Elijah (oratorio) Elijah (oratorio) Elijah (), Op. 70, MWV A 25, is an oratorio written by Felix Mendelssohn. It premiered in 1846 at the Birmingham Festival. It depicts events in the life of the Biblical prophet Elijah, taken from the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings of the Old Testament. This piece was composed in the spirit of Mendelssohn's Baroque predecessors Bach and Handel, whose music he loved. In 1829 Mendelssohn had organized the first performance of Bach's "St Matthew Passion" since the composer's death and was instrumental in bringing this and other Bach works to widespread popularity. By contrast, Handel's oratorios
Norfolk and Norwich Festival of earlier musical fundraisers for the hospital dating back as far as 1772 including the annual performance of an oratorio at Norwich Cathedral. In its early days, the festival was mainly held in St. Andrew's Hall and St Peter Mancroft. These events consisted primarily of oratorios and other large scale choral works performed by the Norwich Festival Chorus, then 300 strong. Noted premieres from this time included "The Last Judgement" by the German Romantic composer and conductor Louis Spohr. The triennial festival continued to develop a reputation throughout the Victorian and Edwardian period, and saw the premieres of significant classical