h a powerfully
descriptive chorus ("Envy, Eldest-born of Hell!"). In a noble song ("But
sooner Jordan's Stream, I swear") Jonathan assures David he will never
injure him. In a colloquy between them, David is informed that Saul has
bestowed the hand of the haughty Merab on Adriel, and Jonathan pleads the
cause of the lovely Michal. Saul approaches, and David retires. Saul
inquires of Jonathan whether he has obeyed his commands, and in a simple,
sweet, and flowing melody ("Sin not, O King, against the Youth") he seems
to overcome the wrath of the monarch, who dissembles and welcomes David,
bidding him to repel the insults of the Philistines, and offering him his
daughter Michal as a proof of his sincerity.

In the second scene Michal declares her love for David, and they join in
a rapturous duet ("O fairest of ten thousand fair"), which is followed by
a chorus in simple harmony ("Is there a Man who all his Ways"). A long
symphony follows, preparing the way for the attempt on David's life.
After an agitated duet with Michal ("At Persecution I can laugh"), David
makes his escape just as Doeg, the messenger, enters with instructions to
bring David to the King's chamber. He is shown the image in David's bed,
which he says will only enrage the King still more. Michal sings an
exultant aria, "No, let the Guilty tremble," and even Merab, won over by
David's qualities, pleads for him in a beautiful aria, "Author of peace."
Another symphony intervenes, preluding the celebration of the feast of
the new moon in the palace, to which David has been invited. Jonathan
again interposes with an effort to save David's life, whereupon Saul, in
a fresh outburst of indignation, hurls his javelin at his son, and the
chorus bursts out in horror, "Oh, fatal Consequence of Rage."

The third act opens with the intensely dramatic scene with the Witch of
Endor, the interview being preluded by the powerful recitative, "Wretch
that I am!" The second scene is laid in the Witch's abode, where the
incantation is practised that brings up the Apparition of Samuel. The
whole scene is very dramatic, and the instrumentation powerful, although
the effect, vigorous as it is, is made simply by oboes, bassoons, and
strings, instead of by the brass instruments which other composers employ
so vigorously in similar scenes. This scene closes with an elegy
foreboding the coming tragedy.

The third scene opens with the interview between David and the Amalekite
who br