the finale. All present are united in one feeling of sorrow and horror at the crime which has been committed, and the chorus has approached near enough to join in lamentation with the solo voices; the impression thus produced is dignified and beautiful in the extreme. Here we may perceive to what a height opera seria was capable of rising by a liberal development of its original elements; but unfortunately this movement is the only one of the kind in "Titus." A backward glance of comparison upon "Idomeneo"[56] results to the advantage of the earlier opera in many and important points. It is true that the conventional forms of the opera seria are there more strictly preserved, but a fresh vigorous effort is at the same time made to give them meaning and substance, and pass their narrow bounds wherever possible,. while in "Titus" the composer has been content to compromise the matter by preserving the semblance of form, but no more. Thus forms intended to be largely treated, such as the division into two movements, are often so lightly and vaguely treated as to lose all dramatic interest, and still more marked is the tendency of the tragic and serious conception of the opera to degenerate into mere pleasing gracefulness. The advantages of the later work in a freer and easier flow of melody, in a more mature and cultivated taste, were more than counterbalanced by the loss of depth and force of musical construction, a loss which is all the more perceptible from the grandeur of the background afforded by a subject taken from the Roman imperial age, which even in Metas-tasio's adaptation was not wholly obscured, and under happier circumstances would have sufficed to inspire Mozart to a nobler creation. The treatment of the orchestra is indicative of the whole tone of the opera, displaying occasionally the full splendour with which Mozart has endowed it, and raising and supporting the musical representation wherever it attains to dramatic significance, but for the most part not going beyond an easy accompaniment of the voices. {CRITICISMS ON "TITUS."} (301) In brilliancy and delicacy of orchestral treatment "Titus" can sustain no comparison with "Idomeneo," or even with "Cosi fan Tutte." Opinions on this opera were widely diverse. According to Niemetschek (p. 111) "Titus" ranks from an aesthetic and artistic point of view as Mozart's most perfect work:-- Mozart mentally grasped the simplicity, the quiet dignity of the character of Titus and of the whole plot, and embodied them in his composition. Every part, even the very moderate instrumental parts, bear this stamp, and combine into perfect unity.