Page:The history of Mendelssohn's oratorio 'Elijah'.djvu/43

 THE LIBRETTO.

��had been got through before I knew anything about it. At Mendelssohn's request I undertook a certain further amount of work of a subordinate kind, such as connecting and introducing suitable passages and arias. . . . He always proved himself a thoughtful artist, and strove to obtain a clear appre- ciation of each separate point — such, for instance, as the admissibility of the chorale, of the narrative, recitatives, etc. He rejected, also, much that was suggested, being so well acquainted with his Bible, that he obtained a great deal of valuable material himself. He was, however, extremely grateful for any assistance."

These words apply, though in a larger measure, to the part which Mendelssohn took in preparing the libretto of his second oratorio, " Elijah." Attention is specially directed to the fact that, notwithstanding the foregoing correspondence between the composer, Klingemann, and Schubring, Mendelssohn — while availing himself of the help his friends were willing to give him — accepted nothing without the most careful scrutiny. The following extract, from Ferdinand Hiller's " Recollections of Mendelssohn " (Macmillan), may fitly conclude this chapter.

" One evening," says Hiller, " I found Felix deep in the Bible. ' Listen,' he said ; and then he read to me in a gentle and agitated voice the passage from the first Book of Kings, beginning at the words, 'And behold, the Lord passed by.' * Would not that be splendid for an oratorio? ' he exclaimed."

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