: the mind enters into
it; I read in it a romance, a poem of chivalry. The _exposition_ is now
finished; the resources of music would seem to be exhausted; you have
never heard anything like it before; and yet it is homogeneous. You have
had life set before you, and its one and only _crux_: 'Shall I be happy
or unhappy?' is the philosopher's query. 'Shall I be saved or damned?'
asks the Christian."

With these words Gambara struck the last chord of the chorus, dwelt on
it with a melancholy modulation, and then rose to drink another large
glass of Giro. This half-African vintage gave his face a deeper flush,
for his passionate and wonderful sketch of Meyerbeer's opera had made
him turn a little pale.

"That nothing may be lacking to this composition," he went on, "the
great artist has generously added the only _buffo_ duet permissible for
a devil: that in which he tempts the unhappy troubadour. The composer
has set jocosity side by side with horror--a jocosity in which he mocks
at the only realism he had allowed himself amid the sublime imaginings
of his work--the pure calm love of Alice and Raimbaut; and their life is
overshadowed by the forecast of evil.

"None but a lofty soul can feel the noble style of these _buffo_ airs;
they have neither the superabundant frivolity of Italian music nor the
vulgar accent of French commonplace; rather have they the majesty of
Olympus. There is the bitter laughter of a divine being mocking the
surprise of a troubadour Don-Juanizing himself. But for this dignity we
should be too suddenly brought down to the general tone of the opera,
here stamped on that terrible fury of diminished sevenths which resolves
itself into an infernal waltz, and finally brings us face to face with
the demons.

"How emphatically Bertram's couplet stands out in B minor against that
diabolical chorus, depicting his paternity, but mingling in fearful
despair with these demoniacal strains.

"Then comes the delightful transition of Alice's reappearance, with
the _ritornel_ in B flat. I can still hear that air of angelical
simplicity--the nightingale after a storm. Thus the grand leading
idea of the whole is worked out in the details; for what could be more
perfectly in contrast with the tumult of devils tossing in the pit than
that wonderful air given to Alice? '_Quand j'ai quitte la Normandie_.'

"The golden thread of melody flows on, side by side with the mighty
harmony, like a heavenly hope; it is embro