chorus, solos and chorales serve for different functions. Frederick the Great somewhat humorously spoke of this work as ‘Graun’s best opera’ and there is considerable justification for the statement, especially when considered in connection with the two principal bass arias--one, which comes near the close, ‘Now suddenly by anguish long restrained,’ and the other, which is by far the highest dramatic point in the work, ‘Jerusalem, for slaughter thirsting.’ The latter is most effective, even judged by present-day standards, and has an elaborate accompaniment. This is followed by the chorus, ‘Christ unto us hath left an example,’ in double fugue, the vocal effects of which have made it successful in spite of the commonplace themes employed. This is so well-known that it is often sung by choirs as a separate composition. VI The law of compensation has seldom operated so magnificently to the advantage of a great artist defeated in a cherished life enterprise, as in the case of Handel. Rejoicing in the reputation of being one of the greatest opera composers of his time, he might easily have spent the whole productive period of his life in winning the applause of the pleasure-loving opera audiences who regarded the glitter and tinsel of Italian opera as the _summum bonum_ of artistic expression. Fortunately for Handel himself and for the art of music, he was compelled to give up his career as an opera composer and manager because of the jealousy of rivals, the cabals and intrigues of court-cliques and the financial embarrassments brought about by combinations of unpleasant circumstances. It was only after he was fifty years old that he began to write the works that have immortalized him. Several of his early oratorios--‘Esther’ (1718 and 1732), ‘Deborah’ (1733) and ‘Athaliah’ (1733)--had met with great success and popular approval, part of which was no doubt attributable to the unbounded admiration aroused by his performances on the organ between the parts of his oratorios. Practically driven from the operatic stage by adverse circumstances--and all of his operas are forgotten now--he eagerly turned to the more appreciative English oratorio audiences. It was this English love for the sacred drama that encouraged Handel to abandon stage composition (1741) and to give full expression to the deeper things of his rugged, independent, sincere nature through the highest forms of religious music. The result was the production of the stupendous series of oratorios on which his fame now almost wholly rests. ‘Saul’ and ‘Israel in Egypt’ were both performed in 1739, and in 1742 the immortal ‘Messiah’ was given to the world. The enthusiasm with which this great work was received stimulated him to renewed activity along the same line and after the ‘Messiah’ came ‘Samson’ and the ‘Dettingen Te Deum,’ performed in 1743; ‘Semele’ and ‘Joseph,’ performed in 1744; ‘Belshazzar’ and ‘Heracles’ in 1745; the ‘Occasional