Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-05-14

was comparatively easy matter for
Mendelssobn TO roam as q lover 10 the
felds where the immortal bard had called
the sveetest flowers of his fancy, or to sur
render himself to the spiritiIeLlc influences Of
the greatest of the great prophets of Israel
the msn whose parity and strength entitled
him 10 walk with God as with friend. Yet
he WAS slow to attempt work so grand as
the dram atization of the life of the first of
earthly saints. His preparation for the
Eijah extended over many years during his
maturity, when he had advanced into q do
main where in airy fancy the poet, if ever,
finds local habitation and q name. He
found it easier then to summon, as it were,
the spirit OF the prophet who had been trans.
lated, and commune with him on the theme
which Christian zeal has fastened to as to the
| typical ,tory of the great prophet, in whose
death and ascension Gounod yearly forty
years later found the theme for his Rcdemp-
lien. OF Jewish birth, and OF a family that
had already given the world one of its pro-
fsundsst philosophic thinkers, it is posi-
bic when we recall his thorough training
and education, and his religious tem-
permanent, 10 understand how -Mendels-
sohn could grasp the career of Elijah and
embalm it in music so Lofty, 60 exalted, so
soul elevating, SO pure and 80 sublime. He
had already realized his hearts desire in
Leading the great orchestra at Leip.ic, and
was, as ii was hoped by his friends, in the
noontime of his fame. As E isha to that of
Elijah, and as lesser prophet, he had suc-
ceeded to the mantle of Beethoven. His
genius was everywhere acknowledged. The
people of Birmingham, long acquainted with
his works, made as early an acknowledgment
Of their faith in him as was possible, at their
great festival Of 1876. Alter he had led at
three other festivals, at AiI-la. Chapelle, at
Liege and at Cologne, he found himself on
the same programme with Beethoven, Han
del, Haydn and Cherdbini. The beat of the
musical representatives ofthe British Empire
awaited his coming and the production of
the new oratorio with eager interest. II was
given on the evening of the 26th of August,
and followed after Hay DIS Creation, md
was succeeded by Handel's Messiah, followed
on Friday by Beethoven's Missa Solem-
mis-. It was received with thunders of sp-
pause, which was given in spite of the in
functions of The committee that the audience
should not thus testify its approval. The
composer. too full for utterance," was called
out TO learn that England had placed the
Etyah in the same niche of fame as the ora
torios of Handel and Haydn, recognizing the
DR. aftn
fervor and the warmth Of piety with which
it had been invested from the souls store
house OF the renowned composer Ca this,
the greatest effort of his life, Mendelssohn
expended his strength. The labor attendant
upon the composition of Elijah and its re-
vision, the anxiety accompanying its re-
hearsal and production shattered constitu.
ton already weakened, because overtaIed
Tor many years, and in few weeks after the
festival at which, to the inf mite delight of
everyone present, he led the orchestra and
chorus, he breathed his last He
was translated 10 the realms TO which,
during his life, he had borne so
many Thousands on the wings of his
transcendent harmonies and melodies. The
gentlest Of spirits was at peace with Elijah
and all the noble host OF noble spirits whose
names and fame are the precious, priceless
legacy of the world. In this, hi. most mas
terful work, Mendelesohn begins with the
career OF the prophet, the man of the desert,
at the moment when he pronounced the curse
OF the drouth upon 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
aims of the fathers should be visited upon the
children. We 90 with him to the desert,
witness his re,torst 10 life Of the child Of
the woman of Ssrepta, see his return and
| hear his announcement of the close of the
drouth, and bear witness to the scene of
Mount Carmel. To this succeeds the exul-
tation, and 81, l am He that comforleth; be
not afraid; 1 am God" Then fol.
leus tho tragedy in which Jezsbel
leads the host of Israel as deliverer, after
which Eli .h 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 OF
this passage of the orstoIio is full of deli
cacy, tenderness, ard, at times, expressive 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 composer.
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, ethan Handles
m masterpiece, less theological thsn Spohr's Last
Judgment, and finally less didsctic and mo-
notonous that the wendrous Passion Music
of Sebastian Bach" Ard he adds: "While
the subject.matter of the Elyah is full of the
most stirring incidents, it. artistic form is
sufficiently brief to rivet the attention of
even an uncultivated audience from the first
recitative TO The lsst chorus. No man ever
wrote more in the presence Of his public and
lees in the Feclusion of his study than Men.
dslssohp, and in no other work has he 30
finely calculated the capacities Of the ordi-
nary masic.loving mind, and 30 richly
poured forth treasures which the most ex-
perienced musician will find, if not mex
haustible, yet always perfect"
| GolINOD AND HIS HREDEnpTION -