Scene three opens with the stately chorus of crusaders (‘In Palestine, the Holy Land’) with dignified march accompaniment, which leads to Ludwig’s farewell to his wife on his departure for the Holy Wars. Then ensues Elizabeth’s passionate entreaty, ‘Oh tarry! O shorten not the hour,’ followed by the pathetic ‘With grief my spirit wrestles,’ after which the stirring chorus and march of the crusaders closes the scene. Scene four, with its short, sombre orchestral prelude, announces the death of Ludwig, the bitter antagonism of Landgravine Sophie, Elizabeth’s mother-in-law, who drives the sorrowing, broken-hearted young widow from her home. Especially dramatic are the dialogues, in the midst of which is Elizabeth’s aria, ‘O day of mourning, day of sorrow,’ in which she pours out her grief as she fares forth in the storm. Scene five discloses Elizabeth on her death-bed in a hospital founded by herself, where she has forgotten her own sorrow in ministering unto others. Her last words (‘Unto mine end Thy love has led me’), after a gradual _decrescendo_ in the orchestra, are followed by a chorus of angels, ‘All grief is o’er,’ closing with the celestial strains of harps. An orchestral interlude, in which are developed the main themes of the work, leads to the last scene, which depicts the canonization of Elizabeth at Marburg in the presence of the Emperor. This ceremony closes the work with a chorus of the people mourning her death, choruses of the crusaders, of the church choristers and bishops, and finally an imposing six-part chorus, the Latin hymn, _Tu pro nobis, mater pia_. _Christus_ was composed in 1866 during Liszt’s residence in Rome, just after he had been appointed Abbé by his friend, Archbishop Hohenlohe, and at a time when, it is said, he entertained high hopes of being appointed chapel-master of the Papal Choir. But, though he was in high favor with the Catholic hierarchy, nothing came of it. The _Christus_ was written soon after the ‘Legend of St. Elizabeth,’ but, while both are deeply imbued with the spirit of Roman Catholicism, the former reflects the deep interest which he took in religious matters at the time far more than does the latter. Liszt compiled the text, which is in Latin, entirely from the Bible and from the Roman liturgy. There are three divisions to the work--(1) ‘The Nativity,’ (2) ‘After Epiphany,’ dealing with the Lord’s life and ministry, and (3) ‘The Passion and the Resurrection.’ The first fragmentary performance of ‘Christus’ took place July 6, 1867, at the Sala Dantesca, in Rome, and another in Vienna in 1871. The first complete production was at Weimar in 1873 under the direction of the composer.