HISTORY OF MENDELSSOHN'S "ELIJAH."
But to resume the continuation of the letters : —
[Mendelssohn to Bartholomew.]
[Written in English.]
•'Leipzig, August g, 1846.
" My dear Sir, — I write these lines merely to tell you that I hope to see and speak to you on the 17th or leth, and to ask you to defer the printing of the ■ words of ' Elijah ' in the books till after my arrival if possible. Moscheles writes they want to print the books noit>, but I really think that a week beforehand is early enough. However, as I do not know how these things are managed in England, I beg that if it must he done before my arrival, you will introduce the following alterations :
" I. After the words of Elijah (the curse), and before the ist chorus, I should like to have in the books ' Introduction,' or * Overture,' or some word like this, to let people know that an Overture is coming before the chorus — for I have written one, and a long one.
" 2. The song ' Sei stille dem Herrn ' [' O rest in the Lord '] must be left out.
" 3. The second part of No. 41, * Er wird offnen die Augen der Blinden,' must also be left out; so that from the words * und der Furcht des Herrn ' [* and of the fear of the Lord '] it goes immediately to the quartett in B flat ' \\' ohlan, denn ' [* O come, every- one that thirsteth '] . Pray let the choral people at Birmingham know this directly ; it will spare them much time, as the Alia breve is not easy, and as I ( 72 )
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