The History of Mendelssohn's Oratorio "Elijah" Part 9

"2. The song 'Sei stille dem Herrn' ['O rest in the Lord']

must be left out.

"3. The _second_ part of No. 41, 'Er wird offnen die Augen der Blinden,' must also be left out; so that from the words 'und der Furcht des Herrn' ['and of the fear of the Lord']

it goes immediately to the quartett in B flat 'Wohlan, denn'

['O come, every one that thirsteth']. Pray let the choral people at Birmingham know this _directly_; it will spare them much time, as the _Alla breve_ is not easy, and as I am sure I will not let it stand. Of course the _whole beginning_ of No. 41, 'Aber einer erscheint, &c.; der wird des Herrn Namen' must _stand_ and _not_ be omitted; merely from the _Alla breve_, and from the 1st introduction of the words 'Er wird offnen,' is to be left out.[46]

"Pray excuse all this trouble; and let me thank you in person for all the hard work you have had on my account.

"Always very truly yours,

"FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY."

[Footnote 46: This section of the chorus (No. 41), which Mendelssohn rejected almost at the eleventh hour, was a somewhat extended movement in D, eighty-six bars long. It started with the following subject in the soprano:

[Music: SOPRANO. He shall open, shall open the blind eyes, and He shall bring the prisoners from the prison; and them that sit, that sit in darkness out of the prison house.]]

[MENDELSSOHN TO BARTHOLOMEW.]

[_Written in English._]

"LEIPZIG, _August_ 10, 1846.

"My dear Sir,--In the letter I wrote to you yesterday I forgot to mention the words of the song which I bring with me (the No. 37 which is still wanting in your score) in case it should be _indispensable_ to have the books printed before my arrival. They are from Isaiah liv., 10, and I find that the English words will apply literally to my music; so I beg you will let No. 37 stand thus in the English version: _No. 37, Arioso (Elijah)_. 'For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed; but Thy kindness shall not depart from me, neither shall the covenant of Thy peace be removed.'

"Excuse my negligence and the two letters.

"Always yours very truly,

"FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY,

"who hopes to see you this day week."

"P.S.--I re-open this letter because I receive this moment yours of the 4th.--Many, many thanks for all the trouble you take. I shall bring an organ part if possible; and be sure that I shall not be dissatisfied with _any_ thing you may have done under your responsibility; I know you too well for that. The synopsis of the second part is quite right, and with the addition of No. 37 (as above) it is all in order. I am certain our conference will not be half so difficult as you antic.i.p.ate, and in a few hours we will have settled everything. Can we meet on the 18th at Mr. Klingemann's?

About the song, 'O rest in the Lord,' we will settle everything when we meet."

Mendelssohn and Bartholomew duly met in London, and the "everything"

included numerous finishing touches and alterations, both in regard to the English words and the music. The correspondence between the two men was only temporarily suspended. It was renewed, with all its old characteristics, when "Elijah" was under revision; and the subsequent letters from Mendelssohn to his English translator will be found in Chapter V.--"The Revised Oratorio."

CHAPTER IV.

THE FIRST PERFORMANCE.

Mendelssohn arrived in London on August 17 or 18 (1846), and again stayed with Klingemann, at 4, Hobart Place, Eaton Square. A pianoforte rehearsal of the vocal solos of "Elijah" was held on the 19th (Wednesday), at Moscheles's house, 3, Chester Place, Regent's Park.

Mendelssohn commenced the rehearsal by playing the Overture from memory, to the delight and admiration of those who heard it. The lady vocalists gave the composer some trouble. The soprano requested him to transpose "Hear ye, Israel," a whole tone down, and to make certain changes to suit her particular style! "It was not a lady's song," she said. Mendelssohn resisted with studied politeness, and said, "I intended this song for the princ.i.p.al soprano; if you do not like it I will ask the Committee to give it to some other vocalist." Afterwards, when alone with Moscheles, he most unreservedly expressed himself as to the "coolness of such suggestions."

When "O rest in the Lord" was tried over, the singer was anxious to introduce a long shake (on D) at the close! "No," said the composer, "I have kept that for my orchestra," and he then archly played the familiar shake, which is given to the flute in the orchestral accompaniment. He was still doubtful, even at the eleventh hour, whether he should not withdraw "O rest in the Lord." "It is too sweet," he said. His friends urged him at least to try its effect, and ultimately their advice was accepted. Mr. Charles Lockey, the young tenor singer, immediately won the composer's golden opinion, and Mendelssohn was more than satisfied with his beautiful and sympathetic voice at the first performance. The tenor solos had been previously a.s.signed to Mr. J.W. Hobbs, who generously relinquished them in favour of the younger singer. The soloists had to sing from MS. copies which contained only the vocal melody and ba.s.s of the accompaniment. These copies, neatly written by Bartholomew on oblong-folio music-paper, contain several alterations in Mendelssohn's own hand.

The orchestral parts had been previously tried over and corrected at Leipzig; the way was therefore made smooth for the band rehearsals in London. These rehearsals took place at the Hanover Square Rooms on the Thursday and Friday preceding the Festival. "Mendelssohn," records the late Mr. Rockstro, "looked very worn and nervous; yet he would suffer no one to relieve him, even in the scrutiny of the orchestral parts, which he himself spread out on some benches beneath the windows on the left-hand side of the room, and insisted upon sorting out and examining for himself." The late Henry Lazarus, the eminent clarinettist, related to me a personal incident in connection with this first London rehearsal. Near the end of the chorus "He, watching over Israel," occurs the following instrumental phrase in the clarinets and flutes--a phrase which is not fully discernible in the pianoforte arrangement of the score, and which is practically inaudible at a performance:--

[Music: Bar 14 from the end.

CHORUS. slumbers not, sleeps, not, &c.]

"Mr. Lazarus," said Mendelssohn, "will you kindly make that phrase a little stronger, as I wish it to stand out more prominently? I know I have marked it _piano_." "Of course," added Mr. Lazarus, "I was playing it religiously as marked."

The story that the holding C's for the oboe in No. 19 (which accompany "There is nothing") were inserted by Mendelssohn at the end of the first rehearsal to satisfy Grattan Cooke, the oboeist, is a pure myth.

A MS. score of the work, used at Birmingham, and now in the possession of Messrs. Novello, Ewer and Co., shows that these notes were not subsequently added, but formed part of the original design. Moreover, Mendelssohn would hardly be guilty of the mock-descriptive in allowing the words "There is _nothing_" to be sung without any accompaniment.

And Cooke could not complain that the composer had not given him any oboe solos, after he had played the beautiful oboe obbligato in "For the mountains shall depart," which was doubtless written by Mendelssohn expressly for Cooke.[47] The story probably took its origin from the following circ.u.mstance, which has been fully told by Dr. E.J. Hopkins. When the vocal score of "Elijah" was first published, Mendelssohn presented a copy to Grattan Cooke, who was a great favourite with the composer. In this copy Mendelssohn wrote the following inscription:--

[Music]

"An Grattan Cooke, zum freundlichen Andenken.

"FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY.

"London, Fruhling, 1847."

[Footnote 47: According to the late Mr. J.W. Davison, "Mendelssohn was a long time uncertain whether he should add the oboe part, or limit the score to the string quartet."]

Mendelssohn knew that Grattan Cooke was fond of a joke, and, as Dr.

Hopkins says, the composer's quiet humour is well shown in the above inscription. The length of the note is seven bars of slow time, the last of which is not only indefinitely prolonged by a pause, but has in addition a _crescendo_ and _diminuendo_ mark. "Any oboeist,"

observes the Temple organist, "who would dare to try and sustain that note as directed would, before bringing it to a termination, himself cease to exist!"[48]

[Footnote 48: As a specimen of Grattan Cooke's humour, the following incident was related to me by a veteran musician who was a fellow-student of the witty oboeist at the Royal Academy of Music. At one of the early rehearsals of Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream"

Overture, Cooke was missed from his place in the orchestra, and was soon afterwards seen walking up the room carrying a ladder. "What on earth have you got that for?" he was asked. Cooke replied: "He's written the notes so tremendously high, that I've brought a ladder to get up to them!"]

"Elijah" was honoured with the novelty of a preliminary a.n.a.lytical notice in _The Times_ of Monday, August 24, 1846, two days before the first performance. This article, two columns in length, was one of the earliest contributions of the late J.W. Davison, on his joining the staff of _The Times_, of which paper he was for many years the musical critic.

Euston station presented an animated scene on the Sunday afternoon preceding the Festival, when a special train, which left London at 2 p.m., conveyed Mendelssohn, the solo singers, the band, the London contingent of the chorus, and the "Gentlemen of the Press" to Birmingham.

Monday morning was set apart for a full rehearsal of "Elijah" in the Town Hall, which is thus described in the _Birmingham Journal_:--

Mendelssohn was received by the performers with great enthusiasm, renewed again and again, as his lithe and _pet.i.t_ figure bent in acknowledgment of these spontaneous and gratifying tributes to his genius, personal affability, and kindness.... His manner, both in the orchestra and in private, is exceedingly pleasing. His smile is winning, and occasionally, when addressing a friendly correction to the band or choir, full of comic expression. He talks German with great volubility and animation, and speaks English remarkably well. He possesses a remarkable power over the performers, moulding them to his will, and though rigidly strict in exacting the nicest precision, he does it in a manner irresistible--actually laughing them into perfection.

Some of his remarks are exceedingly humorous. In the Overture to the "Midsummer Night's Dream" [played at the Festival], the gradations of sound were not well preserved; a rattle of his _baton_ on the music-stand brings the band to a dead halt. "Gentlemen," says Mendelssohn, "that won't do. All _fortissimo_, all _pianissimo_, no _piano_! A little _piano_ between, if you please. Must have _piano_, gentlemen; when you come to _fortissimo_, do as you like."

All this is expressed with animation and good humour, and a roar of laughter over, the band tries again, and a smile playing on the expressive features of the conductor, attests the power of his pleasantly administered corrective.... At its conclusion the whole band and chorus broke into a torrent of enthusiastic acclamation. After the oratorio had been rehea.r.s.ed, Mendelssohn expressed himself highly pleased with the manner in which the performers had rendered his work, and complimented them on their extraordinary efficiency.

As Moscheles, the Conductor-in-chief of the Festival, was unwell, Mendelssohn conducted the evening rehearsal for him. At Mendelssohn's request the usual Tuesday evening concert was given up for an extra rehearsal of "Elijah." "After the rehearsal," says Mrs. Moscheles, "I helped Mr. Bartholomew in correcting the 'text,' and so we went on till one o'clock in the morning."

The band and chorus for the Festival consisted of 396 performers. The band, mostly of the Philharmonic and the Opera orchestras, numbered 125 players--93 strings and double wood-wind. The chorus, including a contingent of 62 from London, totalled 271, distributed thus: sopranos, 79; altos (all male voices, "bearded altos," as Mendelssohn called them), 60; tenors, 60; and ba.s.ses, 72.

The princ.i.p.al vocalists in "Elijah" were Madame Caradori-Allan, Miss Maria B. Hawes, Mr. Charles Lockey, and Herr Staudigl; the subordinate parts were filled by the Misses Williams (who sang the _duet_ "Lift thine eyes," now the trio), Miss Ba.s.sano, Mr. J.W. Hobbs, Mr. Henry Phillips, and Mr. Machin. Dr. Gauntlett was specially engaged to play the organ in the new oratorio. Mr. James Stimpson was the chorus-master and official organist of the Festival.