e stag. The horse is accompanied by music which
prances and neighs. A quiet pastoral movement, in strong contrast with
the preceding abrupt transitions, pictures the cattle seeking their food
"on fields and meadows green." A flutter of sounds describes the swarms
of insects in the air, and from this we pass to a long, undulating thread
of harmony, representing "the sinuous trace" of the worm. This
masterpiece of imitative music is contained in a single recitative. A
powerful and dignified aria, sung by Raphael ("Now Heaven in fullest
Glory shone"), introduces the creation of man, which is completed in an
exquisitely beautiful aria ("In Native Worth ") by Uriel, the second part
of which is full of tender beauty in its description of the creation of
Eve, and closes with a picture of the happiness of the newly created
pair. A brief recitative ("And God saw everything that He had made")
leads to the chorus, "Achieved is the glorious Work,"--a fugue of great
power, superbly accompanied. It is interrupted by a trio ("On Thee each
living Soul awaits"), but soon returns with still greater power and
grandeur, closing with a Gloria and Hallelujah of magnificent
proportions.

The third part opens with a symphonic introduction descriptive of the
first morning of creation, in which the flutes and horns, combined with
the strings, are used with exquisite effect. In a brief recitative ("In
rosy Mantle appears") Uriel pictures the joy of Adam and Eve, and bids
them sing the praise of God with the angelic choir, which forms the theme
of the succeeding duet and chorus ("By Thee with Bliss"); to which the
answering choir replies with a gentle and distant effect, as if from the
celestial heights, "Forever blessed be His Power." Again Adam and Eve in
successive solos, finally uniting, join with the choir in extolling the
goodness of God; and as they close, all take up the beautiful and
majestic paean, "Hail, bounteous Lord! Almighty, hail!" As the angelic
shout dies away, a tender, loving dialogue ensues between Adam and Eve,
leading to the beautiful duet, "Graceful Consort," which is not only the
most delightful number in the work, but in freshness, sweetness, and
tenderness stands almost unsurpassed among compositions of its kind.
After a short bit of recitative by Uriel ("O happy Pair"), the chorus
enters upon the closing number ("Sing the Lord, ye Voices all"),
beginning slowly and majestically, then developing into a masterly fugue
("J