kert's poem. It was
followed later by a requiem and a mass, these comprising his only sacred
music.

The "Advent Hymn" describes the entry of Christ into Jerusalem,
reflectively considers his peaceful career as compared with that of
earthly kings, and appeals to His servants to bear tidings of Him
throughout the world, closing with a prayer that He will bring His peace
to all its people. It is a hymn full of simple devotion and somewhat
narrow in its limitations; but Schumann has treated it with all the
dignity and breadth of the oratorio style. It opens with a melodious
soprano solo ("In lowly Guise thy King appeareth"), with choral responses
by sopranos and altos, leading to an effective five-part chorus ("O King
indeed, though no Man hail Thee"), begun by first and second tenors and
basses, and closing in full harmony with the added female voices. The
soprano voice again announces a subject ("Thy Servants faithful, Tidings
bearing"), which is taken up by full chorus, in somewhat involved form,
though closing in plain harmony. The third number ("When Thou the stormy
Sea art crossing") is given out by the soprano and repeated by the female
chorus with a charming pianissimo effect. A few bars for male chorus
("Lord of Grace and Truth unfailing") lead into full chorus. The fifth
number ("Need is there for Thyself returning"), also choral, is very
elaborately treated with interchanging harmonies and bold rhythms,
leading up to the final choruses, which are very intricate in
construction, but at the close resolve into a double chorus of great
power and genuine religious exaltation.

There are other works of Schumann's which are more or less in the cantata
form, such as "The King's Son," op. 116, set to a ballad of Uhland's;
"The New Year's Song," op. 144, poem by Rueckert; "The Luck of Edenhall,"
op. 143, poem by Uhland; "Of the Page and the King's Daughter," op. 140,
poem by Geibel; the "Spanish Love Song," op. 138; the "Minnespiel," op.
101; and the "Ritornelle," op. 65.

The Pilgrimage of the Rose.

"The Pilgrimage of the Rose," for solo and chorus, with piano
accompaniment, twenty-four numbers, was written in the spring of 1851,
and was first performed May 6, 1852, at a Duesseldorf subscription
concert. The story is taken from a somewhat vapid fairy-tale by Moritz
Horn, and has little point or meaning. It turns upon the commonplace
adventures of a young girl whose origin is disclosed by a r