numbers. The first is a prelude in triplets
intended to picture the gallop of the steed, a common enough device since
the days when Virgil did it much better without the aid of musical
notation, in his well-known line,--

"Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum."

It leads to a stirring chorus which is followed by still another, based
upon a very pleasant melody. The third number is a solo for barytone, in
which the Count gives expression to his jealousy, which brings us to the
heroine, who makes her appearance in a florid number. The next is a duet
for Theresa and Mazeppa, followed by a solo for the tenor (Mazeppa) which
is very effective. The chorus then re-enter and indicate the madness of
the Count in words, the following sample of which will show their
unsingableness:--

"Revenge fires his turbulent soul;
No power his boundless rage can control."

The eighth number is another duet for the Countess and Mazeppa in the
conventional Italian style. It is followed by a graceful aria for tenor,
which leads up to the best number in the work, a trio in canon form. A
final aria by the Count leads to the last chorus, in which the repetition
of the triplet gallop forebodes the ride into the desert and the
punishment of the page. As might be inferred from the description, the
cantata is like Hamlet with _Hamlet_ left out. There is very little of
Mazeppa and his Tartar steed in the work, but very much of the jealousy
and revenge which lead up to the penalty.

BEETHOVEN.

Ludwig von Beethoven was born Dec. 16, 1770, at Bonn, Germany. His father
was a court-singer in the Chapel of the Elector of Cologne. The great
composer studied in Vienna with Haydn, with whom he did not always agree,
however, and afterwards with Albrechtsberger. His first symphony appeared
in 1801,--his earlier symphonies, in what is called his first period,
being written in the Mozart style. His only opera, "Fidelio," for which
he wrote four overtures, was first brought out in Vienna, in 1805; his
oratorio, "Christ on the Mount of Olives," in 1812; and his colossal
Ninth Symphony, with its choral setting of Schiller's "Ode to Joy," in
1824. In addition to his symphonies, his opera, oratorios, and masses,
and the immortal series of piano sonatas, which were almost revelations
in music, he developed chamber music to an extent far beyond that reached
by his predecessors, Mozart and Haydn. His symphonies