The History of Mendelssohn's Oratorio "Elijah" Part 6

"No. 6 {3}. The time is _Andante tranquillo_. The first words are from Jerem. xxix., 13. And the following from Job xxiii., 3, and I wish to keep these last literally: 'Oh, that I knew (_slurred_) where I might find Him, that (added note, as you also have) I might come [slur symbol] even to His seat' (or 'presence,' perhaps, if the two notes shall not be slurred.)[37] And before the first subject and the first words return, the notes may be altered thus:--

[Music: Oh, that I knew, where I might find Him. If with all, &c.]

"In No. 7 {5}, I prefer your first idea, 'for _He_ is Lord and G.o.d,' to the two others which you propose; and I wish you would have the 'He,' &c., inserted still in the choral parts.

"No. 8 {6}, I prefer an alteration in the notes, and to keep the words:--

[Music: and hide thyself by the brook Cherith.]

as also--[Music: and thou shalt drink of the brook.]

[Music: and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee, &c.]

"No. 9 {7}. Pray let the beginning stand as in the Bible, viz.:--

[Music: For He shall give His _angels charge_ over thee.]

and if the end 'and thus harm thee' can be spared, and it can finish with the words 'against a stone,' I should like it better.

"No. 10 {between 7 and 8}, in the middle I propose again to alter the notes in order to keep the Bible version:--

[Music: -bide. _Behold I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee_, and thou shalt want nothing, _nor she and her house_, through, &c.]

"No. 11[38] {8}. Again the same (bar 16, &c.):--

[Music: and his sickness is so sore, that there is no breath left in him.]

and then--

[Music: art thou come to call my sin, to call my sin to remembrance, to slay my son, to slay, to slay my son?]

and at the end: 'there is no breath, no [slur symbol] breath [slur symbol] left in him,' instead of 'exhausted,' etc.

"Then again:--[Music: ELIJAH. give me thy son.]

"And instead of 'that he again may live,' I should prefer always as you have at the end, 'that he again may praise Thee.' Again the music should be altered for the Bible version's sake in this:--

[Music: Wilt thou indeed show wonders to the dead?]

"In the following _Allegro agitato_, I prefer 'thy _prayer_'

to 'thy pet.i.tion,' and beg you will alter the notes accordingly.

"No. 12 {9}.[39] Is it as scriptural to say 'the men' as 'the man'? And if not, could not the sentence be 'Blessed is the man who fears Him, who delights,' and so on? And what do you like better: the amplification, 'light s.h.i.+ning over them,' or to say instead of these words, 'to the upright,'

and to slur the two notes thus:--

[Music: through darkness riseth light, light to the _up_right.]

"Pray do it as _you_ think best.

"At the beginning of No. 13 {10}, I should wish to have the same words as in No. 1, viz.: 'before whom I stand,'

instead of 'I tell thee truly.' And instead of 'that the rain may fall,' etc., I should propose:--

[Music: and G.o.d will send rain again upon the earth.]

which is more according to the Bible. I prefer 'Let him be G.o.d' to 'He shall be G.o.d' (which you have added in pencil).

Instead of 'I, even I alone stand here among you,' I propose the alteration:

[Music: I, even I, only remain, &c.]

"I prefer 'Invoke your forest G.o.ds,' etc., as you do.

"In No. 15 {11}, is not the accent extirpate a wrong one?

The syllable _tir_ will always be the first in the bar and the strongest, with a marked accent.

"No. 16. {12} [Music: or he is pursuing.]

and then--[Music: journey; _or_, peradventure.]

"In No. 18 {13}, could not the words 'with lancets cut yourselves after your manner' be kept?

"No. 20. {14} [Music: people that I have done these things according to Thy word! O hear me, Lord, &c. O hear me Lord, &c.]

"I prefer 'and let their hearts again be turned,' as you do.

"In No. 22 {16}, could not the end be: 'and we shall have no other G.o.d before Him,' or 'the Lord' (from Exodus xx., 3)?

Then instead of 'let not a prophet,' I propose:

[Music: and let not one of them escape ye: _bring_ them, &c.]

"In No. 23 {18}, I prefer '_thee_' &c., to the other version, according to your remarks. But the end I wish thus:--

[Music: Woe unto them, woe unto them.]

"No. 24. {19} [Music: O Lord, Thou hast overthrown Thine enemies, and destroy'd them! Now look on us, &c.]

"Then I wish the following notes altered:--

[Music: ELIJAH. Go up now, child, and look toward the sea.

Has my prayer been heard by the Lord?]

"I also prefer 'the heavens are _as_ bra.s.s'--a note might be added. Then afterwards I propose:--

[Music: closed up, _because they have sinn'd, have sin-ned against Thee_]

"And afterwards if 'and turn from _their_ sin' seems preferable to you, a note might be added to keep the words as in the Bible. In the following sentence it sounds to me more scriptural to leave the words as in 2 Chronicles vi., 27:--

[Music: Then hear from heav'n, and forgive the sin.]