oduced by the dream is still further heightened when it
is found that a funeral instead of a bridal wreath has been made for
her; but her heart lightens up again as she remembers the magic
rose-wreath which the hermit had enjoined her to wear on her wedding
day. At last the eventful day of trial comes, and the Prince and all
his courtiers assemble to witness the match. Max makes six shots in
succession which go home to the mark. At the Prince's command he fires
the seventh, Zamiel's bullet, at a dove flying past. As he fires,
Agatha appears to him as the dove, and he fancies he has slain her.
The wreath protects her, however, and Zamiel directs the bullet to
Caspar's heart. The demon claims his victim, and Max his bride, amid
general rejoicing.

The overture, which is one of the most favorite numbers of its class
in the concert-room as well as in the opera-house, is a masterpiece of
brilliant and descriptive instrumentation, and furnishes us with a key
to the whole story in its announcement of the leading themes. It opens
with an adagio horn passage of great beauty, giving us the groundwork
of the entire action; and then follow motives from Max's grand scena
in the first act, the Incantation music, Agatha's moonlight scene, and
other episodes connected with the action of Max and Caspar. Indeed,
the frequent and expressive use of the _Leit motif_ all through the
work seem to entitle Weber to the credit of its invention.

The first act opens with a spirited chorus of villagers, followed by a
lively march and a comic song by Kilian, in which he rallies Max upon
his bad luck. The next number is a trio and chorus, with solos for the
principals, Max, Kuno, and Caspar ("O diese Sonne, furchtbar steigt
sie mir empor"). Max laments his fate, but Kuno encourages him, while
Caspar insinuates his evil plot. The trio is of a sombre cast at the
beginning, but by a sudden change the horns and an expressive
combination of the chorus give it a cheerful character. It is once
more disturbed, however, by Caspar's ominous phrases, but at last Kuno
and his men cheer up the despondent lover with a brisk hunting-chorus,
and the villagers dance off to a lively waltz tempo. Max is left
alone, and the next number is a grand tenor scene. It opens with a
gloomy recitative, which lights up as he thinks of Agatha, and then
passes into one of the most tender and delicious of melodies ("Durch
die Waelder, durch die Auen"), set to a beautiful accompani