Soon afterwards Caractacus and his family are betrayed to the enemy and scene five, which is short, relates the embarking of the British captives in Roman galleys. The final scene is the triumphal procession in Rome, beginning with a pompous orchestral march followed by full chorus and dramatic solos by the captives--Caractacus, Eigen and Orbin. Their bold independence and intrepid defense before the tribunal of the emperor, Claudius, win pardon and an honored home in Rome. The subject is one that might well appeal to a British composer, and Elgar, with magnificent effect, seizes the opportunity to add a stirring epilogue--‘The clang of arms is over’--which unfolds, as it develops, some pages of patriotic sentiment (‘Britons, alert!’) that are thrilling in their majestic power. VIII Musical history has often been called upon to record the fact that a gifted composer’s firstling has been his best. In the case of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) his creative imagination never again reached such fine heights of inspired effort as those attained in its first flight. His greatest work is undoubtedly the cantata, ‘Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast’--the first of the ‘Hiawatha’ trilogy--performed November 11, 1898, at the Royal College of Music, London, while the composer was still a student at this institution. The second part of the trilogy, ‘The Death of Minnehaha,’ was brought out in 1899 at the North Staffordshire Festival, and the third, ‘Hiawatha’s Departure,’ made its first public appearance at a concert of the Royal Choral Society, at Albert Hall, March 22, 1900. Two months later the overture to the entire work received its initial performance. The text for the whole trilogy is selected from Longfellow’s familiar ‘The Song of Hiawatha.’ This poem, which handles with childlike simplicity and directness the emotions and experiences of a primitive race, seems to have struck deep into the soul of this Anglo-African composer and he has imbued the score, especially of the first part, with an atmosphere of individuality possessed by none of its successors. He touched a new vein here which he was not able to inject with equal success into his other works. The score abounds in concise, characteristic and striking themes, many of which are treated in the manner of ‘leading-motives.’ ‘Scenes from the Song of Hiawatha.’--The first part of the trilogy is ‘Hiawatha’s Wedding-Feast,’ for tenor solo, chorus and orchestra. ‘Sumptuous was the feast Nakomis made at Hiawatha’s wedding’ and the detailed description includes not only the banquet itself but the entertainment which followed, how Pau-Puk-Keewis danced, ‘How the gentle Chibiabos, He the sweetest of musicians, Sang his songs of love and longing; How Iagoo, the great boaster, Told his tales of strange adventure.’ Chibiabos’ song, the beautiful tenor solo, ‘Onaway, awake, beloved!’ is one of the gems of the whole trilogy.