uet des Feux-Follets_ and the _Ballet des Sylphes_, incidental
orchestral numbers from the _Damnation of Faust_; for they illustrate
convincingly what one means by the claim that Berlioz thought in terms
of orchestral color and suggestion. To give a musical picture of such
airy and fantastic imaginings by the mere repetition of conventional
formulae would obviously be of no avail. Berlioz's genius is equal to
the situation; and as we listen to the music we can really see the
flickering of the Will o' the Wisps and feel the graceful swaying of
the Sylphs as they hover about the sleeping Faust. To suggest the
Feux-Follets Berlioz ingeniously gives the theme to two piccolos in
thirds, which are supported by a rich but subdued mass of wind
instruments, horns and trumpets, _e.g._

[Music]

With equal felicity does he create the picture of the delicate,
graceful Sylphs. Any boisterous rhythmic activity would be quite out
of place; and so, above a sustained ground tone on muted 'cellos and
basses (which continues through the piece), and the slightest
suspicion of motion on the second violins and violas, there floats in
the first violins one of the most perfectly rounded and exquisite
melodies in existence, _e.g._

[Music]

In the closing measures there is a charming shadowy dialogue between
kettle-drums (struck with sponge-headed sticks) and harps, in
harmonics, carrying out Berlioz's stage directions--"Les esprits de
l'air se balancent quelque temps autour de Faust endormi et
disparaissent peu a peu." The piece ends with a chord barely whispered
on the clarinets, _pppp_, which, as Hadow aptly suggests, reminds us
of vanishing soap bubbles.

Berlioz's most sustained and perfect work, both in content and
treatment, is universally acknowledged to be the _Harold en Italie_
Symphony[236] in four movements for full orchestra and solo viola.
There is little actual correspondence between the scenes of Byron's
poem and the musical portrayal; and in fact, as Liszt says, "The title
clearly shows that the composer wished to render the impression which
the magnificent nature of Italy could not fail to make on a soul such
as that of Harold languishing in sorrow." The significant features of
the work are the melody for solo viola, recurring[237] in each
movement, which typifies Harold--that "melancholy dreamer," _e.g._,

[Music]

and the dazzling sensationalism of the Finale (Orgy of Brigands)
which, when it was once played "con a