The second part opens with a tenderly expressive strain which accompanies the narrator (tenor) as he tells of the return of the Peri to heaven’s gate with her gift. A short solo for the angel follows (‘Sweet is our welcome’), and the narrator describes the disappointment of the Peri. Without any break in the music the scene suddenly shifts to the banks of the Nile; the spirits of the river in a pianissimo chorus weave their dainty strains around the lament of the Peri (‘O Eden, how longeth for thee my heart’) which rises ever higher and higher. The narrator (tenor) describes at length the pestilence that afflicts Egypt’s land. The Peri weeps at the scene and a solo quartet in beautiful phrases sings the magic power of tears. From this point to the end of the second part there is an unbroken stream of exquisite melody, as the pathetic scene is unfolded of the faithful love of the maiden who gladly dies beside her plague-stricken lover. It contains two of Schumann’s finest lyric inspirations--the solo of the mezzo-soprano narrator (‘Poor youth, thus deserted’) and the deeply-moving love-song of the dying maiden (‘Oh, let me only breathe the air, love!’). The Peri sings a calm, sweet lament over the bodies of the lovers (‘Sleep on’), in which the chorus joins, and this beautiful part is brought to a reposeful close. A graceful chorus of houris (‘Wreathe ye the steps to great Allah’s throne’) opens the third part, in which chorus a pleasing canon for the first and second sopranos is given an important place. The narration is taken up by the tenor (‘Now morn is blushing in the sky’) in very melodious strain. The angel in a short solo again announces that the gift must be far holier. The Peri, full of anguish and disappointment but still not despairing, in a long aria (‘Rejected and sent from Eden’s door’) voices her determination to find the acceptable gift. The narrator, this time a baritone, sings a lengthy but graceful melody (‘And now o’er Syria’s rosy plain’), followed by a beautiful quartet of Peris (‘Say, is it so?’). The baritone resumes the narrative, and, after a short solo by the Peri, this is continued by a tenor who in a long and stirring song describes a scene in Baalbec’s valley--an innocent child playing amid the flowers, a weary, sin-stained horseman who pauses to drink from the near-by fountain. The alto narrator pictures the vesper call to prayer and the child’s instant response. The tenor dwells on the childhood memories aroused in ‘the man of sin’ at the sight. The horseman in a short but heartfelt strain (‘There was a time, thou blessed child’) is touched to repentance. A quartet and chorus (‘Oh, blessed tears of true repentance’) take up the theme in simple, full harmony. The Peri and the tenor narrator describe the scene as the man and the child kneel side by side in prayer. In the final number the Peri in exultant tones (‘Joy, joy forever! My work is done’) sings her happiness at