The Committee at once acted upon Mendelssohn's suggestion that Jenny Lind should be invited to sing; and at their meeting on December 26 resolved—"That Mr. Moore be requested to use his endeavours to engage Jenny Lind, and impress upon Mendelssohn the importance of completing his new oratorio." Moore evidently asked Mendelssohn to be the negotiator between the Committee and Jenny Lind, judging from the following letter:—
[To Joseph Moore, Esq.]
[Written in English.]
"Leipzig, January 15, 1846.
"My dear Sir,—Yesterday I received your letter of the 7th, and answer it as early as I can. My oratorio is in progress, and becomes every day more developed; but whether I shall be able to finish it in time for your preparations is another question, which I shall not be able to answer positively before two months are elapsed. It will then be the middle of March, more than five months before the period of your Festival, and if I should fail in my efforts of ending my work in time (which I fully hope and trust to do), there will be ample time for you to make it up by something else. Your question about Jenny Lind is very important to the success of the Festival, as I consider her, without hesitation, as the first singer of the day, and perhaps of many days to come. But I am not able to undertake the negotiation which your chairman would entrust me with, as I know how much she is surrounded with engagements of all sorts, and how little likely it is that I could get anything like a positive answer from her, unless a formal application from the Committee had previously been made to her. It is by no means certain that such an application would be successful, but at any rate I think it the only way, if there is one. When you formally wrote to me about the same subject, I was at Berlin, and spoke to her about it, but then she said she should not go to England, she had declined it already twice, it was quite impossible, etc., etc.; so that I am sure that she will not come to London at least (for I did not make any direct enquiries about Birmingham and the Festival at that time). When you have determined what you will do, and if you have written, or if another (perhaps at Berlin) has negotiated for you, pray let me know of it, and I could then, perhaps, be of some use in removing some difficulties which might still arise, and in persuading her to accept the Festival, which I should be most happy to do. But at present, I am afraid, by beginning to talk or correspond with Jenny Lind about this subject, I would do your cause no good, and I therefore beg to be excused.
"Truly and sincerely yours,
"Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy."
Nothing daunted, the Committee at their next meeting (January 30, 1846) instructed Moore to ask Moscheles (who had been appointed Conductor-in-chief of the Festival) to use his influence with Jenny Lind. Although a good deal of pressure seems to have been brought to bear upon her to visit Birmingham for the purpose of singing in the first performance of "Elijah," it was of no avail. The reason of Jenny Lind's inability to come to England at that time may be traced to her fear of Mr. Alfred Bunn, the opera manager. Those who wish to follow the circumstances of that unpleasant episode in the great singer's career will find the story fully told in the chapter headed "The Bunn Contract," in Messrs. Holland and Rockstro's "Memoir of Jenny Lind-Goldschmidt," Vol. I., pp. 228 and 290; also Vol. II., pp. 39 and 198.
Meanwhile, the work of composition made slow progress, and the fate of the oratorio was decidedly precarious. On April 20, four months before the Festival, Mendelssohn wrote to Moscheles suggesting that "Athalie" should be an alternative to "Elijah." To Hauser, of Vienna, he wrote: "I sit, over both my ears, in my 'Elijah,' and if it only turns out half as good as I often think it will, I shall be glad indeed! The first part will be quite finished within the next few days, and a goodly portion of the second part also. I like nothing more than to spend the whole day in writing the notes down, and I often come so late to dinner that the children come to my room to fetch me, and drag me out by main force."[26]
Writing to Moscheles, Mendelssohn says: "I absolutely require a first-rate high baritone. Can such an one be found?" Again: "If, after all, there is no baritone to be got, the whole thing falls to the ground." To Jenny Lind: "Sometimes, in my room, I have jumped up to the ceiling when it seemed to promise so very well. (Indeed, I shall be but too glad if it turns out only half as good as it now appears to me.) But I am getting a little confused, through writing down, during the last few weeks, the immense number of notes that I previously had in my head, and working them now and then upon the paper into a piece, though not quite in the proper order, one after another."[27] To Devrient: "I am working day and night at my new oratorio to send to England, otherwise it will not be in time." To his sister Fanny: "I am more driven than ever, as an immense piece of 'Elijah' is not yet copied, whilst the first part is already in rehearsal in England.... The first thing to-morrow morning I shall shut myself up, and decline to budge till 'Elijah' is finished, which may not be for another three weeks, and that I also swear by my beard."