He picked the story revolving around Arminius and the Cherusci-led defeat of three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest in 9 A.D., which served as a German national myth from the 16th to the early 20th century.
[2] This national myth inspired several poets and composers, amongst others Georg Friedrich Händel, Daniel Caspar von Lohenstein, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock and Heinrich von Kleist, to dedicate their works to Arminius and to the battle that preserved German liberty.
The erection of the Hermannsdenkmal and the Hermann Heights Monument[4] and the renaissance of general interest in Germanic culture (f.ex.
Arminius is an oratorio in four parts for 3 soloists (alto, tenor, baritone), choir and orchestra.
The second part of the oratorio introduces the listener to a sacred forest where the chorus and a priestess call the gods of heathen Germania to help them withstand.
The oratorio ends with Arminius and the choir praising Wodan and singing paeans: "[W]e will chant a solemn song to Freedom, glorious treasure!"