Piccini was the innovator of the dramatic treatment of the duet and extended development of the finale. He was the first to turn choral masses to account on the stage. He used "Recitative instrumento" in pale of the ordinary "Recitative secco." Mozart enlarged on his ideas, for his command of the orchestra was unrivalled as a dramatic factor. Cimarosa placed a statue on the stage, with a pedestal in the orchestra, while Mozart placed the staue in the orchestra, using the work of the stage as the pedestal. Cimarosa uses the accompaniment for the support while Mozart intensifies the voice. Cimarosa was the first to introduce quartets and other concerted pieces in the midst of dramatic action, and not as an ornament at the end of the act, but he was outdistanced by Mozart. Before this, opera was merely a recitative, with a chorus at the end of each act, and then occasional airs were introduced, but not before the middle of the 18th century do we find trios, etc. Beethoven and Weber followed Gluck. Beethoven gave to the orchestra the explanatory character of the chorus. He employs twenty phrases for a single character in "Fidelio". Weber used spoken dialogue and recitative sparingly but when neccessary composed with originality and dramatic vividness. He tried to construct drama by means of melody and failed. The first example of a grand orchestral prelude is written in six-fourth time to "Der Beberrscher der Geister." The overture to "Der Freischutz", by the use of leading themes, relates the entire story. In the Italian and French school, "a la Sopontini" the orchestra lifted and balanced the words and the spirit of the orchestra reveals the innermost emotions of the dramatic personae. The Mythical manner is chosen, and a use of alliterative verse with a peculiar use of the orchestra as preparing, supporting, commenting upon, enforcing and recalling the various situations of the text. III. ROSSINI AND HIS SCHOOL UP TO WAGNER. In 1814 the operatic conditions were deplorable. Vocalists were masters over the composers. They accepted the mere skeleton of a tune, and so adorned it with their own trills and flourishes that the poor composer could scarcely recognize it. The solos were placed to suit their convenience, whether or not they were suited dramatically. The tenor singers were very prominent and the bass singers had not as yet emerged from the background.