The most remarkable part of the work--the most original and theatrically impressive--is the _Dies iræ_, in which the composer has used every possible tonal resource to picture the terrors of the Day of Judgment. After the choral passage beginning with _Quantus tremor est futurus_ has twice reached a forceful climax, the orchestra softens down for a few measures, when it suddenly bursts out with a crash like a thunder-bolt, coming not only from the main orchestra on the stage, but from the above mentioned bands in various parts of the auditorium. A more vivid and theatrical description of the awful day cannot be imagined, and at the climax the basses thunder out the _Tuba mirum_ amidst a new outburst from the orchestra, strengthened by many kettle-drums. So overwhelming is this volume of sound that it became the butt of the ridicule of the critics, who declared that no such outburst of noise had been heard in Paris since the storming of the Bastile! A great sense of relief comes with the quiet _Quid sum miser_, which Berlioz directed in the score should be sung ‘with an expression of humility and awe.’ _Rex tremendæ_ again brings in the voice-parts _fortissimo_, accompanied by crashing thunderbolts in the orchestra. This continues up to the last few measures, _Salva me_, which are sung almost in a whisper. One of the finest portions of the work is the _Lacrymosa_, which also abounds in striking contrasts, and contains broad, massive harmonies and flowing melodies. A _Te Deum_ was written by Berlioz in 1835 as a fragment of a larger work planned in honor of Napoleon. In writing it the composer pictured to himself the hero, returning from the victorious Italian campaign, at the moment when his entry at Nôtre Dame would open the service. This heroic picture and the possibilities of the great cathedral inspired Berlioz to use, besides orchestra and organ, three choirs, including a large male chorus and three hundred children. In the theatrical, not to say spectacular, plan of the whole, Berlioz lost the import of the words and thought only of tremendous effects; hence it became even more sensational than the _Requiem_. From the standpoint of musical color-effects, it is a remarkable work, which is given oftener now than during the first decades after its birth. Although written in 1835, it had to wait until 1853 for its first performance, which took place in London. Thirty years later (in 1883) it had its second performance, this time in Bordeaux--the first time in France.