Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

Sacred Vocal Works 11D: Elijah Op. 70 MWV A 25

The Critical Report on the Oratorio "Elijah" concludes the five-volume edition on this major work by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. It presents - for once in the form of a volume separate from the musical editions - the summary of all editorial commentaries belonging in particular to the early versions (Volume V/11A) and the final version (Volume V/11) of "Elijah" that appeared in print. With the edition of the piano reduction (Volume V/11B) and the volume with sketches and discarded versions (Volume V/11C), the Critical Report intertwines in other ways: Since an independent, self-contained commentary could certainly be realized for the former, the present complete report contains only the relevant source overviews and descriptions once again, but not source evaluation and text-critical notes. The volume of sketches and discarded versions, on the other hand, in which a sorting and commentary of all musical documents that the composer had not intended for the public - including in particular the testimonies of the reworking to the final version of the work - has been undertaken, functions not least as a supplement and practical illustration of the verbal explanations contained in the Critical Report. Thus, the Critical Report, as volume V/11D of the edition, is intended to bundle, systematize, and provide a final commentary on the documents that have survived in connection with the "Elijah," which generally include not only the musical documents, but also all written documents - libretto drafts, correspondence, sources on (English) reception - that are reproduced specifically in this volume. The Critical Report on "Elijah" contains the presentation and evaluation of a total of six collective and nearly 260 individual sources, including no less than 20 libretto drafts written by Mendelssohn himself or with his participation. An essential component is also a detailed chronology of the creation of the work. Mendelssohn's creative preoccupation with his second oratorio spanned a period of twelve years, which was also unusually long for him, i.e. almost a third of his life.