My thanks are specially due to Miss Mounsey (formerly Miss Elizabeth Mounsey), without whose invaluable co-operation it would have been impossible for me to write this "History" with any approach to completeness. Miss Mounsey enabled me to acquire, three years ago, the originals of fourteen letters on the subject of the English translation of "Elijah," written by Mendelssohn to her brother-in-law, the late Mr. William Bartholomew. She subsequently placed in my possession a collection of MS. copies, parts, &c., of the oratorio, which were made for the production of the work at Birmingham, in 1846. These sheets, with the exception of some engraved chorus parts, are all in Mr. Bartholomew's handwriting, but they also contain several alterations written by Mendelssohn himself. Some of them possess additional interest from the fact that they are the actual copies from which the soloists sang at the first performance. Not only am I greatly indebted to my good friend Miss Mounsey for these manuscripts and a copy of the original word-book of 1846, but also for her encouragement and the kindly interest she has taken in this "History," from the time I first mentioned it to her to that of its completion. My last word is one of gratitude to Sir George Grove for his kindness in contributing an Introduction. F.G.E. HAMPSTEAD, _February_, 1896. CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER I. THE LIBRETTO 1 CHAPTER II. BIRMINGHAM 28 CHAPTER III. THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION 48 CHAPTER IV. THE FIRST PERFORMANCE 76 CHAPTER V. THE REVISED ORATORIO 97 INDEX 135 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE PORTRAIT OF MENDELSSOHN _Frontispiece._ PORTRAIT OF MR. JOSEPH MOORE 30 PORTRAIT OF MR. WM. BARTHOLOMEW 48 PORTRAIT OF MADAME CARADORI-ALLAN 88 PORTRAIT OF HERR JOSEPH STAUDIGL 96 FAC-SIMILE OF MENDELSSOHN'S METRONOMIC TIMES FOR "ELIJAH" 125 FAC-SIMILE OF A LETTER FROM MENDELSSOHN TO WM. BARTHOLOMEW 142 THE HISTORY OF MENDELSSOHN'S "ELIJAH." CHAPTER I. THE LIBRETTO.