iHTS AT TiiE OPERA 
 
 
 , 
 
 LO HEN-GRIP
 
 NIGHTS AT THE OPERA
 
 NIGHTS AT THE OPERA 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 C o. 

 
 NIGHTS AT THE OPERA
 
 First Edition, May, 1902 
 Second Edition, June 1903
 
 RICHARD WAGNER
 
 NIGHTS AT THE 
 
 OPERA 
 
 WAGNER'S 
 
 LOHENGRIN 
 
 By W^akeling Dry 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 GEORGE W. JACOBS & CO. 
 
 PUBLISHERS
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Portrait Frontispiece 
 
 i. The Maker of the Music PAGE 9 
 ii. The Story of the Swan-Knight 23 
 in. The Presentation of the Opera 33 
 iv. The Characters represented 37 
 
 v. Music and Story side-by-side 39 
 
 2013919
 
 I. THE MAKER OF THE Music. 
 
 AT Leipzig, on the 22nd of May, 
 1 8 1 3 the beginning : at Venice, 
 on the 1 3th of February, 1883 the 
 end ; and in the little while between, 
 the aspirations, the drudgery, the dis- 
 appointments, and the final triumph 
 which make up the life-story of that 
 many-sided genius, Richard Wagner ! 
 
 How short a time since he was laid 
 to rest and yet how long ago it all seems 
 when we think of the enthusiasts who 
 wrote about the Music of the Future 
 who formed little societies such as the 
 Dannreuther Working Men's Society 
 to sing and play him, if not into public 
 9
 
 Wagner s 
 
 favour, at least into the appreciation of 
 the thoughtful. Even longer ago still, 
 it seems, when we recall the wonderful 
 things in the way of criticism that came 
 from those who sat in judgment on mat- 
 ters musical in the days, when Wagner's 
 music was " the apogee of hideousness, 
 a distracting and altogether distressing 
 noise, a mere blaring of brass, and a 
 short method of utterly ruining the 
 voice ! " But there has been much 
 eating of words since then. 
 
 In England, partly by reason of the 
 quiet but far-reaching influence of 
 Dannreuther, partly by the growth of a 
 fashion, Wagner's music was known by 
 not a few in the concert room long 
 before his life-work, in salvation ot 
 the opera, was presented on the stage. 
 And besides this knowledge of his 
 music, the analytical programme told 
 10
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 us years ago those details of his life 
 which have now become the common 
 stock of the biographer. Wagner's first 
 effort in poetry, his desultory learning of 
 the piano, his utter fiasco in the case of 
 an overture at the Leipzig Theatre, the 
 beginning of his career as chorus-master 
 at Warzburg, his terrible journey from 
 Pillau to Paris by way of London ; the 
 cruel circumstances which drove him, 
 when in Paris, to arrange quadrilles for 
 the cornet and piano to keep himself 
 from starving ; his flight, first to Weimar 
 and then to Zurich, when the revolution 
 of 1 849 inflamed him ; all this and much 
 more is familiar reading at the present 
 time when an intimate knowledge of 
 all that has been written about a 
 musician is an infinitely more common 
 possession than even a nodding ac- 
 quaintance with the great man's music. 
 IT
 
 Wagner s 
 
 Wagner at eighteen knew Beethoven 
 by heart. How much music, it were 
 well to ask, does the average student 
 or the music lover think it really neces- 
 sary to know in this way ? 
 
 Bach, Beethoven and Wagner these 
 form a trio in themselves : and no one 
 need give a moment's thought to the 
 question, " Which is the greatest ? " 
 much less is one called upon to express 
 an opinion. As well might we be con- 
 cerned in a comparison between Orestes 
 and Hamlet. And yet, from the point 
 of view of the development of the art of 
 music these three potent names follow 
 each other in a natural order. The 
 subject matter of Bach, woven by means 
 of counterpoint into a living expression 
 of his ideas, was perfected by Wagner 
 in his " Leading motive." The idea is 
 Wagner's ; and although the labelling 
 12 

 
 Lohengrin 
 
 of the motives more often depends 
 upon the imagination of the commenta- 
 tor, yet when valued at its true worth 
 as we now are able to understand it, it 
 serves a good purpose. In his letters 
 those to Liszt alone fill a large volume 
 and in the directions written upon his 
 scores, Wagner has left a rich treasure 
 of information for our guidance. Those 
 who are learning to sing might with 
 great advantage acquaint themselves 
 with what Wagner has written thereon. 
 We should hear a little less then 
 about the effect of Wagner's music 
 upon the voice. 
 
 The emotional aspect of music 
 which Beethoven, in the course of 
 his progress in orchestration, opened 
 to our view was grasped by Wagner 
 in all its completeness and with all its 
 potentialities. In this, and the weaving 
 13
 
 Wagner s 
 
 of the thematic construction into a 
 foundation of poetry, we have, in a few 
 words, the substance and the fulfilment 
 of Wagner's life-work on the Lyric 
 Drama. At this time music, in Ger- 
 many, had become as it were a fine 
 river into which the music of Beethoven 
 was poured until the stream flowed swift 
 and deep and strong. Upon this noble 
 river Wagner launched once more the 
 Opera, which had first been launched at 
 the end of the sixteenth century by Peri 
 and Caccini in their attempt to combine 
 the old Greek Drama with its sister-art, 
 Music. But the vessel once launched 
 had drifted like that in the " Rhyme of 
 the Ancient Mariner" into a place 
 from which there was apparently no 
 return. 
 
 Gliick had made a brave attempt to 
 grasp the tiller, and to infuse some life
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 into the dispirited crew. But he was 
 not strong enough to do more than to 
 get the prow to point in the required 
 direction. Mozart, the peerless maker 
 of sweet melodies, also came on board 
 and made the vessel glorious with fresh 
 colours and new sails. But this did not 
 fill the sails with wind and the ship re- 
 mained becalmed. It was Wagner who 
 finally cleared the decks and, by means 
 of his operas, got the ship under weigh, 
 until he succeeded at length in steering 
 her into the clear and open sea. The 
 progress was like that of every other 
 great work, gradual and well-considered. 
 It commenced with Der Fliegende Hol- 
 lander, produced at Dresden in 1843, 
 the first of the group of operas which 
 belong to the so-called " second man- 
 ner " of Wagner, since Die Feen, Das 
 Liebesverbot and Rienzi may be left 
 15
 
 ffiagne 
 
 rs 
 
 out of the question, and it was con- 
 tinued in Tannhauser (1845), and in 
 Lohengrin (1847). 
 
 Three years later, when Liszt was 
 producing Lohengrin at Weimar, Wag- 
 ner, though an exile from his native 
 land, was already composing the works 
 of his third and greatest period, which 
 culminated in his crowning triumphs, 
 those unsurpassed Lyric Dramas, in 
 which he achieved to the full his ideal 
 union of poetry, drama, music, and 
 scenic effect in Tristan & Isolde, Der 
 Ring, and Parsifal. 
 
 Wagner, at first distrusted as an 
 innovator, has come, on better ac- 
 quaintance, to be loved as a renovator. 
 Mozart had made form his slave with- 
 out turning it adrift. He and Haydn 
 were regarded as the key-stones in 
 musical architecture. It is not difficult 
 16 

 
 Lohengrin 
 
 to understand that Moscheles regarded 
 Beethoven as an impossibility. How 
 much less difficult to understand the 
 storm that raged round Wagner. And 
 yet Wagner himself wrote of Mozart : 
 "It was from the realm of dramatic 
 music, already widened by himself to 
 an undreamt capability of expression, 
 that Mozart first entered upon the 
 symphony. For those few of his 
 symphonies whose peculiar worth has 
 kept them alive to this day we owe 
 to the period when he had fully un- 
 folded his genius as a composer of 
 opera." 
 
 The humanity of Shakespeare is the 
 secret of his greatness, and this is shown 
 by the art with which he makes the 
 blending of the humorous with the 
 serious acceptable to us. The great- 
 ness of Mozart's Don Juan lies in his 
 17 B
 
 Wagner s 
 
 artistic treatment of the conventional 
 comic opera form coupled with his 
 moderation in the treatment of reci- 
 tative. As Wagner joins hands with 
 Peri in respect of the ideal union of 
 music and poetry in his Lyric Drama, 
 so, in Lohengrin, he adds a finishing 
 touch to the form of opera evolved by 
 Mozart and Weber. The recitative is 
 treated in a more expressive way, the 
 orchestra assumes the explanatory char- 
 acter of the chorus in the Greek 
 drama, the romanticism of Weber is 
 developed and enriched, and the re- 
 sult remains as a tribute to Wagner's 
 genius, as the most popular opera in 
 any part of the world where audiences 
 are to be found that are able to 
 distinguish between beautiful music 
 and the attractiveness of mere 
 tune. 
 
 18
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 It is in the development of the Leit- 
 motiv (which may be conveniently re- 
 ferred to as the motive) that Wagner's 
 supremacy lies. It was not unknown 
 to Wagner's predecessors, but he was 
 the first to make it, from his first use 
 of it in Der Fliegende Hollander rather 
 more than a mere characteristic of the 
 various people in the story. Mozart in 
 Don Juan, Weber in Der Freyschutz, 
 had given us evidences of its existence, 
 but their treatment of it, if not crude, 
 was undecided. In Lohengrin it is first 
 seen to approach its full meaning, as 
 Wagner showed us, when he left opera 
 as a finished structure and revealed his 
 mastership in his Lyric Dramas. It 
 was Lohengrin that consoled Wagner 
 at Vienna after his return from exile, 
 when Tristan had been given up as 
 impossible after fifty-seven rehearsals. 
 19
 
 W^agners 
 
 And it was Lohengrin, it will be re- 
 membered, that brought about the ful- 
 filment of the dearest wish of Wagner's 
 heart the building of a temple for the 
 proper presentation of his later works. 
 It was by this opera that King Ludwig 
 of Bavaria was first attracted to the 
 " new music," and it was through the 
 enthusiasm which its beauty awoke in 
 him that he was led to adopt its creator 
 as his friend. Those who have made 
 the pilgrimage to Bayreuth know 
 the result of the friendship thus 
 begun. 
 
 There is no music of Wagner's that 
 is so characteristic, as a whole, as that 
 of Lohengrin. Its oneness is supreme. 
 The alternation of the two chords, major 
 and minor, which herald the approach 
 of the silver-clad knight stamp them- 
 selves for ever on the listener's mind, 
 
 20
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 and can never be used without awaken- 
 ing memories of the source from which 
 they are taken. It is not possible to 
 play any part of the Lohengrin music 
 which would be unrecognised by the 
 opera -goer. Wagner knew the im- 
 possibility of dividing it into sections 
 or selections, and when the time came 
 for his publisher to issue a portion of 
 it, he arranged nine of the numbers 
 himself. 
 
 Of its popularity there is no question. 
 Its production marks the starting point 
 of Wagner's successful career. Like Don 
 Juan, it stands out as a perfect work of 
 art, and in it there is a wealth of musical 
 ideas, apart from the motives, which are 
 not to be found in any other except 
 Die Meistersinger. Now- a- days no 
 wedding is complete unless its " Bridal 
 Music " figures in the organist's pro- 
 21
 
 Wagner s Lohengrin 
 
 gramme. Mendelssohn and Wag- 
 ner in church, it is as well to 
 remember have for ever 
 impressed themselves 
 on the social 
 life of the 
 people. 
 
 22
 
 II. THE STORY OF THE SWAN-KNIGHT. 
 
 IN the choice of his stories out of 
 which to realise his ideal union of 
 poetry and music, Wagner shows us the 
 chief of his attributes, that of a keen 
 perception of the value of theatrical 
 effect. His first dip into the priceless 
 treasures of the past, led him to the old 
 German stories of Tannhauser and the 
 song contest of the Wartburg ; and the 
 fascination which this rich storehouse 
 exercised over him drew him on to 
 Lohengrin and Parsifal. 
 
 The story of the Swan-Knight has 
 
 its beginnings in the Anglo - Saxon, 
 
 Danish and Longobardian legends of 
 
 the Skiff (" Sceaf "). It is found in the 
 
 2 3
 
 Wagner s 
 
 four romances called Mabinogion, a 
 product of the occupation of the coast 
 of Wales by the Irish, wherein ancient 
 Irish mythology is mixed up with later 
 Arthurian legends. 
 
 The idea of people being changed 
 into Swans is common enough in Ger- 
 man fairy tales. In Ireland, Fionnula, 
 the daughter of Lin, kept guard over 
 the lakes, in the form of a swan, for 
 hundreds of years, and the scene of 
 action in various versions of the legend 
 has been the Rhine, the Meuse and the 
 Scheldt. 
 
 The Swan is a special favourite of 
 northern folk-lore. Wagner's friend, 
 the King of Bavaria, had a beautiful castle, 
 once called the Schwanstein, now Hohen- 
 schwangau. It has a Swan-legend of its 
 own, of course. A beautiful lady is 
 sought by a wicked uncle and accused 
 24
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 by him of crime before the Emperor. 
 She gazes out upon the blue lake 
 which nestles far down in the valley, 
 shut in by the jagged rocks. Here she 
 sees a swan drawing a fragile shell in 
 which a knight lies asleep. The knight 
 comes to her aid, fights her battle and 
 takes her to his heart. But she asks his 
 name, and the spell is broken. Wring- 
 ing her hands in agony, she sees him 
 step back into his boat, and mysteriously, 
 as he came, disappear for ever. 
 
 The locality in which the events told 
 in the legend took place varies with each 
 version. Now it is a lake, now a river, 
 in one case the Rhine, in another the 
 Meuse, or the Scheldt ; but it is of 
 special interest to note that the story 
 was carried across to the Continent from 
 Britain, and after being used as material 
 by the Jongleur of France and the Min- 
 2 5
 
 Wagner s 
 
 nesinger of Germany, was brought back 
 to our shores by the Norman Minstrels. 
 
 The other salient point of the story, so 
 far as the drama is concerned, is that of 
 the fatal curiosity and inevitable punish- 
 ment of a wife wedded to an unknown 
 husband. In " Jupiter and Semele," in 
 the "Cupid and Psyche" of Apuleius, in 
 " Partemplis and Amelor," in " Raymond 
 and Melusine," in the story of the 
 goddess Ganga in the Rigveda, in the 
 household stories of Grimm, we find it 
 told over and over again. 
 
 The actual story employed by Wag- 
 ner is that put into the mouth of the 
 Minnesinger, Wolfram of Eschenbach, 
 at the imaginary Song-contest at the 
 Wartburg in or about the year 1207. 
 Of the idea of blending the mystically 
 beautiful traditions of the Grail with the 
 Swan-legend, Christian of Troyes gives 
 26 
 
 -
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 us a foretaste in 1 1 70. Little by little, 
 the ancient poets built up round it their 
 fanciful descriptions of the homes and 
 doings of their heroes, gathering details 
 here and there, partly true and partly 
 imaginative, which they wove into a 
 garland of decoration. 
 
 Out of all these poetic ideas slowly 
 grew the idea that the stronghold of the 
 tale was Montsalvat, a castle among the 
 inaccessible crags of the Pyrenees, where- 
 in the Grail was to be placed for safe- 
 guard. Wolfram of Eschenbach gives 
 us the story, weighed down with all 
 sorts of picturesque religious obser- 
 vances. Wagner, with the keen eye 
 and the unerring hand of the born 
 stage-manager, restores it to us in much 
 of its simple and direct purity. 
 
 In the Lyric Drama of " Parsifal " we 
 learn all that happened before the Swan- 
 27
 
 Wagner s 
 
 Knight, Lohengrin, arrived upon the 
 river bank at Antwerp. Parsifal, the 
 " pure fool," the Priest-King, had suc- 
 ceeded Amfortas, and peace reigned in 
 Montsalvat. At daybreak an entrancing 
 melody summoned the dwellers in that 
 mystical region to worship, to daily ser- 
 vice, and afterwards to refreshing sleep. 
 Whenever, in the outside world, Inno- 
 cence or Right stood in danger of op- 
 pression, a warning bell sounded and a 
 flame appeared on the sacred vessel. It 
 was on one of these occasions, when the 
 long calm was about to be broken, and 
 while the knights feasted around their 
 King, that the warning sound was heard 
 and burning letters, flaming fiercely forth 
 upon the sacred vessel, told that Lohen- 
 grin was to be sent forth in a bark drawn 
 by a crowned swan. 
 
 In the first half of the loth century, 
 28
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 Henry, King of Germany, surnamed the 
 Fowler, had come to Antwerp to raise a 
 force against the Hungarians who were 
 then threatening him. He found his 
 chiefs divided and without a leader. 
 Telramund, by reason of his wife's 
 descent, claimed the lordship of Brabant, 
 since Godfrey, the child of the late 
 Duke, had mysteriously disappeared. 
 Elsa was openly looked upon as the 
 child's murderer, and chief among her 
 accusers was Telramund, who had un- 
 successfully sought her hand in marriage. 
 Three days were given her to find a 
 champion in accordance with the custom 
 of the time, and as a fulfilment of her 
 dream, Lohengrin appears in his swan- 
 drawn boat to do battle for her inno- 
 cence. 
 
 The reward of the champion is to be 
 Elsa's love. But she must first give a 
 29
 
 apner s 
 
 promise. Whence he came, what his 
 name is, from whom he derives his 
 being, these three questions must 
 never pass between them when they 
 are united as man and wife. Elsa pro- 
 mises implicitly, and her sweet confi- 
 dence inspires Lohengrin to undertake 
 her defence. In the contest, Frederick 
 is disarmed, but his life is spared by his 
 opponent. Elsa gives herself and all her 
 possessions to Lohengrin, and Telramund 
 and the schemer, Ortrud, are to be out- 
 lawed. But before this can be accom- 
 plished there is time for the seeds of 
 mistrust to be sown in Elsa's heart. 
 Ortrud and Telramund plot together. 
 A wife and yet not a wife, Elsa, through 
 her curiosity, has to surrender the hero 
 who, from out of the world of her dreams, 
 came to her succour and gained her 
 love. But before Lohengrin departs the 
 30
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 lost Godfrey is restored. The swan is 
 changed and Ortrud's witchcraft un- 
 done. With the death of Elsa, the 
 departure of Lohengrin for Mont- 
 salvat, and the proclamation 
 of the youthful Godfrey 
 as the Protector 
 of Brabant, the 
 story ends. 
 
 3 1 
 
 -
 
 III. THE PRESENTATION OF THE OPERA 
 
 WHEN the score of " Lohengrin " 
 was published at Leipzig in 1852 
 it bore a dedication from Wagner at 
 Zurich "to my dear Liszt." This kind 
 and "rarest" friend had given Lohen- 
 grin its first hearing at Weimar two 
 years before : and one of the players 
 in the orchestra was Joachim, then nine- 
 teen years old. Wagner, a revolutionary 
 exile, wanted to return secretly to hear 
 it, but he was prevailed upon to keep 
 away. For years afterwards, he said he 
 was the only German music-lover who 
 had not heard Lohengrin. 
 
 In 1853 it began its slow, but suc- 
 33 c
 
 Wagner s 
 
 cessful course at Wiesbaden. It reached 
 Vienna and Munich in 1858, Berlin 
 in 1859, and Bologna, the home of the 
 opera, in 1871. It was first seen in 
 London in 1875, an< ^ proceeded to St. 
 Petersburg in the same year. Paris 
 waited until Lohengrin had reached the 
 ripe age of 44 years before hearing it. 
 In the guise of an Italian Opera it was 
 given at Co vent Garden in 1875, w ^ tn 
 Albani as Elsa, d'Angeri as Ortrud, 
 Maurel as Telramund, Monte as the 
 King, Carpi as Lohengrin, and Capponi 
 as the Herald. In June of the same 
 year it was given at Drury Lane with 
 Nilsson as the Elsa. The Carl Rosa 
 Company gave the first English repre- 
 sentation at the old "Her Majesty's" in 
 1880. Even in those days the "American 
 invasion " was nothing new. Both the 
 Elsa, Julia Gaylord and the Ortrud, 
 34
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 Josephine Yorke were from the other 
 side of the water; whilst Schott, of 
 Hanover, was the Lohengrin, Ludwig 
 the Telramund, and Leslie Crotty the 
 Herald. 
 
 The Moody-Manners Opera Com- 
 pany played it for the first time on 
 October 2yth, 1899, w ^^ Madame 
 Fanny Moody as Elsa, Mr. Hedmondt 
 as Lohengrin, Miss Marie Alexander as 
 Ortrud, Mr. William Dever as Telra- 
 mund, and Mr. Dillon Shallard as the 
 Herald. On this occasion, certain of 
 the usual " cuts " were restored, but it 
 was found subsequently that the accepted 
 acting version contained all that was 
 absolutely necessary for the proper re- 
 presentation of the opera. 
 
 Lohengrin was first given at Bayreuth 
 the opening festival of which was in 
 1 882 in 1 894, with the following cast : 
 35
 
 Wagner s Lohengrin 
 
 Lillian Nordica (Elsa), Marie Brema 
 (alternately with Pauline Meilhac as 
 Ortrud) ; Van Dyck (Lohengrin) ; 
 Carl Grengg (alternately with Mosel as 
 Heinrich) ; Popovici (Telramund) ; 
 Bachmann (the Herald). The con- 
 ductors were Mottl, Richter, 
 Richard Strauss, 
 Kniese and 
 Levi. 

 
 IV. CHARACTERS OF THE OPERA 
 IN THE ORDER OF THEIR 
 FIRST APPEARANCE. 
 
 THE HERALD (bass). 
 
 The Nobles of Brabant (chorus of 
 tenors and basses]. 
 
 HEINRICH THE FOWLER, the 
 German King (bass]. 
 
 The Saxon and Thuringian Nobles 
 (chorus of tenors and basses]. 
 
 FREDERICK OF TELRAMUND, 
 Count of Brabant (baritone]. 
 
 ORTRUD, his wife (mezzo-soprano). 
 
 ELSA OF BRABANT (soprano}. 
 
 Elsa's attendant maidens (chorus of 
 sopranos and contraltos). 
 37
 
 Wagner s Lohengrin 
 LOHENGRIN, Knight of the Grail 
 
 Four Nobles of Brabant, conspirators 
 with Frederick (2 tenors, 2 basses}. 
 
 Four Pages (2 sopranos, 2 contraltos}. 
 
 A Chorus of Pages (sopranos and 
 contraltos}.
 
 V. Music AND STORY SIDE-BY-SIDE. 
 
 THE prelude to Lohengrin is 
 built up from a single beautiful 
 motive which is admirably worked out, 
 and which symbolises the return of the 
 Holy Grail, escorted by a band of celes- 
 tial beings, to the mysterious castle of 
 Montsalvat, the mountain where it is 
 guarded by faithful knights, pure and 
 devout. 
 
 The GRAIL. 
 
 
 
 fr 'J-sr -br 5 
 
 
 39
 
 Wagner s 
 
 
 
 I f J J ^ J ~_^|^ 
 
 y^N-ii 
 
 tr F I T 
 
 $*i -F-r^ 
 
 u -u 
 
 This impressive melody, radiant with 
 its suggestions of the supernatural, gives 
 us a glimpse, as it were, of what Parsifal 
 was to be. It reveals how Wagner 
 built up, out of his wealth of ideas, his 
 own particular method of expressing 
 them. It is sufficient merely to hint at 
 this making of a language, rather than 
 to trace each analogy in separate works. 
 
 First given to the violins, in the highest 
 register, and divided among sets of four 
 instruments, this motive drifts into the 
 wood-wind, and is then taken up by the 
 violas and violoncellos, passes through 
 the horns, and finally swells gloriously 
 and triumphantly in the brass. Like the 
 blaze of a summer sunset, it dies away 
 
 4
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 gradually and mysteriously, and ends in 
 a whisper of the muted strings. 
 
 Under a spreading oak, surrounded 
 by the King's Ban, the Lords of Saxony 
 and Thuringia, sits Heinrich the Fow- 
 ler, the King of Germany. On the left, 
 headed by Frederick of Telramund, are 
 grouped the nobles and the people of 
 Brabant. At the extreme corner stands 
 Ortrud, daughter of the Frisian King, 
 Frederick's wife and evil genius. In the 
 background is the open country through 
 which, by tortuous windings, the river 
 Scheldt finds its way to the sea. 
 
 Escorted by four trumpeters sounding 
 the King's call, the King's Herald 
 advances, and demands the fealty of the 
 assembly. The King then describes 
 the situation to his subjects. He tells 
 them of the bitter strife with Hungary, 
 and how he has obtained a long truce 
 4 1
 
 Wagner s 
 
 for the purpose of making strong his 
 boundaries and disciplining his forces. 
 The nine years have expired, and a final 
 and conclusive blow will have to be 
 struck at the invaders and disturbers 
 of the peace. He then asks why internal 
 quarrels in Brabant are menacing the 
 unity of his empire, and why there is 
 no prince to rule the country ; and 
 commands Frederick to give him a plain 
 statement of affairs. This fine recitative 
 on the part of the King is broken, in 
 places, by the replies of the chorus. 
 
 Frederick tells the King how the 
 Duke of Brabant, at his death, left in his 
 charge young Godfrey, heir to the 
 throne, and Elsa his daughter. One 
 day when walking with Elsa, Godfrey 
 had mysteriously disappeared. Sure in 
 his own mind that the maiden had 
 committed a dastardly crime, he had re- 
 42
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 nounced her hand and taken Ortrud to 
 wife. He now unfolds his suspicions and 
 demands justice upon the murderess, 
 at the same time reminding the King of 
 his own connection with the princely line, 
 both through his relationship to the 
 Duke of Brabant and his kinship through 
 his wife. 
 
 The sympathy of the assembly is 
 given to Elsa, and even the King cannot 
 bring himself to believe in her guilt, but 
 Frederick persists in his accusations, and 
 hints at dark designs on her part, and a 
 secret love, in which, as mistress of 
 Brabant, she would be free to indulge. 
 The King decides to have her placed 
 upon her trial, and in a solemn invoca- 
 tion, asks the guidance of God. 
 
 There is a fresh call by the Herald, 
 and Elsa, gentle, grave and sad, slowly 
 enters, attended by her women. A motive 
 43
 
 Wagner s 
 
 of hope and calm resignation is now 
 heard in the orchestra. 
 
 ELSA. 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 The King asks Elsa if she will take him as 
 her judge, and if she truly understands 
 of what she is accused. As in a dream, 
 Elsa murmurs her brother's name. In 
 a kind of ecstasy she tells how she, 
 after praying to God, had fallen into a 
 deep sleep, in which she dreamed that a 
 Knight in shining armour had been sent 
 by Heaven for her protection. Him 
 she awaits, and in his miraculous defence 
 her safety is assured. In this relation of 
 her dream, the above Elsa motive will 
 be recognised in a modified form. Added 
 44
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 to this is the Lohengrin motive, typical 
 of the knightly grace and courtesy which 
 accompanies Lohengrin, with certain 
 changes, triumphantly throughout the 
 opera, until the final bars of the score, 
 when it changes into the minor key. 
 
 LOHENGRIN. 
 
 I ^^fe r*~^ k- i 
 
 Frederick, however, is not to be put off 
 by any semblance of innocence on Elsa's 
 part. Boasting of his past prowess, he 
 defies any one to take up Elsa's part 
 against him. The King then invokes the 
 
 45
 
 Wagner s 
 
 judgment of Heaven a similarity with 
 this motive to that of the treaty in the 
 Ring should be noticed and asks Elsa 
 to choose a champion. Elsa repeats 
 that she awaits, in confidence and trust, 
 the champion of her dream, on whom she 
 will bestow her heart and her kingdom. 
 
 East and west, north and south, the 
 trumpet-call is sounded and the combat 
 proclaimed ; and in an impressive silence 
 the call dies away. At Elsa's entreaty 
 the call is once more sent forth as she 
 prays in fervent ardour that she may not 
 be left to the devices of the wicked men 
 who have compassed her undoing. 
 
 As by a miracle, out of the distance 
 comes a boat drawn by a swan, in which 
 stands Lohengrin, clad all in silver. 
 As the slight vessel nears the bank, the 
 crowd look on amazed, Elsa is en- 
 raptured, and Frederick and Ortrud
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 glare with malevolence. In the orchestra 
 is heard the Lohengrin motive, and in 
 complement to it, the one of Glory ', which 
 has been interwoven with the former 
 motive in the music of Elsa's dream. 
 
 Blessing and taking leave of the swan 
 that has borne him, Lohengrin lands. 
 
 FAREWELL TO THE SWAN. 
 
 
 (Just before this the Grail motive is 
 again heard.) Elsa is roused from her 
 self-communings as Lohengrin asks her 
 if she will place her honour in his hands ; 
 and throwing herself at his feet she 
 consents to become his wife as soon as he 
 47
 
 Wagner s 
 
 has vindicated her in the sight of all. As 
 the Grail is again heard, he tells her 
 in reply that she must never ask his 
 name, nor seek to know from whence 
 he came. Weird and authoritative, from 
 the emphasis that Lohengrin gives it by 
 twice repeating it, the Mystery of the 
 Name is heard. 
 
 THE MYSTERY OF THE NAME. 
 
 Lohengrin and Frederick being now 
 face to face, the herald stations three 
 witnesses for Lohengrin and three for 
 Frederick respectively. After the pro- 
 clamation (which brings in the King's 
 motive, the Judgment), follows the King's 
 Prayer and a quintet which is taken 
 48
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 up by the chorus. As the fighters 
 engage, the Judgment^ this time appear- 
 ing in canon form, comes in at each 
 attack. As the Swan-Knight smites 
 Frederick to the ground and holds him 
 at his mercy, the Lohengrin motive is 
 heard. Elsa hails her champion's victory 
 in a fine phrase which is afterwards de- 
 veloped by the chorus, and the finale, 
 which begins at this point, ranks as one 
 of the masterpieces throughout the whole 
 range of opera. As the curtain is about 
 to descend, the Lohengrin motive swells 
 out in overpowering brilliance. 
 
 THE SECOND ACT. 
 
 In the short prelude to the second act 
 
 we have recalled to us the chief import 
 
 of the forthcoming action the instilling 
 
 into Elsa's mind of that doubt and 
 
 49 D
 
 W^agners 
 
 curiosity which is to be her ruin. A 
 grumbling, as it were, on the violoncellos 
 reveals Ortrud's plotting. 
 
 The scene is laid within the castle 
 walls. In the background, the windows 
 of the Knights' quarters shine like bright 
 spots through the darkness. On one side 
 is the porch of the castle chapel, on the 
 steps of which Frederick and Ortrud are 
 crouching, on the other is the Kemenate 
 the women's apartments approached 
 by a flight of steps leading to a balcony. 
 
 The long dialogue which takes place 
 between Frederick and Ortrud is a 
 mutual recrimination. This gives place 
 to the shaping of Ortrud's perfidy, and 
 the violoncellos again give out another 
 sombre phrase, the Doubt, worked up, as 
 Frederick sings, with a reminiscence of 
 the Mystery of the Name. In the swift 
 development of the story, for the musical 
 5
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 expression of a fixed purpose that 
 of the intent to instil into Elsa's mind 
 the curiosity which will tear away the 
 mystery which keeps Lohengrin's name 
 hid from her it would be impossible 
 to find Wagner's equal. 
 
 Frederick listens to his wife's plan. 
 Elsa must be worked upon. If she can 
 be made to break her promise, the 
 charm protecting the Swan-Knight will 
 be broken and he will become vulnerable. 
 Then Frederick will challenge him 
 again, and the slightest scratch will seal 
 his doom. 
 
 This gloomy episode, finely considered 
 and forcefully sustained, stands out as 
 one of the great things in the opera. A 
 terrible imprecation sung in unison by 
 Frederick and Ortrud, is as the signing 
 and sealing of a compact of revenge. 
 As Elsa now appears on the balcony,
 
 apner s 
 
 and in a sweet melody sings of her 
 happiness, Ortrud comes out of the 
 darkness and plays the suppliant. In 
 this duet the orchestra gives out the 
 Doubt and the Mystery of the Name. 
 Already, as Elsa descends, we know that 
 the poison instilled by Ortrud is begin- 
 ning to work. In wicked exultation, 
 Ortrud offers a wild prayer to her pagan 
 deities, and then, as Elsa approaches, 
 cringes in hypocritical supplication. 
 
 As they both enter the castle, the day 
 begins to break. Answering trumpet- 
 calls (in D) are followed by the King's 
 Call (in C). Anon, the previous key of D 
 is again brought in, with one of Wagner's 
 simple, yet daringly striking effects. 
 As the courtyard fills with people, the 
 Herald announces that by command of 
 the King, Frederick is banished, that the 
 Swan-Knight is to be Protector of 
 52
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 Brabant, and that he will accompany the 
 King to fresh triumphs on the battlefield. 
 
 The first procession that now passes 
 is that of Elsa, arrayed in her bridal 
 garments. As she reaches the steps of 
 the chapel, Ortrud bursts forth into an 
 impassioned appeal for her husband's 
 re-instatement. Who is this unknown 
 knight that has so quickly insinuated 
 into the favour of the people, she 
 asks. 
 
 The second procession, that of the 
 King and the Bridegroom, now ap- 
 proaches. The King bids Ortrud begone ; 
 but soon Frederick, in his turn, blazes 
 out in protest. Frederick, too, asks the 
 knight his name. Lohengrin refuses to 
 reveal aught to any one save Elsa, and 
 she, though obviously troubled, still 
 holds to her faith. Frederick, quick to 
 snatch his opportunities, sees her waver- 
 53
 
 Wagner s 
 
 ing and tries to counsel her. The 
 Swan-Knight,divining Frederick's intent, 
 for the last time asks Elsa if she will 
 trust him blindly. Elsa passionately 
 promises whole-hearted obedience and 
 implicit trust, and amid the pealing of 
 bells the procession is re-made, the 
 organ peals from the chapel, and the 
 Swan-Knight leads Elsa to the altar. 
 
 Through these stirring scenes, no use 
 is made of motives until the arrival of 
 the King. Then the Kings Call is 
 followed by the Lohengrin motive, and 
 the Judgment makes its appearance when 
 Frederick is accusing Lohengrin of 
 magical art in gaining the confidence of 
 the King and people. The Doubt, the 
 Mystery of the Name, and Ortrucfs Plotting 
 will all be recognised at the end, when 
 the King is about to enter the chapel 
 with Elsa and Lohengrin. 
 54
 
 Lohengrin 
 THE THIRD ACT. 
 
 The prelude to the final act, unlike 
 that of the second, which presages the 
 issue of that which is to follow, is an 
 imaginative piece of music which carries 
 on the wedding festivities. Its note is 
 that of joyfulness, and within the limits 
 of the expressive march and trio 
 Wagner has given us a fine piece of 
 music, gorgeous in colour, and admirably 
 contrasted. 
 
 The characteristic opening, the tender 
 and poetical melody of the trio, all give 
 way to the towering supremacy of the 
 familiar second theme, first given to the 
 violoncellos, bassoons and horns, and 
 then taken up majestically by the brass. 
 Like Beethoven, Wagner here breaks 
 out in sheer revelry of tune ; and like 
 the final movement of Beethoven's 
 55
 
 W^agners 
 
 violin-concerto this prelude never seems 
 to pall on the hearer. 
 
 The scene shows us the marriage 
 chamber. Large windows open to the 
 garden, and near them is a low couch. 
 Pages, women and nobles bring in the 
 newly wedded couple to the strains of a 
 wedding march. This is often pointed 
 to as some of the baser metal which 
 Wagner has used in his music-structure. 
 But surely its weakness is only apparent 
 when it is disjointed and offered as a 
 single piece of music. Placed as it is in 
 the opera, it is a perfect expression of 
 the words. Can one imagine any other 
 setting to " Treulich geftthrt " ? 
 
 At first giving herself up to sweet 
 emotion, Elsa lies in her husband's arms ; 
 but soon the inevitable curiosity asserts 
 itself. She becomes more and more 
 insistent, and in vain Lohengrin tries to 
 
 56
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 assuage her burning desire to discover 
 his identity. By the appearance of the 
 Swan motive we understand Elsa's 
 imagination that the boat is drawing 
 nigh to deprive her of her loved one. 
 In a frenzy she puts the fatal question, 
 and then, while the words are yet on 
 her lips, in burst Frederick and four 
 of the malcontent nobles bent on murder. 
 Elsa, however, has the presence of mind 
 to hand her husband his sword, and 
 Frederick is slain. 
 
 This is the beginning of the end. 
 Lohengrin orders the body of Frederick 
 to be carried before the King, and calls 
 to the attendants to robe Elsa. In the 
 presence of the King, he will answer the 
 fatal question. It is here that the motives 
 appear for the first time in this act. 
 The Doubt will be heard as Frederick is 
 slain, and, as his body is carried out, the 
 57
 
 Wagner s 
 
 Judgment. The Mystery of the Name, 
 followed by the Grail y comes in just as 
 the curtain closes on the scene. 
 
 When it rises again, the banks of the 
 Scheldt are again before our view. One 
 by one, the nobles who have assembled 
 to fight under the banner of the Pro- 
 tector, march in before the King, and 
 instead of appearing as a leader to battle, 
 the Protector comes in, preceded by 
 Frederick's corpse, to announce his 
 departure. In sadness, the King listens 
 to the story of Frederick's baseness, and 
 pardons his punisher, turning in horror 
 from the traitor. But the saddest is yet 
 to come. Lohengrin accuses the woman 
 he loves with having violated her 
 promise to the undoing of both, and then 
 reveals the secret. His father is 
 Parsifal, Keeper of the Grail, and he 
 is Lohengrin. The assembly receives 
 
 58
 
 Lohengrin 
 
 the tidings in awe. Elsa sees the great- 
 ness of her fault, and though too late, 
 pleads for time to expiate it. In vain 
 the nobles beg Lohengrin to stay. 
 
 Suddenly the Swan is seen returning. 
 Lohengrin full of sadness takes farewell 
 of it. Those standing near do not realise 
 the meaning of this farewell. Lohengrin, 
 overcome with grief, tells Elsa that he 
 hoped one day to restore her lost brother ; 
 and as he gives her his sword, ring and 
 horn, he charges her to keep them for 
 Godfrey, if ever it should chance that he 
 should yet be found. With a last long 
 embrace he approaches the boat. 
 
 Ortrud now explains the mystery of 
 the swan. She herself had transformed 
 Godfrey into the swan, and in brutal 
 exultation she points out that, with the 
 departure of Lohengrin, Godfrey will be 
 lost for ever. But Lohengrin overhears
 
 Wagner s Lohengrin 
 
 her and prays for the breaking of 
 the spell. In response to his prayer, the 
 dove of the Grail is seen to hover above 
 the swan, and in a moment Godfrey is 
 restored to his proper shape. But Elsa's 
 joy at the restoration of her long-lost 
 brother is eclipsed by her sorrow at the 
 loss of her loved one. The dove directs 
 the course of the boat and Lohengrin 
 departs for ever. The baffled Ortrud 
 drags herself away to die of disappoint- 
 ment, and as the nobles hail their young 
 lord with joy, Elsa breathes her last. 
 In the final music the motives have little 
 part. Only when the dove appears 
 does the Grail motive 
 once more assert 
 itself, and with its 
 solemn strains 
 the curtain 
 falls. 
 60
 
 Nights at the Opera 
 
 A series of hand-books for the music-lover, the object of 
 which is to reproduce in an attractive form an analysis of 
 the music, with a running commentary on the dramatic 
 element in the opera to which it is devoted. 
 
 BY WAKELING DRY 
 
 1. LOHENGRIN 
 
 2. TANNHAUSER 
 
 3. TRISTRAN & ISOLDE 
 
 4. MEISTERSINGER 
 
 5. RHEINGOLD & WALKURE 
 
 6. SIEGFRIED & GOTTERDAMMERUNG 
 
 12. THE FLYING DUTCHMAN 
 
 BY FRANCIS BURGESS 
 F.S~rf., Scot. 
 
 7. CARMEN 9. DON GIOVANNI 
 
 8. FAUST ID. IL TROVATORE 
 
 ii. RIGOLETTO 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 GEORGE W. JACOBS & CO. 
 
 PUBLISHERS
 
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