We reconvened last Monday to listen to Calum’s talk on the history and structure of Mendelssohn’s oratorio, “Elijah”. St. Leonard’s felt suitably Victorian as we dutifully sat, socially distanced, and many in coats and hats to fend off the autumn chill.

But this was a heart-warming and accessible dissection of a piece of music which may be less familiar to some but would be great to perform one day. We started with a quick resume of Mendelssohn’s musical career including his German heritage and passion for Bach and Handel, whose music he re-introduced to English audiences. He wrote several compositions influenced by the Scottish and English landscapes of the time and was very much a Victorian romantic composer.

Mendelssohn (courtesy of britannica.com)

From St Paul to elijah

Although Mendelssohn had been intrigued by the story of Elijah ever since he completed his first oratorio, “St. Paul”. it took ten years to come to fruition when he was commissioned by the Birmingham Festival to compose a new work. He collaborated with the German librettist Schubring for the German text and almost simultaneously with Bartholomew for the English version. Both writers were also composers so were able to render the text sympathetically with the music, splitting words in the right places, for example. As both language versions were written in parallel, there is no feeling that the translation is inferior.

Birmingham Festival Hall as it was at the time of the Festival in 1846

victorian appeal

The oratorio was premiered at the Birmingham Festival in 1846 to great acclaim. Another performance for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert sealed its reputation at the time. Although it has been criticised partly for its Victorian melodrama, it continues to be a very popular oratorio to perform.

Elijah in the Desert (courtesy of wikibible.com)

GOD OF ISRAEL OR BAAL?

The story of Elijah is taken from the Books of Kings as well as other texts from the Old Testament of the Bible. I wonder if its sensibilities and drama are less familiar to a modern audience than to a much more devout Victorian one. Nevertheless you can’t deny the drama of the narrative and appreciate the scope that provides some beautifully dramatic and passionate music, at times dark and ominous and at others light and consoling.

The plot centres on a time when King Ahab establishes a temple to the Gods of Baal in Israel. The land is suffering from drought and Elijah is encouraged by Obadiah to return the people of Israel to their faith in God. The stories include Elijah bringing a dead son back to life and praying to God to ignite a fire under the temple sacrifice, while the increasingly frantic prayers by the prophets of the god Baal fail. Elijah’s prayers do eventually succeed in bringing rain to parched Israel. In the second half, Elijah flees to the desert to escape persecution by Queen Jezebel, but is comforted and encouraged by visions of God and angels, so returns to his work as a prophet and eventually ascends to heaven on a fiery chariot.

Copy of the LSO recording with Edinburgh Festival Chorus & Orchestra of Age of Enlightenment

fiery chariot with fiery, fiery horses!

As Calum went through the story, he played extracts of the oratorio and explained the structure of the music. For example, we listened to the interplay of voices in “Blessed are the Men who Fear” or he helped us visualise the chorus trudging around, building themselves up to plea for “Help, Lord!”. We also learnt how the chorus and soloists (of which there can be up to eight) could sing different roles: alternating between characters, such as angels or prophets; narrators or chorus moving the story forward; or the people of Israel themselves.

I wasn’t entirely sure how much I “liked” the music to start with, but learning about the structure and the musical techniques really enhanced my understanding and enjoyment. By the end, I could imagine us singing it, as Calum suggested, obviously relishing the thought of driving us to do justice to its passion and drama, ascending our own musical heights aboard a fiery chariot!

Credits: Bible Wiki, Planet Hugill (http://www.planethugill.com/2020/04/in-search-of-elijah-exploration-of.html), Wikipedia