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Elijah, Op. 70
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Elijah, Op. 70

work by Mendelssohn
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Written by
Betsy Schwarm
Betsy Schwarm is a music historian based in Colorado. She serves on the music faculty of Metropolitan State University of Denver and gives pre-performance talks for Opera Colorado and the Colorado Symphony...
Betsy Schwarm
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Article History

Elijah, Op. 70, oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn that premiered August 26, 1846, in Birmingham, England.

The oratorio presents episodes from the story of the biblical prophet Elijah. The title role, sung by a baritone or bass, requires a nearly operatic range of emotional expression for the arias, which are by turns prayerful, weary, and defiant. Three other principal soloists sing more than one role each.

Unusually for an oratorio, Elijah’s orchestral overture is preceded by an aria that introduces the main character and sets the tone for the rest of the work. In it Elijah delivers a stern warning that God will send a drought as punishment for Israel’s embrace of idolatry.

The chorus known in English as “He Watching over Israel” is Elijah’s best-known excerpt and is frequently performed separately from the rest of the oratorio. The famed chorus is immediately preceded by a delicate a cappella women’s trio known as “Lift Thine Eyes to the Mountains.”

Mendelssohn composed the work in German with a libretto using sections of 1 Kings, Psalms, and other books of the Hebrew Bible, but its first performance used an English version of the text. Since then it has been performed in both languages.

Betsy Schwarm