without doubt greatly aided by the favorable condition of the popular religious thought, as well as by the great acceleration in the interest in choral singing that had resulted from the immense popularity of Haydn’s ‘Creation’ in Germany. The appeal of this oratorio (‘Creation’) was doubly strong on account of its simplicity of conception and musical expression, so that in all directions choral societies were formed for the express purpose of producing it. A wide demand for choral works was created, but nothing of permanent value came in response until Mendelssohn’s ‘St. Paul.’ On the whole Mendelssohn’s oratorio-arias suffer from a lack of forcefulness due to the remarkable ease with which he invented sensuously charming melodies, so that many of them lack depth; but in choral writing his extraordinary architectonic skill led him firmly to a style which carries him close to the height where Handel dwelt. ‘St. Paul’ was the first of Mendelssohn’s great oratorios. It was written at the request of the Cecilia Society of Frankfort-on-the-Main--begun in Düsseldorf and completed at Leipzig, when the composer was in his twenty-sixth year. The text was written by the composer with the assistance of his friends Fürst and Schubring, after A. B. Marx had declined to write it on the ground that the introduction of chorales would be unsuited to the period of the narrative. The work is developed from three main themes--the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the conversion of St. Paul and the latter’s career after this event. Lampadius calls the work ‘the glorification of Christianity with its humility, its joy in living and dying for the Lord, in contrast to the blind self-righteousness of Judaism and the more sensuous morality of the heathen schools. It is the contrast, or rather the struggle, of the last two with the first, and the victory of the light and love of the Gospel. This thought is made incarnate in the persons of Stephen, Paul and Barnabas; and is concentrated in the really central point of interest of the whole oratorio--the conversion of St. Paul.’ The first performance of this work took place on May 22, 1836, on the occasion of the Lower Rhine Festival at Düsseldorf, the Cecilia Society of Frankfort having been compelled to forego its production because of the illness of its conductor. On Oct. 3rd, 1836, the first English performance was given at Liverpool. In the meantime, notwithstanding its success, Mendelssohn had revised the work and shortened it by omitting ten numbers. The enthusiasm with which ‘St. Paul’ was received was unprecedented, in Germany alone one hundred and fifty performances being given within eighteen months of its first production at Düsseldorf.