Miss Jacobson's Music: FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2015

QUOTE:
"Music is a friend of labor for it lightens the task by
refreshing the nerves and spirit of the worker."
AUTHOR: William Green

MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
"The rhythmic beats of music not only

help people pace their daily work activities

but also make the work more enjoyable."

COMPOSER
MENDELSSOHN

ELIJAH OPUS 70

(ORATORIO)

(A sacred drama in the same format

as an opera, performed in a concert

setting without staging or costumes.)

Prophet Elijah, from The State
Hermitage Museum

ELIJAH OPUS 70

Complete

Ann Howard Jones, Conductor

Boston University Symphony Orchestra

and Symphonic Chorus, 2011

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBMTzryAnrk

ARTICLE FROM:
Irving S. Gilmore Music Library
http://www.library.yale.edu/musiclib/exhibits/mendelssohn/elijah1.htm

http://bbc.adactio.com/composers/mendelssohn/pictures/10/

Mendelssohn’s first oratorio, St. Paul (1836),

http://www.library.yale.edu/musiclib/exhibits/mendelssohn/oratorio.htm

achieved such an extraordinary success that it

was a difficult act to follow. Mendelssohn

immediately began contemplating the possibility

of a second oratorio, and he even considered

setting the story of Elijah. But for nearly a

decade, these plans remained unfulfilled. He

was apparently thinking about Elijah again in

1845, and when the Birmingham Music Festival

commissioned him

Joseph Moore: Manager of the
Birmingham Musical Festivals

to compose an oratorio, he

was ready to get to work.

A section of Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah in the composer's own hand

As he had with St. Paul, Mendelssohn asked

Julius Schubring, a friend and Lutheran pastor,

to assemble a libretto from the German Bible.

Because the audience in Birmingham expected

an English-language oratorio, Schubring's text

had to be translated. Although Mendelssohn

spoke English himself, he entrusted this

assignment to his friend William Bartholomew.

William Bartholomew

It was sometimes a delicate task, because many

of the Biblical passages were famous ones, so

English listeners would have been dismayed if

they had heard literal translations of

Martin Luther's

German Bible

The Luther Bible is a German language
Bible translation from Hebrew
and ancient Greek by Martin Luther

rather than the King James version

King James I
The Royal Sponsor of the Bible that Bears his Name

King James Bible

that was so familiar in England.

Letter from Mendelssohn to Bartholomew with Annotations (1)

Letter from Mendelssohn to Bartholomew with Annotations (2)

The premiere took place in Birmingham, England

Birmingham Town Hall

Birmingham Town Hall: Interior Pictured in 1845

on August 26, 1846, under Mendelssohn's direction.

http://harrisburgsymphonyblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/behind-music-with-mendelssohns-elijah.html

It was a tremendous success, and ever since

Elijah has been widely regarded as the pre-

eminent oratorio of the 19th Century.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/composer-felix-mendelssohn-svitozar-nenyuk.html

Today we usually think of Mendelssohn as the

composer of two oratorios, but he was already at

work on a third, Christus, when he died in

1847 at the age of only 38.

http://www.scuolaecclesiamater.org/2014/07/elia-il-tesbita-il-profeta-ed-il.html

The story of this oratorio comes from the
Old Testament Biblical Book of Kings

and it is about the famous
wonder-worker and
Prophet Elijah (or Elias)

The Holy Prophet Elias

from the northern kingdom Of Israel

and his triumph over the idol worshiping and

hedonistic reign of Israel's King Ahab

Fredric Leighton: Jezebel and Ahab c.1863

and his wife Jezebel.

Here is a little background to the story:

Icona di S. Elia con scene della sua vita, XIX sec.

God promised, in a covenant with the people

of Israel, to protect them if they obeyed His

commandments. He forbade the worship of

other gods, but when Ahab,

King Ahab

the king of Israel,

took the foreign princess
Jezebel

Jezebel

as his queen,

he also adopted her religion,
building idols

to Baal

Baal

and other gods for the people of Israel to

worship. This broke the covenant.

What is covenant? Definition and overview

http://overviewbible.com/whats-a-covenant
-a-quick-definition-and-overview/

Basically, the life of
the Prophet Elijah

epitomized the
evolution of Jewish faith

from worship of the Babylonian pantheon

of idols and myths to worshipping one

monotheistic God.

Michelangelo: God in the Creation of Adam

This dramatic biblical story required music

written for it on a grand scale. Mendelssohn's

music calls for a large chorus, orchestra and

soloists: a big piece of music, which requires

a production with a stage of nearly 100

performers. Victorian era British audiences

of Mendelssohn's time, to which this oratorio

was commissoned for, loved to see and

hear this musical style akin to our current

cultural fascination with huge arena-like

spectical concerts.

Performance of an Oratorio

CHARACTERS

The widow (soprano)
The child (soprano)
The angel (Soprani I and II, Alto)
The queen (Contralto)
King Ahab (Tenor)
Obadjah (Tenor)
Elia (Low)

ELIJAH OPUS 70: Part 1

Thomas Hampson, Baritone

Barbara Bonney, Soprano

Robert Shaw, Conductor

Ann Howard Jones, Assistant Conductor for Choruses

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, 1994

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlY8WQ5vLeY

0:00 Introduction (Elijah) - As God of Israel liveth
0:57 Ouverture
4:28 Chorus - Help Lord
7:50 Quartet Recit. - The deep affords no water (3,5,7,8)
8:48 Duet with chorus - Zion spreadeth her hands for aid (3,5)
10:56 Recit (Obadiah) - If with all your hearts
Chorus - Yet doth the Lord see it not
19:00 Recit (Angel) - Elijah! get thee hence (Florence Quivar)
19:55 Double quartet -For He shall give His angels (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,)
23:04 Recit (Angel): Now Cherith's book is dried up (Florence Quivar)
24:22 Air (Bonney): What have I to do with thee - Recit (Elijah, Widow) Give me thy son!
13. 9. Chorus - 'Blessed Are All They That Fear Him'
14. 10 Recitative (Elijah, Ahab) With Chorus - 'As God The Lord Of Sabaoth Liveth'
15. 11. Chorus - 'Baal, Answer Us'
16. 12. Recitative (Elijah) And Chorus - 'Call Him Louder, For He Is A God!'
17. 13. Recitative (Elijah) And Chorus - 'Call Him Louder! He Heareth Not'
18. 14. Air (Elijah) - 'Lord God Of Abraham, Isaac And Israel'
19. 15. Quartet (Angels) - 'Cast Thy Burden Upon The Lord'

20. 16. Recitative (Elijah) And Chorus - 'O Thou, Who Makest Thine Angels Spirits'

21. 17. Air (Elijah) - 'Is Not His Word Like A Fire?'
22. 18. Air - 'Woe Unto Them Who Forsake Him!'

23. 19. Recitative (Obadiah, Elijah, Youth) And Chorus - 'O Man Of God, Help Thy People!'

24. 20. Chorus - 'Thanks Be To God!'

Written in two acts, the first

act opens, before

the overture,

ELIJAH OPUS 70

Introduction

Paul Daniel, Conductor

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJYCkTsWhA8

with Elijah prophesying

The Elian Cycle
Captured in the Windows
of the Chapel of Mt. Carmel Monastery
Elijah Confronts Ahab (1 Kings 17: 1)

to Ahab and Jezabel God's displeasure at them

Thomas Matthews Rooke: Elijah Prophesises to Ahab and Jezabel Their End

with a threat that there

shall be a terrible drought

until the people of Israel return to the

worship of the true God, Jehovah.

Cima da Conegliano: God the Father, c1510–27

The overture portrays the suffering from the

famine that the drought brings to Israel.

ELIJAH OPUS 70

Overture

Paul Daniel, Conductor

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=38&v=s77R9-bF4gE

In the chorus,
"Help, Lord!"

the people of Israel

plead for relief

ELIJAH OPUS 70 NO. 1

"Help, Lord!"

Terre Johnson, Conductor

The Southeastern Chamber Orchestra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcw80jfgMAM

as well as in the next duet with chorus,

"Lord, bow thine ear."

The prophet, Obadiah,

James Tissot: Obadiah the Prophet

who has remained faithful to God,

reminds the people that the drought is to

punish them for worshipping idols. His aria,

"If with all your hearts,"

advises them to be

true to God. They respond with,

"Yet doth the Lord see it not."

An angel advises Elijah to hide in a small valley
east of the Jordan (where he stays for three years)
to avoid Ahab's wrath, and the angels sing,
"For He shall give His angels."

The Elian Cycle
Captured in the Windows
of the Chapel of Mt. Carmel Monastery
Elijah is Fed by Ravens at Cherith (1 Kings 17: 6)

Unknown Dutch: Plague with the Prophet Elijah Fed by the Ravens, 1658

Later, the angel returns to tell Elijah to

go back to Zarephath by the sea,

The Elian Cycle
Captured in the Windows
of the Chapel of Mt. Carmel Monastery
Elijah and the Widow (1 Kings 17: 10-16)

where a widow takes him in. While he stays with
her, her supplies of grain and cooking oil

miraculously replenish themselves.

Bernardo Strozzi: Prophet Elijah and the Widow of Sarepta, c1630's

In the first extended scene of the oratorio

the widow comes to him for help for

her sick child who soon dies. Elijah prays three

times to God, and the boy revives. Observing

this miracle leads to her conversion.

The Elian Cycle
Captured in the Windows
of the Chapel of Mt. Carmel Monastery
Elijah Raises the Widow's Son (1 Kings 17: 17-24)

They pledge their devotion to God,

and the chorus sings,

"Blessed are the men who fear him."

Louis Hersent: Elijah reviving the Son of the Widow of Zarephath

The Elian Cycle
Captured in the Windows
of the Chapel of Mt. Carmel Monastery
Obadiah Petitions Elijah (1 Kings 18: 7-15)

After three years of drought
Elijah again presents
himself before King Ahab
and proposes a test
to show that God is the true
God and Baal is not.

The Elian Cycle
Captured in the Windows
of the Chapel of Mt. Carmel Monastery
Elijah Confounds the Prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18: 21-40)

http://jewishexponent.com/prophet-motives

Elijah,

Icon of Holy Prophet Elijah
Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai AD 1200

by means of a contest, demands
that the people of Israel call upon
their false Gods for succor. The people

of Israel assemble around Mount Carmel

to observe the contest on its summit. Elijah
and the prophets of Baal each place sacrificial
steers on their altars but do not burn them.
Instead, in a series of choruses, Baal's
prophets appeal to Baal to
set their offering on fire in
"Baal, we cry to thee"
and when Elijah taunts them, in
"Hear our cry"
and
"Baal, hear and answer."
The false Gods do not answer; nothing happens.
Elijah then prays to God to send
forth fire from heaven

The Elian Cycle
Captured in the Windows
of the Chapel of Mt. Carmel Monastery
The Vision of Elijah in Prayer on Carmel (1 Kings 18: 42-44)

Albert Joseph Moore: Elijah's Sacrifice

in the aria,
"Lord God of Abraham."

An angel chorus reassures him with
"Cast thy burden upon the Lord."

And the people of Israel see how
God answers Elijah's prayers in

"The fire descends from heaven."

Cranach: Elijah and the Priests of Baal 1545

Master of James IV of Scotland (Flemish):
Elijah Begging for Fire from Heaven,
before 1465- about 1541

Elijah orders the people to

kill the prophets of Baal

https://www.tikkunministries.org/newsletters/mm-apr09.php

and glories in God's fearsome justice in the aria

"Is not His word like a fire?"

The alto seconds his sentiment in

"Woe, woe unto them!"

In an intricate linked passage with a youth

and the chorus, Elijah importunes God to bring rain

down upon the parched fields

to end the drought.

Elijah -(Hebrew: -אֱלִיָּהוּ Eliyahu, meaning "My God is Yahweh") was a famous prophet and a wonder-worker in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Ahab. According to the Books of Kings, Elijah defended the worship of Yahweh over that of the Phoenician god Baal he raised the dead, brought fire down from the sky, and was taken up in a whirlwind (either accompanied by a chariot and horses of flame or riding in it)

After each prayer, he sends a youth

to look out to sea for rain clouds.

http://www.christian-resources-today.com/
biblical-prophets-1c.html

When the storm arrives,

the people rejoice with

"Thanks be to God."

In the aria,
"Hear ye, Israel,"

http://www.2ndchurch.org/building.htm

the soprano advises the people to obey

God's laws and regain His protection.

ELIJAH OPUS 70

"Hear ye, Israel"

"Be not afraid"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCB0A2qH3YM

The chorus echoes her with

"Be not afraid."

ELIJAH OPUS 70: Part 2

Thomas Hampson, Baritone

Barbara Bonney, Soprano

Robert Shaw, Conductor

Ann Howard Jones, Assistant Conductor for Choruses

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, 1994

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf8IOw9NXGw

Air: Hear ye, Israel! (Barbara Bonney)
Chorus: Be not affraid
Recit (Elijah, Queen) and chorus: The Lord hath exalted thee
Chorus - Woe to him
Recit (Obadiah, Elijah) Man of Godnow let my words be precious
Air (Thomas Hampson): It is enough, O Lord
Recit (Richard Clement) See, now he sleepeth
Trio of Angels (Bonney, Schellenberg,Simpson): Lift thine eyes
Chorus: He, watching over Israel
Recit (Angel, Elijah): Arise, Elijah (Florence Quivar)
Air (Angel): O rest in the Lord (Florence Quivar)
Chorus: He that shall endure to the end
Recit (Elijah, Angel): Night falleth 'round me (Henriette Schellenberg)
Chorus: Behold, God the Lord passed by!
Recit, Quartet & Chorus: Above himstood the seraphim (5,2,3,4)
Chorus: Go, return upon thy way - and recit (Elijah) I go on my way
Arioso (Thomas Hampson): For the mountains shall depart
Chorus: Thus did Elijah the prophet break forth
Air (Jerry Hadley): Then shall the righteous shine forth
Recit: For Godsent his people the prophet Elijah (Barbara Bonney)
Chorus: Thus saith the Lord
Quartet: O come, everyone that thirsteth (3,5,7,8)
Chorus: And then shall your light break forth

The second act begins with the people of

Israel hailing Elijah and the true God.

A depiction on the wall of a third-century C.E. synagogue
at Dura-Europos in modern Syria.
Shown here, Elijah and his followers have easily
conjured up a blazing fire, which engulfs their white bull.
Seeing the flames, the Israelites call out,
"Yahweh alone is God, Yahweh alone is God."

Ahab and Jezebel persist
in worshipping Baal, and
Elijah condemns them prophesying
that God will again punish Israel.
Queen Jezebel,

Henry John Stock: Jezebel, 1882
She is pictured here as a Victorian woman wearing
a red dress, surrounded by evil influences.

in revenge, incites the people

against him whipping the people into a

frenzy until, in

"Woe to him,"

they vow to kill Elijah.

Obadiah warns the prophet to flee

to the desert for his life.

Elijah Flees Jezebel

Elijah fled to Beersheba,

then into the wilderness.

Washington Allston: Elijah in the Wilderness

Utterly depressed over his failure,

a desperate Elijah asks God

to let him die in the aria,

"It is enough."

As he sleeps, the angels sing,

"Lift thine eyes"

and

"He, watching over Israel."

An angel appears to send Elijah far south to

Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai.

When he still despairs that his prophesies

to the people of Israel have been in vain,

the angel comforts him with the aria,

"O rest in the Lord,"
ELIJAH OPUS 70
"O rest in the Lord"
Kathleen Ferrier, Contralto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=15&v=bIQ3Jehiy4E

and an angel chorus sings,

"He that shall endure."

The Elian Cycle
Captured in the Windows
of the Chapel of Mt. Carmel Monastery
God Strengthens Elijah with Food and Drink (1 Kings 19: 4-8)

"Lord," he said, "I have had enough, take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." Then
he lay down and went to sleep. But an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat."

A trio of angels (the chorus) then appears
to watch over him, telling him that God

"slumbers not, nor sleeps"
and another angel bids him to have
faith that the true God will win out.

Dieric the Elder Bouts: Prophet Elijah in the Desert, 1464-68
"Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree.
But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, "Get up and eat!"
He looked around and saw some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water!
So he ate and drank and lay down again."

Continuing on with his journey he
walked 40 days and 40 nights
finally to reach Mount Sinai
and asks God to appear to him.
An angel tells him to veil his face
to withstand the presence of God.

The chorus sings,

"Behold, God the Lord passed by."

The heavenly host appears

and an octet and chorus of angels sing

praises back and forth in

"Holy, holy, holy."

Sunrise at Mount Sinai in Egypt

Afterward, in

"Go, return upon thy way,"

the angels tell Elijah to return to Israel as

a prophet to the people there.

Elijah sings of God's eternal mercy in

"For the mountains shall depart."

Then, the chorus mentions fiery triumphs

over King Ahaziah,

King Ahaziah

Ahab's successor, and describes

Elijah's ascent to heaven in a fiery

chariot to gain his final reward in

"Then did Elijah the prophet break forth."

Herri met de Bles: Elijah Ascending to Heaven in the Fiery Chariot

The Elian Cycle
Captured in the Windows
of the Chapel of Mt. Carmel Monastery
Elijah Ascends in a Fiery Chariot (2 Kings 2: 9-12)

Peter Paul Rubens: Elijah

The tenor aria,

"Then shall the righteous shine forth,"

tells of his arrival in heaven.

The Elian Cycle
Captured in the Windows
of the Chapel of Mt. Carmel Monastery
Elijah Conquers the Antichrist (Sirach 48: 1-12)

The finale links Elijah with

the Messiah's coming.

The Elian Cycle
Captured in the Windows
of the Chapel of Mt. Carmel Monastery
Elijah as Martyr (Matthew 17: 9-13)

The chorus sings

"But the Lord from the north,"

the four soloists sing

"O come everyone that thirsteth,"

and the chorus ends with both

"And then shall your light"

and a fugue,

"Lord, our Creator."

A fresco of Saint Ilia (Elijah) from the ceiling of Rila Monastery, Bulgaria

LINKS

http://www.sfchoral.org/site/felix-mendelssohn-elijah/

http://harrisburgsymphonyblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/
behind-music-with-mendelssohns-elijah.html

http://www.drexel.edu/depts/perform/chorus/Chorus.winter.99.pdf

http://www.drexel.edu/depts/perform/chorus/Chorus.winter.11.pdf

http://www.library.yale.edu/musiclib/exhibits/mendelssohn/elijah1.htm

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/03/prweb12568266.htm

http://www.thechoristers.org/concert-info/faqs/

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38223/38223-h/38223-h.htm

http://www.academia.edu/1665517/Mendelssohn_Bartholomew
_and_the_Elijah_Correspondence_Reconsidered

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_(oratorio)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_%28oratorio%29

http://jewishstudies.clas.asu.edu/files/mendelssohn_program.pdf
http://archive.org/stream/historyofmendels00edwarich
/historyofmendels00edwarich_djvu.txt