1862) was for upwards of thirty years resident in London as Secretary to the Hanoverian Legation. "He was," says Sir George Grove, "a man of great cultivation, considerable literary power, and very rare judgment in music." He wrote the libretto of Mendelssohn's operetta known as "Son and Stranger"; and nine of Mendelssohn's songs are set to words by Klingemann.]

[MENDELSSOHN TO KLINGEMANN.]

"THE HAGUE, _August_ 12, 1836.

"... A thousand thanks for all your care, and for the interest you take in the whole affair.[2] It is no doubt important for me that the performance and all the arrangements should be as perfect as possible; therefore, let me thank you for it all once more.

"But I wish you knew what a far greater favour you would confer upon me if, instead of doing so much for my old oratorio, you would write me a new one; and, by so doing, would stir me up to fresh activity, instead of my having to do this myself. When I have finished a composition, that which really gives me pleasure in it is the progress I see in the work, and the hope that it may lead me to attain to greater excellence in the next. Therefore, I long to be rid of all care of the finished work; and I feel as if I could only really thank you, from my heart, if you showed me that you like this oratorio sufficiently to help me to find a new 'text,' and thus encourage me to write another oratorio. If you would only give all the care and thought you now bestow upon 'St. Paul' to an 'Elijah,' or a 'St. Peter,' or even an 'Og of Bashan!'

"It may seem ungrateful that I write to you just now in this strain, and in a letter which should be all thanks; but it is as I feel at present, and we are far too intimate with each other for me to attempt to hide from you my present mood. You know, don't you, that I am not ungrateful? But I have felt very strongly of late that I need and long for an external impulse to urge me on; no recognition of work done can come up to that; it gives me great pleasure, but it has not the stimulating effect upon me which a suggestion for new work would have."

[Footnote 2: The proposed performance of "St. Paul" at the Liverpool Musical Festival, where it was given for the first time in England, under the direction of Sir George Smart, October 7, 1836.]

This letter, which discloses an article of Mendelssohn's artistic creed, is important, because it contains the earliest known reference to the oratorio of "Elijah." The date should be carefully noted, as it shows that Mendelssohn was engaged, more or less, upon his great oratorio for a period of more than ten years before it was given to the world in its finished and published form.

Klingemann does not seem to have been taken with his friend's proposal that he should compile an oratorio libretto, even upon so original a subject for musical treatment as "Og of Bashan." The following letter, written a few weeks before the composer's marriage, contains a request for the "text" of an oratorio as a wedding present--surely a novelty in the way of a nuptial gift.

[MENDELSSOHN TO KLINGEMANN.]

"LEIPZIG, _February_ 18, 1837.

"... Here comes my request. Do write for me within the next few weeks the text for a Biblical oratorio, so that I can set to and compose it during next summer. The last time we talked about it I mentioned to you two subjects which I like equally well--'St. Peter' or 'Elijah.' What I would like best would be for you to take 'Elijah'--divide the story into two or three parts, write it out in choruses and airs, either in verse or prose of your own; or, compile it from the Psalms and Prophets, with powerful big choruses, and then send it to me. The translation of Handel's oratorios gave you so little trouble that I think you will only require a few evenings, and the will to give them up to it, and my 'text' will be written. You may let it be dramatic like 'Judas Maccabaeus,' or epic, or both combined. I am satisfied with anything you do. You need not ask my advice, but just write out what you think best. Then I can compose it at once.

"If you do not care for either of these two subjects, then I am willing to take any other--for instance, 'Saul.' But somehow I think 'Elijah,' and his going up to heaven in the end, would be a most beautiful subject. And if you think of using Bible words, read up Isaiah lx. and lxiii., to the end of the Prophet, and also chapter xl., and Lamentations, and all the Psalms. When you have done this you will easily find the right language. Just think what sort of an oratorio I ought to be able to write at this moment, and such an one send me. It ought to be your wedding present to me; it would be the gift I would value most. Do not refuse my request. Of course, if you are too busy, do not be vexed with me for asking this of you; but do write to me, anyhow, very soon."

Mendelssohn was married at Frankfort, on March 28, 1837. Klingemann evidently did not send a wedding present in the form of an oratorio "text" in time for the ceremony, since Mendelssohn, while on his honeymoon, wrote the following letter to his London friend:--

[MENDELSSOHN TO KLINGEMANN.]

FREIBURG, _April_ 30, 1837.

"... Will you soon be able to fulfil your promise about 'Elijah'? Forgive my pressing you thus for an answer. It is not my fault; it is the fault of circ.u.mstances. It seems to me more and more a mistake to imagine that anyone can make a lasting impression by _one_ single work--it ought to be done steadily, uninterruptedly, by progressive writings. Out of these the best will eventually stand forth, if all are conceived in an earnest spirit. Therefore, I want to write some more sacred music soon, especially as I see no chance of being able to compose an opera. Perhaps this is as well, for it seems to me as if all the German theatres were at the present moment in such bad condition, that one cannot reckon on a good performance anywhere, and therefore there may yet be a few years' time before me, and I may do it all the better then; for that I must write operas is an idea I cannot give up. The choral societies, on the other hand, are just now good, and long for new music; and I should like to give them something that would please me better than my 'St.

Paul' does. Do help me to this, and send me a new oratorio 'text.'"

In the autumn of his marriage year, Mendelssohn paid his fifth visit to England, in fulfilment of an engagement to conduct his 'St. Paul'