Page:The history of Mendelssohn's oratorio 'Elijah'.djvu/58

 unpleasant episode in the great singer's career will find the story fully told in the chapter headed "The Bunn Contract," in Messrs. Holland and Rockstro's "Memoir of Jenny Lind-Goldschmidt," Vol. I., pp. 228 and 290; also Vol. II., pp. 39 and 198.

Meanwhile, the work of composition made slow progress, and the fate of the oratorio was decidedly precarious. On April 20, four months before the Festival, Mendelssohn wrote to Moscheles suggesting that "Athalie" should be an alternative to "Elijah." To Hauser, of Vienna, he wrote: "I sit, over both my ears, in my 'Elijah,' and if it only turns out half as good as I often think it will, I shall be glad indeed! The first part will be quite finished within the next few days, and a goodly portion of the second part also. I like nothing more than to spend the whole day in writing the notes down, and I often come so late to dinner that the children come to my room to fetch me, and drag me out by main force."

Writing to Moscheles, Mendelssohn says: "I absolutely require a first-rate high baritone. Can such an one be found?" Again: "If, after all, there is no baritone to be got, the whole thing falls to the ground." To Jenny Lind: "Sometimes, in my room, I have jumped up to the ceiling when it seemed to promise so very well. (Indeed, I shall be but too glad if it turns out only half as good as it now appears to me.) But I am getting a little confused, through writing down, during the last few weeks, the immense number of notes that I previously had in my