the Saviour's coming, which is interrupted by His presence
and invocation of blessing. After a duet between Jesus and Mary, in which
He commends her to the Good Shepherd, the act closes with a powerful and
very dramatic finale containing Jesus' rebuke to Judas and His
declaration of the coming betrayal, after which the Disciples join in a
simple but very effective prayer ("Notre Pere, loue soit Nom radieux").

The third act is divided into two tableaux. In the first we have the
scene of the crucifixion, the agitated choruses of the groups about the
Cross, the mocking strains of the Pharisees bidding Him descend if He is
the Master, the sorrowing song of Mary ("O Bien-aime sous la sombre
Couronne"), and the final tragedy. The second is devoted to the
resurrection and apparition, which are treated very dramatically, closing
with an exultant Easter hymn ("Christ est vivant, ressuscite").

In the first two acts the music is full of rich Oriental color and is
gracefully melodious and well adapted to the situation; but in the last
act the awful solemnity of the tragedy is somewhat lost in the theatrical
manner of its treatment. Indeed it was hardly necessary that the composer
should have disclaimed the title of oratorio which some have assigned to
the work. His division of it into acts and tableaux was sufficient to
indicate that he had the stage in mind when he was writing; or at least
that his scheme was operatic in style.

MENDELSSOHN.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, the son of a Berlin banker, was born at
Hamburg, Feb. 3, 1809, and, unlike almost all other composers, was reared
in the lap of luxury. He enjoyed every advantage which wealth could
procure, with the result that he became highly educated in the other arts
as well as in music. His teachers in music were Zelter and Ludwig Berger,
and he made such progress that in his ninth year he appeared in public as
a pianist in Berlin and afterwards in Paris. The first of his
compositions to attract general notice were the overture to Shakspeare's
"Midsummer Night's Dream" and the little opera "The Marriage of Camacho,"
which were brought out in Berlin in 1827. After several concert-tours, in
which he met with great success, he resided for some time in Duesseldorf.
In 1835 he went to Leipsic as director of the famous Gewandhaus
concerts,--which are still given in that city. Two years later he married
Cecile Jeanrenaud, the beautiful daug