_Frithjof_, for baritone and mezzo-soprano solo voices, male chorus and orchestra, is one of his finest productions and was his first work to achieve a signal success. It was written at Mannheim in 1863, when he was only twenty-five years old, and the extraordinary favor with which it was received caused this masterwork of the youthful composer to become the prototype of a numerous group of dramatic cantatas for male voices that followed in its wake. The text comprises six scenes taken from Bishop Tegner’s far-famed _Frithjofsaga_. A lively orchestral introduction, entitled ‘Frithjof’s Return,’ leads to a beautiful baritone aria, ‘How bravely o’er the floods so bright,’ accompanied by an attractive chorus, ‘O ‘tis delight when the land afar appeareth.’ The second scene depicts Princess Ingeborg, whom Frithjof has come home to wed, being led to the altar by King Ring, the result of a plot by Ingeborg’s brothers against Frithjof. A brief wedding march is followed by the bridal chorus, ‘Sadly the skald walks before the train,’ and Ingeborg’s lament, ‘My heart with sorrow overflowing.’ The next scene, ‘Frithjof’s Revenge,’ intensely dramatic both in the vocal score and the rich instrumentation, opens with a chorus of priests, ‘Midnight sun on the mountain burns,’ in the midst of which is heard Frithjof’s cry, ‘Go to Hela’s dark abode,’ and after it his rugged aria, ‘Where my father rests.’ As he sings this, he fires the temple and flees to his ship, amid the dramatic and descriptive cries of the people and Frithjof’s followers, and the curses of the priests. This chorus is a work of great tonal beauty, portraying vividly the dramatic action of the text. The fourth number, entitled ‘Frithjof’s Departure from the Northland,’ opens with a male quartet of exceptional charm, followed by Frithjof’s powerful solo, ‘World’s grandest region, thou mighty North!’ In the fifth scene occurs ‘Ingeborg’s Lament,’ a sorrowful and pathetic heart-cry to her lost lover, ‘Storms wildly roar,’ after which comes the finale, a spirited chorus sung by Frithjof and his men as they sail away in the good ship ‘Ellida’ in quest of further adventures.