"Presented to
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,
by the
Sacred Harmonic Society, London,
on the occasion of
his attendance at their performance of his oratorio
'St. Paul,'
at Exeter Hall, on the 12th day of September, 1837."
[54] Bartholomew had rendered the German words "und sein Wort brannte wie eine Fackel" as "his words appeared as light in darkness." The English Apocrypha (Ecclesiasticus xlviii., 1) has, "his word burned like a lamp." It is very difficult to fathom a composer's mind; but what can be the connection between "torches" and the key of F minor? Strangely enough the source of these words (and also of No. 24) has always been wrongly given as Ecclesiastes, instead of Ecclesiasticus. This mistake has been continued for fifty years!
[55] The words of the Quartet, as sung at Birmingham, were:—
| "Regard Thy servant's prayer, While angels bow before Thee, And worlds around Thy throne In strains of praise adore Thee. O, help him in his need, Thy gracious ear accord— Jehovah Sabaoth, Creator, God, and Lord!" |
They were changed to the now familiar "Cast thy burden." The music was also altered, but its quartet-chorale form and slender accompaniment were retained.
[56] The original English words in No. 16 (Chorus) were:—
"Bow down, bow down! on your faces fall adoring!" They are now "Before Him, upon your faces fall." The music of this number was also much altered. The impressive phrase, "upon your faces fall," just before the Chorale, was originally:—
[57] Mr. Bartholomew writes "yes" on the original letter.