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Donald Macleod explores Mendelssohn’s final visits to Britain and the work that crowned his reputation, the oratorio Elijah, written for the Birmingham Festival.

Mendelssohn’s relationship with Britain began when he was 20 years old, when London became the first stop of his Grand Tour. This week Donald Macleod explores the composer's experiences in Britain, considering the mark he left on musical life in these islands, the works he wrote here, and what he got up to in the course of the ten visits he made across his lifetime. Mendelssohn took inspiration from the scenery, but he also got his first professional engagements in Britain, and in return, by the end of his life, Britain lionized him.

In his later years Mendelssohn developed a relationship, possibly romantic, with the Swedish soprano Jenny Lind, and the work which dominated his final years, Elijah, was written with her voice in mind. Elijah came to be seen, particularly in Britain, as his masterpiece and it was enthusiastically embraced by choral societies with a fervour second only to Messiah.

6 Songs Op 99 No 5
Barbara Bonney, soprano
Geoffrey Parsons, piano

Elijah (Excerpt Part 1)
Bryn Terfel, baritone
Patricia Bardon, mezzo-soprano
John Mark Ainsley, tenor
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Edinburgh Festival Chorus
Paul Daniel, conductor

Octet in E flat major (Mvt 1)
Emerson Quartet

String Quartet No 6 in F minor (Mvt 3)
Doric String Quartet

Elijah (Excerpt Part 2)
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Edinburgh Festival Chorus
Paul Daniel, conductor

Produced by Megan Jones for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Audio Wales