, 'The slogan's dune,
But can ye no hear them noo?
The Campbells are comin'! It's nae a dream;
Our succors hae broken through."

Weak as the text may be, the strong healthy music of the cantata makes
ample compensation. It is quite brief, there being but two solo parts,
"Fair Ellen" (soprano) and Lord Edward (barytone), and five short chorus
numbers. The former are vigorous and somewhat declamatory in style, but
the choruses are very melodious and stirring. The instrumentation is
unusually effective, and a fine point is made in the climax by the
interweaving of the familiar air, "The Campbells are Coming," with the
orchestral score. It lends spirit and color to the finale, and closes up
the work with a fine burst of powerful effect. Short as it is, "Fair
Ellen" will always be a favorite with popular audiences.

Odysseus.

The cantata of "Odysseus," like that of "Frithjof," is made up of
detached scenes, in this case selected from the Odyssey and arranged by
William Paul Graff. The work was first produced in 1872, and has met with
great success in Germany, England, and the United States. It is divided
into two parts, the first containing four, and the second, six scenes.
The characters are as numerous as those of a grand opera, and include
Odysseus, barytone; Penelope, alto; Alcinoos, King of the Pheaces, bass;
Arete, his consort, alto; Nausicaa, their daughter, soprano; the
Helmsman, bass; Pallas Athene, soprano; Leucothea, soprano; Spirit of
Tiresias, bass; Spirit of Anticlia, Odysseus' mother, alto; and Hermes,
tenor. In performance, however, the parts of Arete and the Spirit of
Anticlia, as well as of Nausicaa and Pallas Athene, are usually doubled.
The choruses, which are a very important feature of the work, are
assigned to Odysseus' companions, Spirits of the Departed, Sirens,
Tritons, Nymphs of the sea, Pheaces, Rhapsodes, boatmen and people of
Ithaca.

In the first scene Odysseus is discovered on Calypso's enchanted island
longing for home. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, appears to him and
announces that the Immortals, touched by his sorrow, will rescue him and
restore him to Penelope. In the next scene the wanderer has reached the
abysses of Erebus, "where, loud thundering, the flood of Cocytus pours
its black wave into Acheron's tide." Here he invokes the world of shades.
The spirits of children, brides, youths, and old men successively appear
to him and nar