in the first act of _Saul_, and dominating all, like great pictures, certain of the choruses in _Israel in Egypt_, in _Esther_, and in _Joshua_, and in the _Chandos Anthems_, which seem veritable tempests of passion, great upheavals of overpowering effect? It is by these choruses that the oratorio is essentially distinguished from the opera. It is in the first place a choral tragedy. These choruses, which are nearly eliminated in Italian Opera during the time of the Barberini, held a very important place in French Opera, but their _rôle_ was limited to that of commentator or else merely decorative. In the oratorio of Handel they became the very life and soul of the work. Sometimes they took the part of the ancient classical chorus, which exposed the thought of the drama when the hidden fates led on the heroes to their destinies--as in _Saul_, _Hercules_, _Alexander Balus_, _Susanna_. Sometimes they added to the shock of human passions the powerful appeal of religion, and crowned the human drama with a supernatural aureole, as in _Theodora_ and _Jephtha_. Or finally they became the actual actors themselves, or the enemy-people and the God who guided them. It is remarkable that in his very first oratorio _Esther_, Handel had this stroke of genius. In the choruses there we see the drama of an oppressed people and their God who led them by his voice superbly depicted. In _Deborah_ and _Athaliah_ also, two nations are in evidence. In _Belshazzar_ there are three, but in his chief work of this kind, _Israel in Egypt_, the greatest choral epic which exists, is entirely occupied by Jehovah and His people. The choruses are in the most diverse styles. Some are in the church style, and a little antiquated;[330] others tend towards the opera--even the _opéra bouffe_;[331] some exhale the perfume of the madrigals at the end of the sixteenth century,[332] and the Academy of Ancient Music in London sought to sustain this art in honour. On the other hand, Handel has frequently used them in the form of a chorale, simple or varied,[333] above all, he employs the choral double fugue in a most astounding manner,[334] and he carries everything on with that impetuosity of genius which drew to him the admiration of the sternest critics of his time, such as Mattheson. His instinct as a great constructor loved to alternate homophonic music with fugal choruses,[335] the massive columns of musical harmony with the moving contrapuntal in superimposed strata, very cleverly framing his dramatic choruses in a most imposing architecture of decorative and impersonal character. His choruses are sometimes tragic scenes,[336] or comedy (see the _Vaudeville_),[337] sometimes _genre_ pictures.[338] Handel knew most admirably how to weave in popular motives,[339] or to mingle the dance with the song.[340]