Handel wrote seventeen works that can be classed as oratorios. The first of these was “Esther,” in 1720, revised and brought out anew in 1732. In 1733 “Deborah,” perhaps best-known for a powerful double chorus, was offered to the public; “Athaliah” in the same year. In 1739 came “Saul” and “Israel in Egypt,” the former best-known today for its famous “Dead March,” the latter for the music descriptive of the plagues. In 1741, he wrote his greatest oratorio “The Messiah,” which was first performed publicly, April 13, 1742, in Dublin. In this we find a certain reflective character which recalls the Passion music of the German school. The only other oratorio which is still given in anything like entirety is “Judas Maccabæus” (1747); other works from which certain portions are still in use are “Samson” (1743), “Solomon” (1749), “Theodora” (1750), a work which Handel considered his best, and “Jephtha” (1752). Great as was Handel’s fame in England, the character of his works and the forms he used made little or no impression upon German and Italian composers. =Johann Adolph Hasse= (1699-1783), =Niccolo Porpora= (1686-1767), =Antonio Sacchini= (1734-1786), =Giovanni Paisiello= (1741-1816), =Niccolo Jommelli= (1714-1774) and =Pietro Guglielmi= (1727-1804) wrote in the Italian style, and their works are, properly speaking, concert oratorios, scarcely distinguishable from the opera save by the text. =Franz Joseph Haydn=.—The next name of importance is that of Haydn (1732-1809), who wrote “The Creation” and “The Seasons” toward the end of a long life, after his work as a composer had given him a command of musical resources excelled only by Beethoven, who did not equal him in skill in writing effectively and suitably for voices. It was in 1798 that “The Creation” was first given in Vienna. The score abounds in effective writing for the solo voices, in the florid style and in the conventional aria form, and in brilliant choruses which, however, cannot compare in dignity and breadth with those of Handel. The orchestral accompaniments are much more elaborate than those used by Handel, as can naturally be expected from a composer who had given his greatest efforts to the development of instrumental music. “The Seasons” was first performed in Vienna in 1801. It proved as successful as “The Creation.” Haydn’s simple, genial nature is apparent in this beautiful work, really too light to bear the name of oratorio, which has such close association with works of a deep, religious character.