Oratorio credited with writing the first English language oratorio, "Esther". Handel's imitators included the Italian Lidarti who was employed by the Amsterdam Jewish community to compose a Hebrew version of "Esther". Britain continued to look to Germany for its composers of oratorio. The Birmingham Festival commissioned various oratorios including Felix Mendelssohn's "Elijah" in 1846, later performed in German as "Elias". German composer Georg Vierling is noted for modernizing the secular oratorio form. John Stainer's "The Crucifixion" (1887) became the stereotypical battlehorse of massed amateur choral societies. Edward Elgar tried to revive the genre around the turn of century with the composition
St. Elijah Cathedral, Haifa Akka was the church of the Virgin Mary in Haifa. After the Arab-Israeli war (between 1947-1949), most Melkites, who lived in the area, moved to the lower city of Haifa,and the bishop's chair was moved to the church St. Elijah (St. Elias). The front of the cathedral is crowned with a cross, which is a few meters away from a small bell tower. On the portal is the biblical story of the prophet Elijah. St. Elijah Cathedral, Haifa The St. Elijah Cathedral (, ) also called St. Elias Greek-Melkite Cathedral, is the name given to the Melkite cathedral in Haifa,