only three, the
Dutchman (_i_) and Senta (_j_), while a portion of the second (_k_)
may be regarded as a third, for it is used by itself, independently.
One little group of notes (_l_) I have seen described as a leitmotiv;
and if it is one, I should like to know what it stands for. As can be
seen, it is a bit of the Senta theme (fourth bar of _j_); and in the
overture a long connecting passage is built on it. But it also forms
part of the chorus of sailors in the first act, part of the watchman's
song in a varied form, part of another sailors' chorus (_m_); it is
the very backbone of the spinning chorus; and lastly, a large portion
of the spectral sailors' chorus is made up of it. I have no
explanation to offer--unless it be that Wagner, bent on suggesting the
sea throughout the opera, felt that this phrase helped him to sustain
the atmosphere. The sea, indeed, throughout the _Dutchman_, is the
background, foreground, the whole environment of the drama; in this
wild legend which came out of the sea, every action is related to the
sea, and one might say that the sea's voice is echoed in every one's
speech. The sea music, therefore, based on Senta's ballad--apart from
the leitmotivs which that contains--is of the very first importance.
The easiest way to get a firm grasp of the _Dutchman_ is to analyse
this ballad. Then in passing rapidly over the score afterwards we
shall see at a glance the structure of the whole, and how the new
thematic matter is either welded into this sea music or stodgily
interpolated. The song is too long to be transcribed here; but every
reader must have in his possession a copy at this time of day. There
are ten bars of introduction: in the eleventh, to the Dutchman theme,
Senta sings the "Yo-ho-ho"; at the fifteenth, with a glorious swing
and rush she dashes into the ballad--

"Traft ihr das Schiff im Meere an,
Blutroth die Segel, schwarz der Mast?
Auf hohem Bord der bleiche Mann,
Des Schilfes Herr, wacht ohne Rast."

This consists of eight bars--a four-bar section repeated. Then we get
the storm music, four bars of which I quote (_n_), and this is freely
employed throughout the opera. The storm subsides, and at bar
thirty-nine Senta sings to her own theme--

"Doch kann dem bleichen Manne Erloesung einstens noch werden,
Faend' er ein Weib, das bis in den Tod getreu ihm auf Erden."

leading into the second part (_k_) to the words--

"Ach! Wann wirst du, bleiche