MENDELSSOHN - ELIJAH OP 70 VOCAL SCORE

Felix Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah caused a sensation at its world premiere performance, sung in English, in Birmingham UK in August 1846. The huge forces marshalled for the occasion delighted the audience, who demanded no fewer than eight encores and loudly acclaimed the composer despite an injunction to observe the solemnity of the occasion by refraining from applause. Elijah has been an essential repertoire work for choral societies ever since.

Published on the 175th anniversary of that famous premiere, Edition Peters is proud to present a new English-language Urtext edition of the vocal score containing the original libretto by William Bartholomew. Edited and with a preface by the highly respected musicologist Klaus Burmeister, the edition also includes a foreword 'Mendelssohn and Birmingham' by Simon Halsey, one of the world's foremost choral directors (Chorus Director City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Choruses; Artistic Director, Orfeo Catala Choirs and Artis