the hurlyburly is exceedingly beautiful, and the
accompaniments, particularly those of the fire-scene, are very vivid.
Nimrod's order to resume work on the tower is followed by the angelic
strain, "Come on! let us down to Earth now hasten." Once more the
Builders break out in their barbaric chorus, "To work," followed by the
portentous outburst of the People, "How the Face of Heaven is
o'ershadowed!" In a vigorous solo Abraham replies, "No! 'tis not Vapor
nor Storm-clouds that gather." There is a final controversy between
Abraham and Nimrod, and as the latter orders the patriarch to be thrown
from the tower, the storm breaks, and amid the shrieks of the chorus
("Horror! horror") and the tremendous clangor of organ and orchestra on
the theme already developed in the opening, the tower is destroyed.

The tumultuous scene is followed by Nimrod's lament ("The Tower whose
lofty Height was like my State"), a bass aria of great power, and
reaching a splendid climax. Abraham, in an exultant strain ("The Lord is
strong in Might"), proclaims God's purpose to scatter the people. The
most picturesque scene in the work now occurs,--the dispersal of the
Shemites, Hamites, and Japthides, typified by orchestral marches and
choruses of a barbaric cast. The stage directions at this point indicate
that the three choruses "must be sung behind the scenes, while dissolving
views present to the audience the emigration of the three great human
races,"--an effect which is also made in the last act of Goldmark's
"Queen of Sheba." The first chorus, that of the Shemites, which is sung
in unison, is taken from some of the ancient music in the ritual of the
Jewish Synagogue, that used on the eve of the Day of Atonement. The other
two choruses are also Oriental in color and rhythm, and give a very
striking effect to this part of the work. The chorus of Angels ("Thus by
Almighty Power of God") proclaims the completion of the work, and two
long solos by Abraham and Nimrod lead up to the final choruses of the
Angels, People, and Demons, worked up in very powerful style, and in the
finale uniting the themes which originally introduced the chorus of the
People and the Angels, and the subject of the darkness in the overture.
The tableau is thus described in the stage directions: "The stage is
divided into three horizontal compartments. In the middle is the earth;
in the upper is the throne of the Almighty, surrounded by all the
heavenly powers; in the lower