and the Apostles, "For the Promise is to you." An
intricate chorus ("This is the Witness of God"), closing with a chorale
("Praise to the Father"), leads to the finale, which comprises the
chorus, "Beloved, let us love one another," written for bass solo,
tenors, and basses (the Disciples), and full chorus; an effective duet
for soprano and tenor ("Sing unto God"); and the final majestic chorus
("Great and marvellous are thy Works").

ROSSINI.

Gioachino Antonio Rossini, the father of the modern Italian school of
opera, was born Feb. 29, 1792, at Pesaro, in the Romagna. His father was
an accomplished musician, and his mother a professional singer, so that
he was brought up in a musical atmosphere. Even as a boy he sang with his
mother in the theatre. He first studied with Mattei, and later with
Martini. His first opera, "Demetrio e Polibio," was brought out at Rome
in 1812, and before he had concluded his life-work, more than forty of
his operas had been given in almost every part of Europe,--a crowning
result of labor and contemporaneous fame not often enjoyed by composers.
His "Tancredi," which was produced for the first time at Venice in 1813,
was the opera which made him famous, and its remarkable success spread
his reputation far and wide. In 1815 appeared "L' Italiana in Algeri" and
"Aureliano in Palmira;" in 1816, "Elisabetta," "Otello," and his splendid
work "The Barber of Seville," which, though his masterpiece, is said to
have been written in fourteen days; in 1817, "La Cenerentola," "La Gazza
Ladra," and "Armida;" and in 1819, "Ricciardo e Zoraide," "La Donna del
Lago," and many others. From 1815 to 1822 Rossini was under the
"management" of the _impresario_ Barbaja in Naples, who had much
difficulty in keeping him to the work of composition, his facility in
writing often leading him to defer work until it was the very eve of
performance. In 1823, under the auspices of Barbaja, and with the
assistance of the prima donna, Colbran, whom Rossini married about this
time, his opera "Zelmira" and others of his works were given with such
brilliant success as to raise his aspirations for a wider and more
promising field of labor. In the year 1823 he went to Paris and London,
finally settling in the former city, where he not only began a new grand
opera, but also gave himself to the study and development of orchestral
music and the encouragement of artists. His home was the Mecc