Immediately after completing “St. Paul” in 1836, Mendelssohn mulled over the idea of composing a further oratorio. However a whole decade elapsed before the composition of “Elijah” which takes as its theme the story of the Biblical prophet from the 1st Book of Kings. When he received the invitation to write a major work for the Birmingham Music Festival, Mendelssohn finally embarked on work on the oratorio. “Elijah” was premiered in 1846 in Birmingham with great success and has enjoyed great pop...