"Elijah", Oratorio based on words from the Old Testament op. 70

"Elijah", Oratorio based on words from the Old Testament op. 70

Composer
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Libretto
Julius Schubring
Time of origin
1846
Opus Parts
Elijah: Part One
Introduction: "As God the Lord of Israel liveth"
Overture
1. Chorus and Recitative: "Help, Lord! Wilt thou quite destroy us?" – "The deeps afford no water!"
2. Duet with Chorus: "Lord, bow thine ear to our pray'r!"
3. Recitative: "Ye people, rend your hearts"
4. Aria: "If with all your hearts ye truly seek me"
5. Chorus: "Yet doth the Lord see is not"
6. Recitative: "Elijah, get thee hence"
7. Double quartet and Recitative: "For He shall give His angels charge" – "Now Cheriths brook is dried up"
8. Recitative, Aria and Duet: "What have I to do with thee"
9. Chorus: "Blessed are the men who fear Him"
10. Recitative with Chorus: "As God the Lord of Sabaoth liveth"
11. Chorus: "Baal, we cry to thee"
12. Recitative and Chorus: "Call him louder! For he is a god!"
13. Recitative and Chorus: "Call him louder! He heareth not!"
14. Aria: "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, Israel"
15. Quartet: "Cast thy burden upon the Lord"
16. Recitative with Chorus: "O Thou, who makest thine Angels spirits"
17. Aria: "Is not His word like a fire"
18. Arioso: "Woe, woe unto them who forsake Him"
19. Recitative with Chorus: "O man of God, help thy people"
20. Chorus: "Thanks to be God"
Elijah: Part Two
21. Aria: "Hear ye, Israel! Hear what the Lord speaketh"
22. Chorus: "Be not afraid, said God the Lord"
23. Recitative with Chorus: "The Lord hath exalted thee"
24. Chorus: "Woe to him! He shall perish"
25. Recitative: "Man of God, now let my words"
26. Aria: "It is enough, O Lord, now take my life"
27. Recitative: "See, now he sleepeth beneath a juniper tree"
28. Trio: "Lift thine eyes to the mountains"
29. Chorus: "He, watching over Israel, slumbers not"
30. Recitative: "Arise, Elijah, for thou hast a long journey"
31. Aria: "O rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him"
32. Chorus: "He that shall endure to the end, shall be saved"
33. Recitative: "Night falleth round me, O Lord"
34. Chorus: "Behold, God the Lord passed by"
35. Recitative, Quartet with Chorus: "Holy is God the Lord"
36. Chorus and Recitative: "Go, return upon thy way"
37. Arioso: "For the mountains shall depart"
38. Chorus: "Then did Elijah the prophet break forth"
39. Aria: "Then, then shall the righteous shine"
40. Recitative: "Behold, God hath sent Elijah the prophet"
41. Chorus and Quartet: "But the Lord, from the north hath raised one" – "O come ev'ry one that thirsteth"
42. Chorus: "And then, then shall your light break"
Duration
140 Minuten
Performance history
26. August 1846, 11.30 Uhr in Birmingham
16. April 1847 in London (endgültige Fassung, von Mendelssohn selbst dirigiert)