Page:The history of Mendelssohn's oratorio 'Elijah'.djvu/120

 HISTORY OF MENDELSSOHN'S " ELIJAH."

��' 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 im- proved 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 no\V stand."

In a letter to his English publisher, Mr. Buxton (Ewer & Co.), Mendelssohn calls this habit of con- stant 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 }ou must bear it patiently." In the same letter (written in English) he sa3s: — " 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 ( 98 )

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