s to her sometimes, we hear,
very softly, the theme of _Awakening Desire_. As their talk progresses
to its climax, there is a recurrence of the _Fate_ theme; then, as
Golaud, upon discovering the loss of her wedding-ring, harshly tells her
that he "would rather have lost everything than that," the trombones and
tuba declaim (page 99, measure 5) a threatening and sinister phrase
which will later be more definitely associated with the thought of
Golaud's vengeful purpose:

XI. VENGEANCE

[Illustration: Anime, un peu retenu]

This is repeated still more vehemently three measures further on, and
there is a return of the _Fate_ motive as Melisande, at the bidding of
Golaud, goes forth to seek the missing ring. An interlude, in which are
blended the variant of the _Melisande_ theme, which denotes her
grieving, and the shimmering figure in sixteenth-notes heard during the
dialogue at the fountain, leads into the scene before the grotto.

As Pelleas and Melisande stand in the darkness of the cavern we hear
again (page 110, measure 2) the variant of the _Fate_ motive which
marked the close of the preceding scene; then, as a sudden shaft of
moonlight illuminates the grotto, it is expanded and transmuted into a
gleaming flood of orchestral and harmonic color (two flutes, oboe, two
harps _glissando_, string tremolos, cymbals _pp_). While they talk of
the beggars sleeping in a corner of the cave, an oboe and flute trace a
tenuous and melancholy phrase (_doux et triste_) which continues almost
to the end of the scene; it leads into a quiet coda formed out of the
theme of _Fate_.

ACT III

After several bars of preluding by flute, harp, violas, and 'cellos
(harmonics), on an arpeggio figure, _ppp_, flutes and oboe present (page
115, measure 6) a theme which, in an ampler version, dominates the
entire scene. Its complete form, in which I conceive it to be suggestive
of the magic of night, is as follows (page 118, measure 2):

XII. NIGHT

[Illustration: Modere sans lenteur]

It continues in the orchestra until, as Pelleas urges Melisande to lean
further out of the window that he may see her hair unbound, a new theme
enters, seeming to characterize the ardor of Pelleas' mood (page 120,
measure 3[9]):

[9] I quote it as it appears in its maturer form on page 125 (measure
3).

XIII. ARDOR

[Illustration: Animez toujours]

As Melisande leans further and further out of her window, these two
themes (_Night_ and