one by his
teaching, but also by his direction of the famous Lower Rhine festivals.
He also made many musical tours which increased his fame. In 1852-53 he
conducted opera in Paris; in 1870, gave a series of successful concerts
in St. Petersburg; and in 1871-72 visited England, where he produced his
works both in public concerts and festivals. His compositions are very
numerous, including among the most prominent, five operas, four
overtures, a festival march for the opening of the Albert Hall, the
Spring Symphony, the oratorios "Destruction of Jerusalem" and "Saul," and
the cantatas "Heloise," "Night," "Loreley," "O weint um Sie," "Ver
sacrum," "Nala and Damajanti," "Song of Victory," "Song of the Spirits
over the Water," "Prometheus," and "Rebecca." He has also enriched
musical literature with many important works, among them, "Aus dem
Tonleben unserer Zeit" (1867), "Personalisches und Musikalisches" (1876),
"Recollections of Mendelssohn" (1874), and "Letters to an Unknown"
(1877). He died in May, 1885.

Song of Victory.

The "Song of Victory," a cantata for soprano solo, chorus, and orchestra,
was first produced at the Cologne Festival of 1871, and was written to
celebrate the victorious conclusion of the Franco-German war of 1870. It
consists of eight numbers, all of which are sacred in character, though
their purpose is to express gratitude and joy over the triumph of the
German arms.

The opening number is a vigorous, jubilant chorus ("The Lord great
Wonders for us hath wrought"). It begins with a slow movement in massive
chords, gathering animation as it proceeds, and closing pianissimo on the
words, "There is none that searcheth or understandeth." The second number
is a soprano solo and chorus ("Praise, O Jerusalem, praise the Lord")
declamatory in style. The third ("The Heathen are fallen in the Pit") is
assigned to chorus, and is the most dramatic in the work, describing as
it does the terrors of war. In the fourth ("See, it is written in the
Book of the Righteous"), a short soprano solo, the melody is a tender
lament for the dead. The fifth ("He in Tears that soweth") is a soprano
solo with chorus of first and second sopranos and altos. In this number
lamentation gives way to hope and gladness, leading up to the last three
numbers,--the six-part chorus ("Mighty is our God"), full of effective
sustained harmony, and the soprano solos and choruses of praise and
hallelujah which