News and Information

Elijah2

Our Mendelssohn Elijah presentation (Sanctuary Choir and orchestra, Saturday, February 25) is now available on YouTube.

Also, a CD recording is now available for $5.00.  To purchase your copy, please see Rhonda, Janet, or Kelly on weekdays, or Peggy Bettcher on Sundays following any worship service.

The 60-voice choir was joined by a 30-piece orchestra comprised of area musicians, including those from Liberty University and the Lynchburg Symphony. 

Professional soloists were James Wood (Elijah), Adelaide Trombetta (soprano), Brian Thorsett (tenor), and Cecelia McKinley (alto).  

An oratorio is a large-scale musical work for orchestra and voices, typically a narrative on a religious theme, and performed without the use of costumes, scenery, or action in order that the Biblical text might predominate. Mendelssohn was intrigued about the personage of Elijah, and in 1845-46 composed this work for the Birmingham Festival in London.  Mendelssohn was moved by the drama of the narrative, the atmosphere of the conflicting religions, and the powerfully vivid character of the protagonist.  He felt that the dramatic element should predominate, as he thought it should in all Old Testament subjects.  Part One contains much of the dramatic action as Elijah performs great deeds and miracles.  Part Two focuses more on Elijah’s inner struggles, his fears, frustrations, and his disappointments.