c choral finale, the
music is an astonishing combination of divinely beautiful melody with
marvels of contrapuntal skill. Perhaps the most surprising part of 'Die
Zauberfloete' is the extraordinary ease and certainty with which Mozart
manipulates what is practically a new form of art. Nursed as he had been
in the traditions of Italian opera, it would not have been strange if he
had not been able to shake off the influences of his youth. Yet 'Die
Zauberfloete' owes but little to any Italian predecessor. It is German to
the core. We may be able to point to passages which are a development of
something occurring in the composer's earlier works, such as 'Die
Entfuehrung,' but there is hardly anything in the score of 'Die
Zauberfloete' which suggests an external influence. Its position in the
world of music is ably summarised by Jahn: 'If in his Italian operas
Mozart assimilated the traditions of a long period of development and in
some sense put the finishing stroke to it, with "Die Zauberfloete" he
treads on the threshold of the future, and unlocks for his country the
sacred treasure of national art.'

Of Mozart's work as a whole, it is impossible to speak save in terms
which seem exaggerated. His influence upon subsequent composers cannot
be over-estimated. Without him, Rossini and modern Italian opera, Weber
and modern German, Gounod and modern French, would have been impossible.
It may be conceded that the form of his operas, with the alternation of
airs, concerted pieces and _recitativo secco_, may conceivably strike
the ears of the uneducated as old-fashioned, but the feelings of
musicians may best be summed up in the word of Gounod: 'O Mozart, divin
Mozart! Qu'il faut peu te comprendre pour ne pas t'adorer! Toi, la
verite constante! Toi, la beaute parfaite! Toi, le charme inepuisable!
Toi, toujours profond et toujours limpide! Toi, l'humanite complete et
la simplicite de l'enfant! Toi, qui as tout ressenti, et tout exprime
dans une langue musicale qu'on n'a jamais surpassee et qu'on ne
surpassera jamais.'

CHAPTER V

THE CLOSE OF THE CLASSICAL PERIOD

MEHUL--CHERUBINI--SPONTINI--BEETHOVEN--BOIELDIEU

Mozart and Gluck, each in his respective sphere, carried opera to a
point which seemed scarcely to admit of further development. But before
the advent of Weber and the romantic revolution there was a vast amount
of good work done by a lesser order of musicians, who worked on the
lines laid down by their gre