tram, intrigue against
Melusina. They denounce her as a witch, and the accusation seems to be
justified by a drought which has fallen upon the land since the marriage.
The suffering people loudly clamor for the surrender of the "foul witch."
After long resistance Raymond is induced to break into the bathing-house
which he had erected over the fountain. Melusina and her nymphs,
surprised by him, call upon the king of the water-spirits to avenge his
treason. The king appears and consigns him to death. Seized with pity,
Melusina intercedes for him, and the king agrees to spare his life upon
condition that they shall separate. Raymond once more embraces her,
neither of them knowing that it will be fatal to him, dies in her arms,
and the sorrowing Melusina returns to the flood.

The prologue describes Melusina's fountain, and contains a leading motive
which characterizes Raymond. The chorus part is very romantic in its
style, and is set to a graceful, poetical accompaniment. The opening
number introduces Melusina and her nymphs in a chorus extolling their
watery abode ("For the Flood is life-giving"). In the second number she
describes the passion she feels when thinking of Raymond. The song is
interrupted by horn signals indicating the approach of her lover and his
hunters, who join in a fresh, vigorous hunting-song and then disperse. In
the fourth number Raymond gives expression to his love for Melusina,
followed by a fervid duet between them, in which the lovers interchange
vows of constancy. The sixth number, describing their engagement in
presence of the nymphs, and concluding with a stirring chorus of nymphs
and hunters, closes the first part.

The second part begins with a theme from the love-duet, followed by a
significant theme in the minor, ominous of approaching danger. In the
eighth number the people clamor in furious chorus for the witch. In the
ninth, a trio and chorus, Clotilda warns her son of the misery he has
brought upon his house and people, and urges him to discover what his
wife does on the seventh day. The next number introduces Melusina and her
nymphs in the bath, the former singing a plaintive song ("Love is
freighted with Sorrow and Care"). A noise is heard at the gate, and the
nymphs join in a chorus in canon form ("Hark! hark! Who has come to
watch"). As Raymond appears, the scene grows very dramatic. The king of
the water-spirits is summoned; but before he rises from the water
Melusina, in very