Page:The history of Mendelssohn's oratorio 'Elijah'.djvu/154

 HISTORY OF MENDELSSOHN'S "ELIJAH."

��death, Mr. Buxton voluntarily sent to Frau Mendelssohn an additional sum of ;^ioo for " Elijah," which she gracefully acknowledged in the following extract : —

accept the £ioo which you sent me ; but then I remembered the great pleasure it had given my husband when Mr. Simrock sent him an additional sum for his * St. Paul,' on account of the success the oratorio had had. Why should I not feel a similar pleasure in hearing that his last work is being so fully appreciated in England? I thank you there- fore that you think of us by sending this money as a proof of the success of ' Elijah.'
 * I hesitated a moment whether I ought to

"Berlin (Spring, 1849)."

The work was published in June, 1S47, as Op. 70. The lowest price of the first English edition — " Pianoforte score, with portrait on steel of the composer " — was thirty-six shillings ! An octavo edition did not appear till five years later (1852) : price ten shillings. A tonic sol-fa edition, published "by subscription" ("not less than 250 subscribers"), was issued in 1866.

The prosperity of " Elijah " was at once assured. The work bore upon it the imprint of success. It immediately shot into the front rank of popularity, a position which it has steadily maintained even unto this day.

The story has now been told. Six months after the strains of " Elijah " had died awa}- in Exeter { 132 )

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