Graun’s ‘Prague Te Deum.’--Though he had written some very acceptable music for church service while a mere boy, Graun (1701-1759) achieved his first fame as a composer of operas. This led to his appointment as chapel-master to Frederick the Great, and not long before his death he wrote two sacred works which have established his permanent fame, the ‘Passion’ and the so-called _Prague Te Deum_. The latter was written to commemorate his royal patron’s victory at Prague in 1756, but was not performed until 1762 at Charlottenburg, at the close of the Seven Years’ War. It was, therefore, really performed as a peace celebration. It is one of the finest Te Deums in existence and certainly the most celebrated of Continental settings. The first important work that proclaimed Joseph Haydn a vocal writer was the _Stabat Mater_, written in 1771. It follows the prevalent Italian style and reminds somewhat of Pergolesi, with only a few suggestions of the Haydn that was revealed in the ‘Creation.’ The second of his two Te Deums (written in 1800) is a noble composition which is still much used in church service. Though Haydn’s masses (he wrote thirteen) are not conceived in the real spirit of the Roman liturgy and are lacking in dignity and austerity, they are still among the most frequently used by German Catholic choirs. The freshness and cheerfulness which pervade his church as well as his secular music cannot be attributed to lack of seriousness on Haydn’s part, but rather to fundamental traits of character which looked at God and His whole universe through eyes that saw only joy and hope. He is said to have confided to his friend Carpani that at the thought of God his heart leaped for joy, and he could not help his music doing the same. Among the most famous of his masses are No. 2 in C (the numbering follows the Novello edition); the _Paukenmesse_ (_in tempore belli_); No. 3 in D, the ‘Imperial’; No. 4 in B-flat, ‘The Creation’; and the _Theresien Messe_ in B-flat.