years before in Paris. He said that he had seldom been moved so
profoundly by any spectacle as by this ballet, and it suggested to
him the propriety of treating sacred subjects in a manner worthy of
them, yet different from the conventional oratorio. The explanation
has not gotten into the books, but is not inconsistent with the
genesis of his Biblical operas, as related by Rubinstein in his
essay on the subject printed by Joseph Lewinsky in his book "Vor
den Coulissen," published in 1882 after at least three of the
operas had been written. The composer's defence of his works and
his story of the effort which he made to bring about a realization
of his ideals deserve to be rehearsed in justice to his character
as man and artist, as well as in the interest of the works
themselves and the subjects, which, I believe, will in the near
future occupy the minds of composers again.

"The oratorio," said Rubinstein, "is an art-form which I have
always been disposed to protest against. The best-known
masterpieces of this form have, not during the study of them but
when hearing them performed, always left me cold; indeed, often
positively pained me. The stiffness of the musical and still more
of the poetical form always seemed to me absolutely incongruous
with the high dramatic feeling of the subject. To see and hear
gentlemen in dress coats, white cravats, yellow gloves, holding
music books before them, or ladies in modern, often extravagant,
toilets singing the parts of the grand, imposing figures of the Old
and New Testaments has always disturbed me to such a degree that I
could never attain to pure enjoyment. Involuntarily I felt and
thought how much grander, more impressive, vivid, and true would be
all that I had experienced in the concert-room if represented on
the stage with costumes, decorations, and full action."