HISTORY OF ME^IDELSSOH>:'S "ELIJAH."
��it would be better to have no chorales at the begin- ning. . . . The overture, picturing a famine, must represent a period of three years. . . ."
Upon the words " Hear the prayer and petition of Thy servant, O Lord," Schubring remarks : " Here it would be well to have a reference to God's own promise that He will answer prayer. (Daniel ix., i8 ; Psalm XXV., 6; Isaiah liv., lo, 7). Then the chorale — * Out of the depths I cry to Thee ' (Aus tiefer Noth), verses i and 4, increasing in intensity. Pray do not reject this suggestion. There are plenty of praying people who heartily endorse the petition of Elijah."
Schubring's continued interest in the oratorio is shown in the following letter : —
[Schubring to Mendelssohn.]
" Dessau, February 3, 1846.=
- ... I am curious to know how you are
getting on with ' Elijah.' I must confess that I am getting more and more interested in it, and greatly look forward to it. Be sure and keep well at it. If some things in the text do not please you, they will come right in their proper time."
In May (1846), only three months before the ora- torio was performed at Birmingham, Mendelssohn again sought the aid of Schubring. He wrote : —
" Leipzig, May 23, 1846.! " Dear Schubring, — Once more I must trouble you about ' Elijah ' ; I hope it is for the last time, and I also hope that you will at some future day derive
• " Briufwechsel," p. 219. t /'"'/•. P -19-
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