, finally, as the
quintessence of subtlety and reticence--in which respect, again, we are
reminded of its perfect, its well-nigh uncanny, correspondence with the
quality of Maeterlinck's drama.

As it has been remarked, Debussy's orchestra is here, with few
exceptions, the orchestra of Mozart's day. On page after page he writes
for strings alone, or for strings with wood-wind and horns. He uses the
full modern orchestra only upon the rarest occasions, and then more
often for color than for volume. He has an especial affection for the
strings, particularly in the lower registers; and he is exceedingly fond
of subdividing and muting them. It is rare to find him using the
wood-wind choir alone, or the wood and brass without the strings. His
orchestra contains the usual modern equipment--3 flutes, 2 oboes, 2
clarinets, an English horn, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3
trombones, bass tuba, kettledrums, glockenspiel, cymbals, 2 harps, and
strings; yet one may count on but little more than the fingers of both
hands the pages in which this apparatus is employed in its full
strength. And in spite of this curious and unpopular reticence, we
listen here, as M. Bruneau has observed, to "a magic orchestra"--an
orchestra of indescribable richness, delicacy, and suppleness--an
orchestra that melts and shimmers with opalescent hues--an orchestra
that has substance without density, sonority without blatancy,
refinement without thinness.

The music, as a whole, is as insinuating as it is unparalleled. Many
passages are of an hypnotic and abiding fascination. There is something
necromantic in the art which can so swiftly and so surely cast an
ineluctable spell upon the heart and the imagination: such a spell as is
cast in the scene at the _Fontaine des Aveugles_, in the second act; or
when, from the window in the castle tower, Melisande's unbound hair
falls and envelops Pelleas--an unforgettable page; or when the lovers
meet for the last time at the Fountain of the Blind; or in the scene of
Melisande's death--one of the most pathetic and affecting pages in all
music. One must wonder at the elasticity and richness of the harmonic
texture--which, while it is incurably "irregular," is never crude or
inchoate; at the distinction of the melodic line; at the rhythmical
variety; at the masterly and individual orchestration. No faculty of
trained perception is required justly to value the excellences of
Debussy's score. There is great beauty