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. Paul Catholic Church (Highland, Illinois) the Highland, Illinois community is primarily Swiss and German heritage. Events at the Kirchenfest: St. Paul Catholic Church (Highland, Illinois) St. Paul Church is a Roman Catholic parish with an elementary school in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois located in Highland, Illinois. The Kirchenfest, a church picnic held each year, is one of the largest church festivals in Southern Illinois. Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and Sunday at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. Kirchenfest, which is German for "Church Festival," is one of the largest church festivals in Southern Illinois. The event spreads over six acres on the grounds of St.