New-York tribune., 1909-10-24

toned In the outline OF the overture enters
the drama IL accompanies the appear
ance OF Samiel, the Wild Huntsman, or
Black Hunter dn short, the DeviD, and we
have thus in Won Weber-s opera pre-
Wagnerian example OF the Leitmotif Of
the Wagnerian commentators.
Caspar returns to the scene which all the
other personages have left to join in a
dance. and finds his associate in the depths
OF despair. He plies Max with wine, and.
affecting sympathy with him In his mis-
fortunes, gradually insinuates that there is
g means Of insuring success on the NOR
row. Max remains skeptical until Caspar
hands him his rifle and bids him shoot at
an eagle flying overhead. The bird is
plainly out of rife range, mere black dot
against the twilight sky; but Max. scarcely
aiming touches the trigger, and an eagle
Of gigantic size comes hurtling through the
air and falls at his feet Max is convinced
that there is a sure way to win his bride on
the morrow. He asks Caspar If he has
more bullets like the one just spent. No,
that was the hunters last, but more might
be obtained provided the effort be made
that very night. The moment was pro-
pitious. Il was the second Of three days in
which the sun was in the constellation OF
the Archer: at midnight there would occur
an eclipse of the moon. What fortunate
coincidence that all the omens should be
fair at SO momentous juncture of Max's
affairs! The fear OF losing his bride over
comes Max's scruples; he agrees to meet
the tempter in the VOLTS Glen, spot of
evil repute, at midnight, and at least wit
ness the casting of more OF the charmed
bullets.
At the moment when Max's shot brought
down the eagle a portrait OF the original
Cuno fell from the wall of the cottage
occupied by his descendant, and when the
second act begins we see Aennchen a
cousin OF Agathe. putting it back in its
place. Aennchen is inclined to be playful
and roguish. and serves as a pretty foil to
the sentimental Agathe. She playfully
scolds the nail which she is hammering
into the wall again for so rudely dropping
the old ranger to the floor. and seeks to
dlspel the melancholy which has obsessed
her cousin by singing songs about the bad
companionship of the blues and the humors
OF courtship.
She succeeds in a measure, and Agathe
confesses that she had felt a premonition
Of danger ever since a pious hermit to
whom she had gone for counsel in the
course Of the day had warned her OF the
imminency of a calamity which he could
not describe. The prediction seemed to
have been fulfilled in the falling Of the
picture, which had slightly hurt her, but
might easily have killed her. Aennchen
urges her 20 go to bed, but she refuses,
saying she shall not retire for sleep until
Max has come. Agathe sings the scena
which has chung to our concert rooms as
Persistently as the overture.
The slow portion OF the aria C'Leise,
leise, fromme WeiseD. like the horn music
at the beginning OF the overture, has found
its way into the Protestant hymn books Of
England and America, and It's allegro fur
nishes forth the jubilant music of the in
strumental Introduction to the opera. Ber-
lioz in his book, "a Travers Chants"
writes in a fine burst OF enthusiasm of this
scena:
'It is impossible for any listener to fail to
hear the sIghs OF the orchestra during the
prayer OF the virtuous maiden who awaits
the coming of her af1anced lover; or the
strange hum In which the alert ear imag
ines it hears the rustling of the tree tops.
1t even seems as If the darkness grew deep
er and colder at that magical modulation to
major. What a sympathetic shudder
comes over one at the cry: ''Tis he! tits
her' No. no. 1t must be confessed there
is no other aria as beautiful as this. No
master, whether German. Italian or
, French, was ever able to delineate, as is
! done here in a single scene, holy prayer,
melancholy, disquiet, pens'veness, the slum-
! ber Of nature, the mysterious harmony Of
the starry skies, the torture of expectation.
-s-,A-
| delirious! And what an orchestra to ac-
| company these noble song melodies! What
| inventiveness! What ingenious discoveries!
! What treasures OF sudden inspirationi
These flutes in the depths; this quartet Of
| violins; these passages In sixths between
violas and 'cellos; this crescendo, bursting
| into refulgence at the close-these pauses
| during which the passions seem to be gath
ering themselves together in order to
| launch their forces anew with greater ve-
| hemence! No. this piece has not its fell
low! Here is an art that is divineI This is
poetry; this is love itselfr'
Max comes at last. but he is preoccupied,
and his words and acts do little to reassure
| Agathe. She wants TO know what luck he
| had at the shooting match, and he replies
| that he did not participate in the target
| vellously lucky, pointing to the eagle
| feather In his hat as proof. At the same
moment he notices the blood upon his
sweetheart's hair. and her explanation Of
the falling OF the portrait Of her ancestor
! just as the clock struck seven greatly dis
turbs him.
Agathe. too, lapses into gloomy brooding;
she has fears for the morrow, and the
| thought of the monstrOus eagle terrifies
her. And now Max, scarcely come, an
! nounces that he must go; he had shot, he
1 says. stag deep in the woods near the
VOLTS Glen. indeed, and must bring IT IN
lest the peasants steal it. In q trio Aenn-
chen recalls the uncanny nature OF the
spot, Agathe warns against the sin Of
tempting Providence and begs him to stay;
but Max protests his fearlessness and the
call OF duty, and hurries away to meet Cas-
par at the appointed time In the appointed
place.
We see him again in the VOLTS Glen. but
Caspar is there before him. The glen lies
deep in the mountains A cascade tumbles
down the side of a mighty crag on the one
hand; on the other sits a monstrous owl
on the branch of a blasted tree blinking
evilly. A path leads steeply down TO a
great cave. The moon throws lurid light
on the scene and shows US Caspar in his
shirt sleeves preparing for his Internal
/ work He arranges black stones in a circle