POSTPONED - Mendelssohn’s oratorios in the W.T. Freemantle Collection

Join Dr Bryan White for an exploration of Mendelssohn's work, drawing upon the musical collections of W.T. Freemantle.

Felix Mendelssohn’s oratorios helped to establish his international reputation as a composer. Oratorios are large-scale, narrative musical works for orchestra, soloists and choir. Discover their performance history and how two of his oratorios, “St Paul” and “Elijah”, were received in England.

This talk uses items collected by W.T. Freemantle, who was a Sheffield organist and music collector. His collection is now part of the Brotherton Collection at the University of Leeds.

Key items in the collection include a handwritten score of “St Paul”. There is also a programme from the 1837 Birmingham Festival, where Mendelssohn conducted “St Paul” for the first time in England. These and other items show how much his music fascinated English music lovers of the nineteenth century.