Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-05-10
THE "REDEMPTIOHo OF GOUNOD
AND THE "ELIBAH" OF MENDKLs-
SOHE.

~
AND THE "ELIBAH" OF MENDELs.
sOHK.
The two great works selected by the Mozart
Society for the Music Festival which will
be insugurlted on Monday next, az we be-
iieye, under exceptional circumstances, the
Redemption Of Gounod and the E1ijjah Of Men
delssohD, rank among the very first Of the
immortal compositions that challenge the
eoul enthusiasm of all who know Beethoven,
Handel, Haydn or Mozart. Before Men
delssohn gave his E6jah 10 the world, which
he did at Birmingham, England, at the
great music festival of August, 1916, he
had produced his S. Paul at Lsipsic Just ten
years before, and, besides, was known to the
musical world as the author of many bril-
liant and classic works, among them that
dainty and elusive composition known az the
AidsunHser Nights Dream, in which he h. as
embalmed in such delightful measure the
exquisite fancy Of Shakespeare. OF most
poetic temperament, and profoundly re-
ligiaus, il was comparatively easy matter
for MeDdelssohn TO roam as a lover in the
fields where the immortal bard hid culled
the sweetest flowers Of his fancy, or TO sur.
render himself to the spiritueLe influences of
the greatest of the great pro ohes OF Israel, the
man whoe purity and strength entitled him
TO walk with God as with friend. Yet he
was Glow to attempt work 60 grand as the
dramatization OF the life of the first Of
earthly ssints. His preparation for the
Elijah extended over many years during his
maturity, when he had advanced into the do
main where in airy fancy the poet, if ever,
finds local hsbitation and name. He found
il easier then 10 summou, as it were, the spirit
OF the prophet who had been translated, and
commune with him on the theme which
Christian zeal has fastened to as 10 the typi-
cal story of the greater prophet, ir whose
death and ascension G1unod nearly forty
years later found the theme for his Redemp-
tioH. OF Jewish birth, aud Of family
that had already given the world one of its
profoundest philOsophic thinkers, it is pos
able when we recall his thorough training
and education and his religious tenn
psrament, to understz and how Mendels-
sohn could grasp the career OF Elijah
and embalm it in music so lofty,
SO exalted, 60 soul-elevating, 30 pure
and 80 sublime. He had already realized
his hesrts desire in leading the great orches-
ira at Leipsic and was, as it was hoped by his
friends, In the nooutime of his lame. AS
Elisha, to that OF EIjj.h and as a lesser
prophet, he had succeeded to the mantle of
Beethoven. His genius was everywhere ac-
knowledged. The people of Birmingham,
long acquainted with his wsrks, IN ade as early
an acknowledgment Of their faith in him
ss was possible, at their great festi-
val of 1916. After be had led at three
other festivals at Aix-la-Chapelle, at Liegs
and at Cologne, he found himself on the |
same programme with Beethoven, Handel, |
Haydn and Cherubini. The best of the mu-
sical representatives OF the British empire |
awaited his coming aud the production
OF the new oratorio with esger interest.
II was given on the evening of the 18th Of
Augus', and followed alter Haydn's Creation,
and was succeeded by HandsPs Messiah, fol-
lowed on Friday by Beethoven's Missa Sol M
mia. 1t was received with thundeIs OF ap- |
functions Of the committee that the audience
should not thus testify its approval. The |
composer, "ioo fulfor utlerAnce,n was called |
out to learE th Al Eng land had placed the Eli |
jah in the game niche OF f,ne as the ora
torios of Handel and Haydn, rec 'g1izing
the drama'ic energy and fofc1, he religious
ferver and the warmth Of piety with waich
it had been invested from the soul's store
house Of the renowned composer. On this,
the grestest effort OF HE life, Msndelssohu
expeoded his strength. The labor at
tendant upon the competition of Elijah
aud it's revision, the anxiety accom-
panying is rehearsal and production
shattered a constitution already weak
ened, because cverlaxed fer many years,
and in few weeks alter the festival at
whic,, TO the Infinite delight of everyone
present, he le The orchestra aud chorus, he
breathed bis last. he we. translated to the
realms to wa ch, during his lie, he had
borne 20 many thousands ON The wings OF bis
transcendent hsrmonies and melodies. The
gentlest of spirits was st peace with Elijah
and all the noble host of noble spirits whose
names and fame are the precious, priceless
legacy of the world. 10 this, his most mas.
terful work, Mendelssohn begins with the Ca
reer of the prophet, the man OF the deser', at
the moment when he pronounced The curse of
the drouth vi Oh the streams and valleys of
Palestine, and carries US through all that
most intensely dramatic period in the life OF
Israel when famine and death followed as the
fulfllment of the promise OF God that the
sins Of the fathers should be visited upon the
children. We go with him to The d s.ri,
witness his restoration 10 life of the child Of
the woman Of Sarepts, see his return aud
hear his announcement OF the close
of the drouth, and bear witness TO
the scene of Mount Carmel. To this
succeeds the exuliation, and 81, am He
that comforteih; be not afraid; am God"
Then follows the tragedy in which Jezsbel
leads the host Of Israel a, deliverer, sfIer
which Elijah retires again 10 the wilderness
TO fulfill the most pathetic period of his life,
when, as he believed, he had spent his
strength for nothing and wished TO die. The
music Ol luis passage AZ the 1uil
of delicscy, tenderness, and, at times, ex-
pressivs of profound detection, and is in
sharp contrast with the intensity Of that of
the drama that precedes it. 1t is in marked
contrast, and will arrest the attention of the
hearer as superb test OF the genius
of the CO nposer. The earthquake on
Mount Horeb and the translation follow
in quick succession, and thus is closed
the oratorio that divides with the Messiah
the most popular appreciation. at is
shorter" says Haweis, ''than Handel's mas
terpiece, less theological than Spohr's Last
judgment, and Infinitely less didatic and mo-
notonous than the wondrous Passion Music
of Sebastian Bach" And he adds: "While
the subject-ma after of the Elijah is full of the
most stirring incidents, its artistic form is
sufficiently brief to rivet the attention Of
even an uncultivatod audience from the firss
recitaiive to the last chorus. NJ man ever
wrote more in the presence of his public and
less in the seclusion of his study than Men.
delssohn, and in no other work has he 30
finely calculated the capacities Of the ordi-
nary music-loving mind, ani 30 richly
poured forth treasures which the most ex-
perienced musician will 6nd, if not mex
haustible, yet always perfect"
OF the Redemption, by Gounod, critics have