‘Bethlehem’ is a mystery in two acts, Mackenzie here using this term in preference to ‘oratorio’ as better indicating the nature of the work, which preserves a quaintness of narrative style throughout. The text is by Joseph Bennett and the work made its appearance in 1894. The events of the first act or part take place in the fields of Bethlehem, where angels appear to the shepherds, comforting them with good news and singing an anthem of praise to God, returning to heaven and leaving the shepherds astounded at the vision. They talk together of the wondrous sight and, as dawn appears, the people of Bethlehem gather together and they all rejoice and sing a carol. The scene of the second act is Bethlehem. A host of ‘arméd cherubim’ guard the new-born King as the blessed mother sweetly sings to her babe. But the shepherds with some people of Bethlehem seek the Holy Babe through the city to worship Him; likewise certain kings from the East, whose salutations the blessed mother answers. As the kings marvel and offer gifts, all join in humble and devout adoration of the Holy Child. The quaintness of style is preserved in the music also, yet without sacrificing its dignity. ‘Judith’ (‘The Regeneration of Manasseh’) was the first oratorio of Parry (b. 1848), although he had already written several of the long series of choral works that mark him as one of England’s great composers. It was produced at the Birmingham Festival of 1888. The persons in the action are Manasseh, king of Israel; Meshullemeth, his wife; his children; Judith; a High Priest of Moloch; and a messenger of Holofernes. The text, by the composer, is in two acts. In the first, the priests of Moloch demand the children of Manasseh for sacrifice, but as they are about to be offered up, Judith appears and endeavors to save them. She is herself saved from the wrath of the people only by the coming of the Assyrians, who lay Jerusalem in ruins and carry off Manasseh a prisoner to Babylon. But the captive king repents of his sins against God and is permitted to return to Jerusalem. In the second act, while the Jews are lamenting over the desolation of their city, a messenger from the Assyrian general, Holofernes, arrives and demands new terms of submission and tribute. Here Judith comes to the rescue; she exhorts the Jews to have confidence in God’s help, makes her way to the Assyrian camp and to the tent of Holofernes and strikes him down with her own hand. The Israelites, fired by her heroism, fall upon their bewildered enemies and scatter them, returning to Jerusalem and praising the God of Israel. The Moloch choruses are very characteristic, some of them fierce and barbaric, while the march of the Assyrian host at the close of the first part is stately and majestic. One of the loveliest parts is the scene between Meshullemeth and her children as she sings, in answer to their questions, the simple, pathetic ballad of Israel’s ancient escape from Egypt and the Red Sea.