es, was first
brought out in Vienna in 1805; his oratorio, "Christ on the Mount of
Olives," in 1812; and his colossal Ninth Symphony, with its choral
setting of Schiller's "Ode to Joy," in 1824. In addition to his
symphonies, his opera, oratorios, and masses, and the immortal group
of sonatas for the piano, which were almost revelations in music, he
developed chamber music to an extent far beyond that reached by his
predecessors, Haydn and Mozart. His symphonies exhibit surprising
power, and a marvellous comprehension of the deeper feelings in life
and the influences of nature, both human and physical. He wrote with
the deepest earnestness, alike in the passion and the calm of his
music, and he invested it also with a genial humor as well as with the
highest expression of pathos. His works are epic in character. He was
the great tone-poet of music. His subjects were always lofty and
dignified, and to their treatment he brought not only a profound
knowledge of musical technicality, but intense sympathy with the
innermost feelings of human nature, for he was a humanitarian in the
broadest sense. By the common consent of the musical world he stands
at the head of all composers, and has always been their guide and
inspiration. He died March 26, 1827, in the midst of a raging thunder
storm, one of his latest utterances being a recognition of the "divine
spark" in Schubert's music.

FIDELIO.

"Fidelio, oder die eheliche Liebe" ("Fidelio, or Conjugal Love"),
grand opera in two acts, words by Sonnleithner, translated freely from
Bouilly's "Leonore, ou l'Amour Conjugal," was first produced at the
Theatre An der Wien, Vienna, Nov. 20, 1805, the work at that time
being in three acts. A translation of the original programme of that
performance, with the exception of the usual price of admissions, is
appended:--

Imperial and Royal Theatre An der Wien.
New Opera.
To-day, Wednesday, 20 November, 1805, at the Imperial and Royal
Theatre An der Wien, will be given for the first time.
FIDELIO;
Or, Conjugal Love.
Opera in three acts, translated freely from the French text by
JOSEPH SONNLEITHNER.
The music is by LUDWIG VON BEETHOVEN.

_Dramatis Personae_.

_Don Fernando_, Minister Herr Weinkoff.
_Don Pizarro_, Governor o