, hell, Satan seated on his throne,
surrounded by all the infernal deities."

Paradise Lost.

The oratorio "Paradise Lost" was first produced in Vienna in 1859 by the
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, a choral organization conducted by
Rubinstein during his stay in that city. Like "The Tower of Babel," it is
entitled by the composer "a sacred opera," though it is in genuine
oratorio form, and usually classed as such. The text is a very free
transcription from Milton. The work is divided into three parts; but as
the second is usually the only part given by oratorio societies, our
sketch will be principally confined to that. The first part mainly
concerns the defeat of Satan's forces by the legions of Heaven, and is
remarkable for its vigorous instrumental treatment.

The second part is devoted to the creation, and is composed principally
of choruses introduced by a few bars of recitative, invariably for the
tenor, who acts the part of narrator. The first seven of these describe
the creation of the earth. After a characteristic introduction, the tenor
declares "Chaos, be ended!" whereupon the Angels sing a glowing tribute
to light ("Upspringing, the darkened Air broke forth into radiant
Brightness"). Again the tenor and chorus in a brief number describe the
firmament. The third chorus ("Fierce raged the Billows") pictures the
division of land and water with great vigor, accompanied by imitative
instrumentation which indicates Rubinstein's skill as a water-painter
quite as clearly as his great Ocean Symphony. In the fourth and fifth
choruses the music vividly tells the story of the creation of the trees
and plants and the appearance of the stars in the firmament. The sixth
("Gently beaming, softly streaming"), in which the Angels rejoice in the
soft radiance of the moon, is short, but exceedingly tender and
beautiful. In the seventh ("All around rose the Sound of the Strife of
Life"), we have a description of the awakening of life characterized by
extraordinary descriptive power. This group of choruses, each one
thoroughly fresh, original, and picturesque in its description, brings us
up to the creation of man, which is the finest portion of the whole
work. It begins with a long tenor recitative, "In all her Majesty shines
on high the Heaven," reaching a fine crescendo at the close ("And lo! it
was Man"). The Angels reply with their heavenly greeting, "Hail to Thee,
O Man." A short di