admonishes mankind for accepting its wilderness, calling them to turn to God. While the strings and piano accompaniment are generally centred on a D minor chord, the vocal melody is highly chromatic and dissonant. VII. Nicolas and the Pickled Boys The seventh movement of Saint Nicolas depicts the legend of the Pickled Boys. Nicolas finds himself in an inn where a group of travellers have paused for the night. They invite the bishop to dine with them, but Nicolas stops them from eating, realising that the meat that they eat is in fact the flesh of three boys murdered and pickled by the butcher. Nicolas calls to the boys, "Timothy, Mark, and John, put your fleshly garments on!” and the boys come back to life, singing “Alleluia!" Like the second and fourth movements, the seventh employs a diatonic mode (here it is B-Aeolian) and a memorable tune sung by the chorus. The female chorus, again singing from the galleries, employ Phrygian and Aeolian modes as they sing the roles of mothers seeking their missing sons. When Nicolas enters the scene, he begins with a melody based on F#-Mixolydian, with occasional chromatic alterations. He ends his call to the dead boys in A major, and the movement concludes with a triumphant repeat of the opening motif in B major. VIII. His Piety and Marvellous Works This movement is a choral song of praise to Nicolas, briefly recounting several different stories of his mercy, charity, and kindness. Most of this movement is written homophonically, with a brief canonic section towards the end. This movement is strongly tonal, in G major. IX. The Death of Nicolas In the final movement of the cantata, Nicolas speaks to his impending death with joy, eagerness, and acceptance. He sings, "Lord, I come to life, to final birth ..." using a highly chromatic melody characteristic of the tenor's solo section. Simultaneously, the chorus chants the Nunc dimittis using the Gregorian "fourth tone" (on which the music of the orchestral introduction is also based). They conclude the chant as Nicolas concludes with the text, "I bless Thy name, who lived and died for me, and dying, dying, dying, dying, yield my soul to Thee." After an energetic instrumental interlude (again based on the plainchant), the cantata closes with a congregational hymn praising God's mysteries and the courage of the saints. The hymn tune of "God Moves in a