This work was performed for the first time on April 13, 1742, at the Music Hall, Dublin, when Händel was on a visit to the Duke of Devonshire, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The rehearsals, at which many people were present by invitation, had aroused so much enthusiasm, that those who were interested in the charitable object for which it was given, requested "as a favor that the ladies who honor this performance with their presence would be pleased to come without hoops, as it would greatly increase the charity by making room for more company." Gentlemen also were requested to come without swords, for the same reason. It is said that at the first London performance, when the "Hallelujah Chorus" rang out, the King rose in his place and, followed by the entire audience, stood during the singing of the chorus, and that thus the custom, which still is observed, originated.
Following Händel, Haydn in 1798, when nearly seventy years old, wrote "The Creation," founded on passages from Milton's "Paradise Lost," and after it "The Seasons," for which Thomson's familiar poem supplied the text. In both of these there is much purely descriptive music, especially in the earlier oratorio, when the creation of various animals is related. In "The Creation," too, after the passages for muted strings, is the famous outburst of orchestra and chorus, "And there was light." Haydn was a far greater master of orchestration than Händel. He also was one of the early composers of the homophonic school, and there is a freer, more spontaneous flow of melody in his oratorios. But they undoubtedly lack the grandeur of Händel's.
Between Haydn and Mendelssohn, in the development of oratorio, nothing need be mentioned, excepting Beethoven's "Mount of Olives" and Spohr's "The Last Judgment" (Die Letzten Dinge). Mendelssohn, in his "St. Paul," followed the example of the old passionists, and introduced chorales, but in his greater oratorio, "Elijah," which is purely an Hebraic subject, he discarded these. The dramatic quality of "Elijah" is so apparent that it has been said more than once to be capable of stage representation with scenery, costumes and action. This is especially true of the prophet himself, whose personality is so definitely developed that he stands before us almost like a character behind the footlights. This dramatic value is felt at the very beginning, when, after four solemn chords on the brass, the work, instead of opening with an overture, is ushered in by _Elijah's_ prophecy of the drought. Then comes the overture, which is descriptive of the effects of the prophecy.