gratitude and joy
("Sing, O Heavens, and be joyful, O Earth"). A rapturous duet ensues
between the Sulamite and the Beloved, and then all join in the spirited
finale:--

"For the flame of Love is as fire,
Even the fire of God.
Many waters cannot quench it,
Neither can floods drown it.
Yea, Love is strong as death,
And unconquerable as the grave."

MENDELSSOHN.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, the son of a Berlin banker, was born at
Hamburg, Feb. 3, 1809, and, unlike almost all other composers, was reared
in the lap of luxury. Every advantage which wealth could procure he
enjoyed, with the result that he became highly educated in the other arts
as well as in music. His teachers in music were Zelter and Ludwig Berger,
and he made such progress that in his ninth year he appeared in public as
a pianist in Berlin, and afterwards in Paris. The first of his
compositions to attract general notice were the overture to Shakspeare's
"Midsummer Night's Dream" and the little opera "The Marriage of Camacho,"
which were brought out in Berlin in 1827. After several concert tours, in
which he met with great success, he resided for some time in Duesseldorf.
In 1835 he went to Leipsic as director of the famous Gewandhaus
concerts,--which are still given in that city. Two years later he married
Cecile Jeanrenaud, the beautiful daughter of a minister of the Reformed
Church in Frankfort, and shortly afterwards went to Berlin as general
director of church music. In 1843 he returned to his former post in
Leipsic, and also took a position in the newly established Conservatory,
where he spent the remainder of his days in company with his family, to
whom he was closely attached. He has left a large and rich collection of
musical works, which are favorites the world over. His three great
oratorios are the "Hymn of Praise," catalogued as a symphony-cantata,
"St. Paul," and "Elijah." The last is specially interesting, as it marked
a new departure from the conventional forms of oratorio, and gave the
widest scope to the dramatic elements,--to such a degree, in fact, that
it might with propriety be styled a sacred opera. Besides these
oratorios, his exquisite music to the "Midsummer Night's Dream," which is
familiar the world over, and his stately dramatic music to "Antigone," he
has left five symphonies, of which the "Scotch," the "Italian," and the
"Reformation" are best kn