staircase to a
turret chamber. Before she enters she sings an aria, of a tranquil,
dreamy nature ("Whither away, my Heart?"), and interwoven with it are
heard the gradually lessening strains of the dance-music, which ceases
altogether as her song comes to an almost inaudible close.

The second scene opens in the turret chamber, where the Wicked Fay,
disguised as an old crone, is spinning. After a short dialogue, in which
the Fay explains to the Princess the use of the wheel, she bids her
listen, and sings a weird ballad ("As I sit at my Spinning-wheel, strange
Dreams come to me"), closing with the refrain of the old prophecy, "Ere
the Buds of her Youth are blown." The Princess dreamily repeats the
burden of the song, and then, fearing the presence of some ill-omen,
opens the door to escape. She hears the dance-music again, but the Fay
gently draws her back and induces her to touch the flax. As she does so,
the Fay covertly pricks her finger with the spindle. She swoons away, the
dance-music suddenly stops, and there is a long silence, broken at last
by the Fay's triumphant declaration: "Thus have I wrought my Vengeance."
The next number is the Incantation Music ("Spring from the Earth, red
Roses"), a very dramatic declamation, sung by the Fay and interwoven with
snatches of chorus and the refrain of the prophecy. A choral interlude
("Sleep in Bower and Hall") follows, describing in a vivid manner, both
with voices and instruments, the magic sleep that fell upon the castle
and all its inmates, and the absence of all apparent life save the
spiders weaving their webs on the walls as the years go by:--

"The spells of witchcraft which enthrall
Each sleeper in that desolate hall,
Who can break them?
Say, who can lift the deathly blight
That covers king and lord and knight,
To give them back to life and light,
And awake them?"

The answer comes in an animated prelude, through which is heard the
strain of a horn signal, constantly growing louder, and heralding the
Prince, who enters the silent palace, sword in hand, among the sleeping
courtiers, knights, and ladies. After a vigorous declamation ("Light,
Light at last") he passes on his way to the turret chamber, where he
beholds the sleeping Princess. The love-song which follows ("Kneeling
before Thee, worshipping wholly") is one of the most effective portions
of the work. His kiss awakes her, and as she springs up, the dance-music
at once resumes from the