Contemporary with him and since his death numerous oratorios have been written, more or less inspired by his work; but "Elijah" and "St. Paul" still remain unsurpassed. Robert Schumann gave the world a delightful oratorio with a secular subject, "Paradise and the Peri." Numerous English composers have produced meritorious works, among them Sterndale Bennett, whose "Woman of Samaria" is thoroughly devotional. In Germany, Hiller, Rheinthaler, and others have made successful essays in this form of musical art. In France, Massenet and Saint-Saens have written short one-part oratorios, and Gounod has constructed two, "The Redemption" and "Mors et Vita," upon the old classical form, so far as division is concerned, and is now at work upon a third, of which Joan of Arc is the theme. In "The Tower of Babel" and "Paradise Lost," Rubinstein has given us works which are certainly larger in design than the cantata, and are entitled to be called oratorios. In our own country, Professor Paine, of Harvard University, has written one oratorio, "St. Peter," which commands attention for its scholarly work and musical treatment. Mendelssohn and Spohr, however, represent the nineteenth century of oratorio as Haydn, Handel, and Bach did the eighteenth. Who will take the next step forward in the twentieth, and give to this noblest form of musical art still higher expression? Before closing this sketch, it will not be out of place to refer briefly to the Requiem, Te Deum, Stabat Mater, and Magnificat, since illustrations of these musical forms appear in the body of the work. "Requiem" is the name given to the "Missa pro Defunctis" ("Mass for the Dead"), and comes from the first word of the Introit, "Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine." Its musical divisions are as follows: (1) Introit; (2) the Kyrie; (3) the Gradual and Tract,--"Requiem aeternam" and "Absolve Domine;" (4) the Sequence or Prose,--"Dies Irae;" (5) Offertorium; (6) Sanctus; (7) Benedictus; (8) Agnus Dei; (9) Communio,--"Lux aeterna." The most famous requiems are Palestrina's, written for five voices, but left incomplete (1595); Vittoria's, for six voices, written for the funeral of the Empress Marie, widow of Maximilian II. (1605); Colonna's, for eight voices (1684); Mozart's great masterpiece (1791); Cherubini's in C minor, written for the anniversary of the death of Louis XVI., 1793, and a second for three male voices (1836); Berlioz's "Messe des Morts;" Verdi's "Manzoni Requiem," and Brahms' "German Requiem." Though an integral part of the Roman service, appointed for a special day in commemoration of the dead, the Requiem is also employed for the anniversaries of distinguished persons who have passed away, as well as for funeral occasions.