The two other choruses are prayers connected with solos. The first (4) is very simple. Ozia sings a melodious, beautifully conceived cantilene, full of feeling, which is accompanied by the violins pizzicato, and the chorus ends with a repetition of the two last lines. The second verse, with a change of composition, preserves the same character; after which the first is repeated, and leads with effective climax to a full close. The last chorus is more grandly conceived. Judith answers the thanksgiving of the chorus in two strophes descriptive of the victory, and then the chorus falls in again; this is repeated three times, and a moral reflection follows as a closing chorus. Mozart has chosen an ancient church melody for the refrain of the chorus:--[See Page Image] The melody is four-part, the partially varied harmony dignified and powerful, and interesting in its simplicity; the voices are well treated and animated. At the fourth {"BETULIA"--COMPARISON WITH HASSE.} (201) repetition Mozart has assigned the Cantus firmus, somewhat altered in the second part, to the tenor voice:--[See Page Image] Thence he passes to the closing chorus. The solo part of Judith, simple, dignified, and earnest, resembles a regular song; but the declamatory is more prominent than the melodious element. Although somewhat overpowered by the chorus, the character of Judith is here most significantly expressed. Whenever Mozart allows himself free play, he exhibits originality, truth, and earnestness. The closing chorus is lively and brilliant, but kept in moderation, and its character is not without strength and dignity. That this conception of the oratorio was not peculiar to Mozart, but was the then commonly received one, is plain from a comparison of this with other contemporary oratorios--with those, for instance, by Hasse, which are reckoned among his most important works. Whoever should form, on the strength of the eulogies pronounced by Hiller on the oratorio "Sant-Elena al Calvario,"[17] a conception of this {ORATORIO.} (202) and similar pieces founded on our present ideas of sacred music, would find himself much deceived. Here, as in all Hasse's oratorios, the art of the vocalist is the determining element, and the expression of emotion coincides in essentials with that of the opera. The differences in Mozart's oratorio are unimportant, and are founded on variations in the taste of the time and of the composer.