The Standard Oratorios: Their Stories, Their Music, And Their Composers

part illustrates the visit of the three kings, the anxiety of Herod when

he hears of the advent of the Lord, and the assurances given him to allay his fears. In the sixth section the visitors depart to frustrate Herod's designs, and choruses of rejoicing over the final triumph of the Lord close the work. In his voluminous life of Bach, Spitta makes an exhaustive analysis of the...