"I have again begun to work with all my might at my 'Elijah,' and hope to amend the greater part of what I thought deficient at the first performance. I have quite completed one of the most difficult parts (the Widow); and I am sure you will be satisfied with the alterations which I may call improvements. 'Elijah' has become far more impressive and solemn here. I missed that in my first version and was annoyed by this want; but, unfortunately, I never find out such things till afterwards, and till I have improved them. I hope, too, to hit upon the true sense of other passages that we have discussed together. I shall most seriously revise all that I did not deem satisfactory; and I hope to see the whole completely finished within a few weeks, so as to be able to set to work on something new. The parts that I have already remodelled prove to me again that I am right not to rest till such work is as good as it is in my power to make it; even though very few people care to hear about such things, or notice them, and even though they take very much time; yet the impression such passages, if really better, produce in themselves and on the whole work, is such a different one, that I feel I cannot leave them as they now stand."
In a letter to his English publisher, Mr. Buxton (Ewer & Co.), Mendelssohn calls this habit of constant alteration a "dreadful disease," from which he suffered chronically and severely. He says: "I was sorry to see that you will have to make so many alterations in the choral parts; but I think I told you before, that I was subject to this dreadful disease of altering as long as I did not feel my conscience quite at rest, and therefore I could not help it, and you must bear it patiently." In the same letter (written in English) he says:—"I did what I could to reconcile myself to the idea of adding a few bars to the Overture to make it a separate piece, and give it a conclusion; but, I assure you, it is impossible. I tried hard to do what you want, in order to show my goodwill—but I could not find an end, and I am sure there is none to be found."
The chief alterations (to quote from Sir George Grove's invaluable article "Mendelssohn," in his "Dictionary of Music and Musicians," II., 289) were:—
"The chorus 'Help, Lord!' (No. 1), much changed: the end of the double quartett (No. 7), re-written: the scene with the Widow (No. 8), entirely re-cast and much extended: the chorus 'Blessed are the men' (No. 9), re-scored: the words of the quartett 'Cast thy burden' (No. 15), new: the soprano air 'Hear ye' (No. 21), added to and re-constructed: in the Jezebel scene a new chorus, 'Woe to him' (No. 24), in place of a suppressed one, 'Do unto him as he hath done,' and the recitative 'Man of God' added: the trio 'Lift thine eyes' (No. 28) was originally a duet, quite different: Obadiah's recitative and air (No. 25) are new: the chorus 'Go, return,' and Elijah's answer (No. 36) are also new. The last chorus (No. 42) is entirely re-written to fresh words, the text having formerly been 'Unto Him that is abundantly able,' etc. The omissions are chiefly a movement of 95 {86} bars, alla breve, to the words 'He shall open the eyes of the blind,' which formed the second part of the chorus 'But thus saith the Lord' (No. 41), and a recitative for tenor, 'Elijah is come already; and yet they have known him not; but have done unto him whatsoever they listed,' with which Part II. of the oratorio originally opened. In addition to these more prominent alterations, there is hardly a movement throughout the work which has not been more or less worked upon."
The phrase of four bars (instrumental) at the end of "Man of God" (No. 25), and leading into "It is enough," was an afterthought, and, like the overture, was due to the English translator. Bartholomew made the suggestion—a hint, it may be called, but a very interesting one—in the following words: "Elijah—'Tarry here, my servant, and I will go a day's journey into the wilderness.' What if an instrumental interlude (short) gave time for the journey? and then, spent with fatigue, he might, from very weariness, say, 'It is enough!'"
Another interesting instance of Mendelssohn's afterthoughts is that near the end of the last Baal chorus, where the sustained and piercing cry of the sopranos and altos was not originally re-echoed by the tenors and basses:—
[[Listen]]
The above impressive response to the entreaty of the female voices is inserted, in Bartholomew's writing, in a proof copy of the oratorio, now in my possession. Its appropriateness is unquestionable; yet it was not in the original version.
The Sacred Harmonic Society, who, in 1837, had enrolled Mendelssohn as a member, and had presented him with a silver snuff-box,[53] were very anxious to be the first to perform the revised oratorio. Within a month of the Birmingham performance, the Secretary addressed to Mendelssohn a long letter, in which (1) the Society congratulated the composer upon the success of his new work, (2) asked that they might have the honour of giving the first performance of the revised version before a London audience, and (3) that, if possible, Mendelssohn should himself conduct the said performance. Here is Mendelssohn's reply:—