Thomas Holm asks:

>>Is the original by Mendelssohn in German or English?

Steve Schwartz replies:

>German.  The English is a translation, or so I've been told.

Elijah was composed in 1845 at a request from the Birmingham Festival for
a new oratorio for the following summer.  Mendelssohn conducted the premier
in Birmingham on August 26, 1846.  The Times reported:  "The last note of
Elijah was drowned in a long continued unanimous volley of plaudits,
vociferous and deafening.  It was as though enthusiasm long checked had
burst its bonds and filled the air with shouts of exulatation...Never was
there a more complete triumph--never a more thorough and speedy recognition
of a great work of art."

The composition of the great work of art was in German, Mendelssohn's
native language, and the premier was in German.  However, despite the
praise he was dissatisfied with the work and undertook a thorough revision.
He conducted the revised version the following spring with six performances
in four cities during April 1847.

He turned to William Bartholomew for assistance with the revision.
Bartholomew had previously created English versions of other Mendelssohn
works including Saint Paul.

According to Nick Jones liner notes to the Robert Shaw version of Elijah
(from which this information is taken) they worked against the press of
time, not completing the final chorus until nine days before the first
performance.

Ed