The second part describes the creation of animate life on the earth. Beginning with birds, it enumerates the various classes, rising in the scale until the crowning glory of creation is reached in man. The opening aria, ‘On mighty pens’ (Gabriel), pictures the eagle, the lark, the dove and the nightingale, each bird being depicted in a characteristic musical phrase in the accompaniment. One of the most interesting numbers is the description of the roaring lions, with deep growls of the double bassoons, the ‘flexible tiger’ with rapid string passages, the alertness of the stag with a _presto_ movement, the neighing and prancing of the horse, the fluttering and buzzing of swarming insects in the air--in all of which the humor of Haydn is naïvely expressed in comical musical mimicry. The creation of man brings the beautiful tenor aria, ‘In native worth’ (Uriel). The final chorus is the superb fugue, ‘Achieved is the glorious work,’ in the midst of which is set a trio, ‘On Thee each living soul awaits,’ and, after a return to the fugue, closing with a Gloria and Hallelujah of singularly beautiful and majestic outlines. The third part opens with an orchestral introduction picturing the first morning of the completed creation, in which the flutes and horns contribute some beautiful effects. A tender dialogue between Adam and Eve is followed by a charming duet, ‘Graceful consort.’ The closing chorus, ‘Sing the Lord, ye voices all,’ opens in a strain of solemn majesty and gradually unfolds until it leads into a massive fugue, ‘Jehovah’s praise forever shall endure.’ It closes with a mighty pæan of praise, given by the combined chorus, solo voices and orchestra with telling effect. ‘The Seasons.’--Haydn’s last oratorio, ‘The Seasons,’ the words for which were based on Thomson’s poem of the same name and arranged by Baron von Swieten, was written between April, 1798, and April, 1801, and first presented at the Schwarzenberg Palace, Vienna, on April 24th, 1801. Three performances were given in close succession. This work can scarcely be called a real oratorio; it partakes more of the character and form of the sacred cantata, but is more frequently given the first named classification. The ‘Seasons’ represents a distinct decline in the composer’s powers, but it is not to be wondered at, for he was sixty-nine years old when it was completed, and during its composition was greatly harassed and irritated by the nonsensical demands and caprices of the librettist. The characters are Simon, a farmer; Jane, his daughter; and Lucas, a young countryman. These personages do not have any dramatic significance, though the work contains a love scene between Lucas and Jane. That the scene is laid in the country is easily imagined from the subject, and the chorus represents the country-folk.