‘St. Peter,’ by John K. Paine (1839-1906), received its first performance in Portland, Maine, in June, 1873, under the direction of the composer. Its second performance took place in Boston on May 9, 1874, by the Handel and Haydn Society. The main theme of the oratorio is the establishment of Christianity, as illustrated by the four main events in the life of St. Peter. It consists of two parts--(1) The Divine Call, followed by the denial of Peter and his repentance, and (2) The Ascension and Pentecost. The work abounds in strong, well-written choruses and beautiful arias, which, where the text demands it, become at times touching (as, for example, in the aria, ‘Let not your hearts be troubled’) and at times dramatic, as is the scene of the emphatic denials of Peter and the accusations of the people. A noble chorus, ‘Awake, thou that sleepest,’ closes the first part. Probably the most beautiful choral number, however, is in the second part, ‘The voice of the Lord,’ which follows the description of the Pentecostal miracle; though it is not massive, as is the majestic closing chorus, ‘Great and marvellous are Thy works.’ Horatio Parker’s _Hora Novissima_, the most ambitious and finely conceived choral work by an American, was written in 1892, while the composer was associated with Dvořák as teacher of counterpoint in the National Conservatory of Music in New York, and received its first hearing on May 3, 1893, when it was given by the Church Choral Society of New York under the direction of the composer. Soon after it was given in Boston and at the Festivals of Cincinnati and Worcester, Mass. In 1899 it was the chief novelty at the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester, England (also conducted by the composer), and bears the distinction of being the first work of an American to be performed under these historic auspices.