The sojourn of the Jews in Egypt and their final departure under the guidance of Moses have already occupied considerable attention in this study.

They provided material for the two operas which seem to me the noblest of their kind--Mehul's "Joseph" and Rossini's "Mose in Egitto." Mehul's opera, more than a decade older than Rossini's, still holds a place on the stages of France and Germany, and this despite the fact that it foregoes two factors which are popularly supposed to be essential to operatic success--a love episode and woman's presence and participation in the action.

The opera, which is in three acts, was brought forward at the Theatre Feydeau in Paris on February 17, 1807.

It owed its origin to a Biblical tragedy entitled "Omasis," by Baour Lormian.

The subject--the sale of Joseph by his brothers into Egyptian slavery, his rise to power, his forgiveness of the wrong attempted against him, and his provision of a home for the people of Israel in the land of Goshen--had long been popular with composers of oratorios.