to such an extent that they might almost be called English oratorios. ‘The Redemption.’--This work was originally intended as the first part of a ‘Sacred Trilogy,’ as he styled it, only the second of which (_Mors et Vita_) was ever completed; the composition of the third was prevented by his death. The seriousness with which Gounod approached this work is evidenced by the inscription--‘the work of my life’--which he wrote on the opening page of the first of the great works, ‘The Redemption.’ This had been begun in 1867 in Rome, where the composer wrote his text and set a few numbers of the music, but it was not completed until twelve years later and the first performance took place on August 30, 1882, at the Birmingham Festival. It was heard in Paris, May 22nd, 1886, and for the first time in America in the winter of 1883-1884 under the direction of Theodore Thomas. It is dedicated to Queen Victoria. In the preface of his work Gounod states: ‘This work is a lyrical setting forth of the three great facts on which depends the existence of the Christian Church. These facts are: 1. The Passion and the Death of the Saviour. 2. His glorious life on earth from His Resurrection to His Ascension. 3. The spread of Christianity in the world through the mission of the Apostles.’ This trilogy is preceded by a ‘Prologue on the creation, the fall of our first parents and the promise of the Redeemer.’ The work is divided in accordance with the above as follows: Prologue--The Creation. Part I.--Calvary. Part II.--From the Resurrection to the Ascension. Part III.--The Pentecost. The personages are Jesus, Mary and two narrators. The composition, which by some is pronounced the finest of modern oratorios, is a curious mixture of old and new ways of musical treatment. While Gounod, evidently influenced by Wagner, made use of ‘leading motives,’ he also used the narrator in the same manner as did Bach and in like manner treats the chorale. After a short instrumental introduction, descriptive of chaos, and the narrator’s recitative concerning the fall of man, the Redemption theme is heard and it appears wherever the atonement is thought of. This beautiful leading motive is heard nine times during the course of the work and is most effectively introduced in the first chorus, ‘The earth is my possession.’ Its most touching use is where Jesus tells the dying malefactor, ‘To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise,’ and its most impressively triumphant appearance is in the orchestral part at the close of the splendid chorus, ‘Unfold, ye portals everlasting.’