The contention, said Rubinstein in effect, that Biblical subjects
are ill adapted to the stage beeause of their sacred character is a
testimony of poverty for the theatre, which should be an agency in
the service of the highest purposes of culture. The people have
always wanted to see stage representations of Bible incidents;
witness the mystery plays of the Middle Ages and the Passion Play
at Oberammergau to-day. But yielding to a prevalent feeling that
such representations are a profanation of sacred history, he had
conceived an appropriate type of art-work which was to be produced
in theatres to be specially built for the purpose and by companies
of artists to be specially trained to that end. This art-work was
to be called Sacred Opera (geistliche Oper), to distinguish it from
secular opera, but its purpose was to be purely artistic and wholly
separate from the interests of the Church. He developed ways and
means for raising the necessary funds, enlisting artists,
overcoming the difficulties presented by the mise en scene and the
polyphonic character of the choral music, and set forth his aim in
respect of the subject-matter of the dramas to be a representation
in chronological order of the chief incidents described in the Old
and New Testaments. He would be willing to include in his scheme
Biblical operas already existing, if they were not all, with the
exception of Mehul's "Joseph," made unfit by their treatment of
sacred matters, especially by their inclusion of love episodes
which brought them into the domain of secular opera.

For years, while on his concert tours in various countries,
Rubinstein labored to put his plan into operation. Wherever he
found a public accustomed to oratorio performances he inquired into
the possibility of establishing his sacred theatre there. He laid