pens in Daland's
home, where the melancholy Senta sits surrounded by her companions,
who are spinning. To the whirring accompaniment of the violins they
sing a very realistic spinning song ("Summ' und brumm du gutes
Maedchen"), interrupted at intervals by the laughter of the girls as
they rally Senta upon her melancholy looks. Senta replies with a weird
and exquisitely melodious ballad ("Johohae! traefft ihr das Schiff im
Meere an"), in which she tells the story of the Flying Dutchman, and
anticipates her own destiny. The song is full of intense feelings and
is characterized by a motive which frequently recurs in the opera, and
is the key to the whole work. A duet follows between Eric and Senta,
the melodious character of which shows that Wagner was not yet
entirely freed from Italian influences. A short duet ensues between
Senta and her father, and then the Dutchman appears. As they stand and
gaze at each other for a long time, the orchestra meanwhile supplying
the supposed emotions of each, we have a clew to the method Wagner was
afterwards to employ so successfully. A duet between Senta and the
Dutchman ("Wie aus der Ferne") and a terzetto with Daland close the
act.

The third act opens with another sailors' chorus ("Steuermann, lass'
die Wacht"), and a brisk dialogue between them and the women who are
bringing them provisions. The latter also hail the crew of the
Dutchman's vessel, but get no reply until the wind suddenly rises,
when they man the vessel and sing the refrain with which the Dutchman
is continually identified. A double chorus of the two crews follows.
Senta then appears accompanied by Eric, who seeks to restrain her from
following the stranger in a very dramatic duet ("Was muss ich
hoeren?"). The finale is made up of sailors' and female choruses, and a
trio between Senta, Daland, and the Dutchman, which are woven together
with consummate skill, and make a very effective termination to the
weird story. There are no points in common between "The Flying
Dutchman" and "Rienzi," except that in the former Wagner had not yet
clearly freed himself from conventional melody. It is interesting as
marking his first step towards the music of the future in his use of
motives, his wonderful treatment of the orchestra in enforcing the
expression of the text, and his combination of the voices and
instrumentation in what he so aptly calls "The Music-Drama."

TANNHAEUSER

"Tannhaeuser und der Singerkrieg auf Wartbu