their worship of the golden calf, the reception of the Tables of
the Law, the battle between the Israelites and Modbites on the
threshold of the Promised Land, and the evanishment and apotheosis
of Moses are the contents of the remainder of the work.



It is scarcely to be wondered at that the subjects which opera
composers have found adaptable to their uses in the New Testament
are very few compared with those offered by the Old. The books
written by the evangelists around the most stupendous tragical
story of all time set forth little or nothing (outside of the
birth, childhood, teachings, miracles, death, and resurrection of
Jesus of Nazareth) which could by any literary ingenuity be turned
into a stage play except the parables with which Christ enforced
and illustrated His sermons. The sublime language and imagery of
the Apocalypse have furnished forth the textual body of many
oratorios, but it still transcends the capacity of mortal
dramatist.

In the parable of the Prodigal Son there is no personage whose
presentation in dramatic garb could be looked upon as a profanation
of the Scriptures. It is this fact, probably, coupled with its
profoundly beautiful reflection of human nature, which has made it
a popular subject with opera writers. There was an Italian
"Figliuolo Prodigo" as early as 1704, composed by one Biffi; a
French melodrama, "L'Enfant Prodigue," by Morange about 1810; a
German piece of similar character by Joseph Drechsler in Vienna in
1820. Pierre Gaveaux, who composed "Leonore, ou l'Amour Conjugal,"
which provided Beethoven with his "Fidelio," brought out a comic