Immediately after completing “St. Paul” in 1836, Mendelssohn mulled over the idea of composing a further oratorio. However a whole decade elapsed before the composition of “Elijah” which takes as itstheme the story of the Biblical prophet from the 1st Book of Kings. When he received the invitation to write a major work for the Birmingham Music Festival, Mendelssohn finally embarked on work on the oratorio.“Elijah” was premiered in 1846 in Birmingham with great success and has enjoyed great popularity ever since.
Following the first performance, Mendelssohn undertook a revision of the oratorio inwhichwhole numbers were removed and new ones substituted. This is the version which was first heard in 1847 in London and which is still performed today.
To mark the Mendelssohn anniversary year 2009, theMendelssohn specialist Douglass Seaton, Professor at Florida State University prepared a critical new edition of the oratorio. The edition reflects the latest research findings and includes both English and German singingtexts.
A critical commentary completes the new edition.
- One of Mendelssohn’s most popular works, in an edition reflecting the latest editorial knowledge.
- Bärenreiter-Urtext, including numbers fromthe original version for the first time.
- English and German singing texts.
- Critical Commentary (Eng).
- Full score, performance material (BA9070) and vocal score (BA9070-90) available for sale.
