Page:The history of Mendelssohn's oratorio 'Elijah'.djvu/142

 HISTORY OF MENDELSSOHN'S "ELIJAH."

I heard it since from all sides. And now he does not come? What is to become of my 'Elijah' then? / can«o/ write to Staudigl and persuade him to come, but I really do not know how the performance could match that of Birmingham without him — indeed I do not know how it could go. Of course Lockey would be quite sufficient for all the Tenor solos ! But Staudigl ! That word of yours has given me a great deal to think of.

"Always very sincerely and gratefully yours,
 * ' Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy."

" Leipzig, March lo, 1847.

" My dear Sir, — Many thanks for your letter of the ist. I really do not know what a synopsis of the oratorio should be good for — on the other hand, I do not see the harm it could do — and, therefore, leave it to you to decide this point as you think best. I shall send you the metronomes in a few days ; the organ part I do not forget.

" But tell me, should the whole series of per- formances not be better postponed till nntumn? What with your uncertainty about Staudigl, and with all this uproar in London about the two opera parties, and with Jenny Lind coming or not coming, and with the ' Tempest ' or not the * Tempest,' and with the difficulty you and Mr. Buxton have to make the parts ready — would not such a delay be beneficial to all of us, especially to the old prophet himself? Not to me certainly, who like to shake my English friends by the hand the sooner the better — but to all others? { 120 )

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