LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Felix Mendelssohn: Life
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According to a contemporary review, Mendelssohn turned music “into a grand sacred service”. Elijah is a biblical figure, and consequently the libretto is composed entirely from biblical texts. The oratorio lacks a continuous plot. Rather, important excerpts from the life of the prophet are strung together like snapshots, some of which are highly dramatic.
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Throughout his life Mendelssohn was wary of the more radical musical developments undertaken by some of his contemporaries. He was generally on friendly, if somewhat cool, terms with the likes of Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, and Giacomo Meyerbeer, but in his letters expresses his frank disapproval of their works.
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Mendelssohn toured, guest conducted and composed incessantly, and participated in endless rounds of social engagements and chamber music soirées. On March 28, 1837 he took on the additional responsibilities of family life when he married Charlotte Jeanrenaud.
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Besides being fluent in his native German and ... Latin, Mendelssohn spoke English. It was in the latter language that he set his oratorio Elijah, a work about the life of the Old Testament prophet by the same name.
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