eful to excess, if there can
be excess in such matters, and it is their great good fortune to be the
interpreters of choruses written in this manner.

It is impossible to give an analysis of this vast work here. We have
already spoken of the charming interlude, _Les Bergers a la Creche_.
This pastoral is followed by _Marche des Rois Mages_, a pretty piece,
but a little overdeveloped for its intrinsic worth. The vocal parts,
_Beatitudes_ and _Le Pater Noster_, would be more suitable in a church
than in a concert hall. Then come some most brilliant pages, _La Tempete
sur le lac de Thiberiade_, and _Le Mont des Oliviers_, with its baritone
solo, and finally, the _Stabat Mater_, where great beauties are combined
with terrible length. But nothing in the whole work impressed me more
than Christ's entrance to Jerusalem (orchestra, chorus, and soloist) for
the reading alone gives no idea of it. Here the author reached the
heights. That also describes the delightful effect of the children's
chorus singing in the distance _O Filii et Filiae_, harmonised with
perfect taste.

While I listened to this beautiful work, I could not help thinking of
the great oratorios which crowned Gounod's musical career so gloriously.
Liszt and Gounod differed entirely in their musical temperaments, yet in
their oratorios they met on common ground. In both there was the same
drawing away from the old forms of oratorio, the same search for realism
in the expression of the text in music, the same respect for Latin
prosody, and the same belief in simplicity of style. But while there is
renunciation in the simplicity of Liszt, who threw aside worldly finery
to wear the frock of a penitent, on the contrary Gounod appears to
return to his original bent with an almost holy joy. This is easily
explained. Liszt finished his life in a cassock, while Gounod began his
in one. So, despite Liszt's superior refinement, and putting aside
exceptional achievements, in this branch of art Gounod was the victor.
As there is an _odor di femina_ there is a _parfum d'eglise_, well known
to Catholics. Gounod's oratorios are impregnated with this, while it is
found in _Christus_ very, very feebly, if at all. The _Missa Solemnis_
must be examined to find it to any extent in Liszt's work.

All the necessary elements were combined at Heidelberg to produce a
magnificent production of Faust and Dante. The orchestra of more than
one hundred musicians was perfect. The period when