Mendelssohn’s Elijah

Saturday, May 6, 2023, 7 PM, at Church of the Epiphany, DC

Many thanks to everyone who came out to witness this wonderful event. We had our largest audience ever and by all accounts the performance was spectacular. Too view our recording of the performance click the button ELIJAH below.

This piece was composed in the spirit of Mendelssohn's Baroque predecessors Bach and Handel, whose music he greatly admired. In 1829 Mendelssohn had organized the first performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion since the composer's death and was instrumental in bringing this and other Bach works to widespread popularity. By contrast, Handel's oratorios never went out of fashion in England. Mendelssohn prepared a scholarly edition of some of Handel's oratorios for publication in London. Elijah is modelled on the oratorios of these two Baroque masters; however, in its lyricism and use of orchestral and choral color the style clearly reflects Mendelssohn's own genius as an early Romantic composer.