Immediately following his first opera Rheinberger composed a small dramatic cantata for children's voices in 1863. It is based on a story from the Gospel of St. Mark, arranged as a rhymed libretto with various roles by Franz Bonn (183-1854). Among the highpoints of the cantata are a scene of awakening fashioned as a choral recitative with an expressive piano part and a large final chorus "Preist laut den Herr". Both of these helped to make the cantata very popular in Rheinberger's days with boys' and girls' choirs. Rheinberger later arranged it with an accompaniment by a small orchestra.