. After the conspirators have departed, Raoul and Valentin
have a long and affecting interview, in which he hesitates between
love and honor, Valentin striving to detain him lest he may be
included in the general massacre. Honor at last prevails, and he joins
his friends just before the work of slaughter begins. He rushes to the
festivities which are about to be given in honor of the marriage of
Marguerite with the King of Navarre, and warns the Huguenots of their
danger. He then makes his way to a chapel where many of them are
gathered for refuge. He finds Marcel, who has been wounded, and who
brings him the tidings of the death of De Nevers. The faithful
Valentin joins them to share their fate. Amid the horrors of the
massacre Marcel blesses and unites them. They enter the church and all
perish together.

The first act opens with the brilliant chorus of the revellers
("Piacer della mensa"), which is full of courtly grace. Raoul tells
the story of the unknown fair one he has encountered, in the romanza,
"Piu bianca del velo." When Marcel is called upon, he hurriedly chants
the hymn, "O tu che ognor," set to the Martin Luther air, "Ein feste
Burg," and heightened by a stirring accompaniment, and then bursts out
into a graphic song ("Finita e pe' frati"), emphasized with the
piff-paff of bullets and full of martial fervor. In delightful
contrast with the fierce Huguenot song comes the lively and graceful
romanza of Urbain ("Nobil donna e tanto onesta"), followed by a
delightful septet. The scene now changes, and with it the music. We
are in the Queen's gardens at Chenonceaux. Every number, the Queen's
solo ("A questa voce sola"), the delicate "Bathers' Chorus," as it is
called ("Audiam, regina, in questo amene sponde"), the brilliant and
graceful allegretto sung by Urbain ("No, no, no, no"), the duet
between the Queen and Raoul, based upon one of the most flowing of
melodies, and the spirited and effective finale in which the nobles
take the oath of allegiance ("Per la fe, per l'onore"),--each and
every one of these is colored with consummate skill, while all are
invested with chivalrous refinement and stately grace.

The second act opens with a beautiful choral embroidery in which
different choruses, most striking in contrast, are interwoven with
masterly skill. It is a picture, in music, of the old Paris. The
citizens rejoice over their day's work done. The Huguenots shout their
lusty Rataplan, while the Papist maide