Ex. 1-5: O Rest in the lord

No. 31 from Part II of Mendelssohn's oratorio "Elijah" (Op. 70, 1846), conducted by Mendelssohn himself at the Birmingham Music Festival — one year before his death at age 38.

In the Bible, the prophet Elijah runs away into the desert after Queen Jezebel tries to kill him. An angel appears and sings this aria to comfort him: "O rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him."

Mendelssohn nearly cut the aria, because its melody was close to the Scottish song "Auld Robin Gray." His English translator, William Bartholomew, and other friends persuaded him to keep it, and he changed one note. At the first performance it was one of the numbers that the audience asked to hear again, and it became one of the best-loved arias in the oratorio.

Track 12 from the album Songs for Sunday Worship by The Festival Choir and Hosanna Chorus (2013)
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