t off his head, and leave his
carcase as food for birds and wild beasts. Hereupon David rushes at
the Philistine, wounds him in the forehead with a sharp stone cast
from his sling, so that Goliath falls to the ground. Before he has
time to rise, David, making use of his opportunity, slays him with his
own sword, and bears away from the field of battle, the hewn-off head
as a trophy of victory. As formerly the Israelites fled before the
snorting and stamping of the great Goliath, so now flee the
Philistines in consequence of the victory of young David. Thus they
give opportunity to the Israelites to pursue them, and to fill the
roads with the corpses of the slain fugitives. It is easy to imagine
how great must have been the joy of the victorious Hebrews. In proof
of it, we learn how women came forth from the cities of Judea, with
drum, fiddle, and other musical instruments, to meet the victors, and
sang alternately: "Saul hath slain his thousands, but David his ten
thousands."

Thus the sonata expresses--

1. The stamping and defying of Goliath.

2. The terror of the Israelites, and their prayer to God at sight of
the terrible enemy.

3. The courage of David, his desire to humble the pride of the giant,
and his childlike trust in God.

4. The contest of words between David and Goliath, and the contest
itself, in which Goliath is wounded in the forehead by a stone, so
that he falls to the ground and is slain.

5. The flight of the Philistines, and how they are pursued by the
Israelites, and slain by the sword.

6. The exultation of the Israelites over their victory.

7. The praise of David, sung by the women in alternate choirs.

8. And, finally, the general joy, expressing itself in hearty dancing
and leaping.

II. _David curing Saul by means of Music_

Among the heavy blows dealt to us at times by God, for holy reasons,
are to be counted bodily sicknesses. Of these one can in a real sense
say that they cause pain. Hence the invention of that physician of
Padua was by no means ridiculous, who thus represented in
picture-form, over his house-door, the various sicknesses: a man
attacked by many dogs and gesticulating wildly, through pain. To each
of these dogs was given a name, and each acted accordingly. The dog,
Gout, was biting the man's foot; the dog, Pleurisy, his loins; Stone,
his kidneys; Colic, his belly, and so on. Finally, a great sheep-dog,
representing daily fever, had thrown the man to the gro