ers, and Pelleas urges her not to stay at the
edge of the moonlight, but to come with him into the shadow of the
linden, there enters a theme of great beauty and tenderness, announced,
_mysterieusement_, by horns and 'cellos (page 236, measure 6). I may
call it, for want of a better name, the motive of _The Shadows_, since
it appears only in association with the thought of sheltering darkness
and concealment:

XVII. THE SHADOWS

[Illustration: Modere]

We hear the _Fate_ motive when Melisande warns Pelleas that it is late,
that they must take care, as the gates of the castle will soon be closed
for the night. There is a gracious variant of this motive as Melisande
tells how she caught her gown on the nails of the gate as she left the
castle, and so was delayed. Then comes a reminiscence of the _Fountain_
theme (the authentic wonder of which is that it is not a theme at all,
but merely a single chord introduced by a grace-note; yet the vividness
of its effect is indisputable), suggested, _pp_, by horns and harp, at
Melisande's words: "We have been here before." As Pelleas asks her if
she knows why he has bidden her to meet him, strings and horn give out,
_pp et tres expressif_, a lovely phrase derived from the _Pelleas_ theme
(page 242, measure 1). Their mutual

XVIII

[Illustration: Modere]

confessions of love, so simply uttered in the text, are entirely
unaccompanied by the orchestra; but as Pelleas exclaims: "The ice is
melted with glowing fire!" four solo 'cellos, with sustained harmonics
in the violins and violas, sound, _pianissimo_, a ravishing series of
"ninth-chords" (page 244, measure 6)--a sheer Debussy-esque effect, for
the relation between the chords is as absolutely anarchistic as it is
deeply beautiful. "Your voice seems to have

XIX

[Illustration: Lent]

[Illustration]

blown across the sea in spring," says Pelleas, and a horn, accompanied
by violins in six parts, announces the motive of _Ecstasy_ (page 245,
measure 7):

XX. ECSTASY

[Illustration: Modere]

The 'cellos intone the _Melisande_ theme as Pelleas tells her that he
has never seen anyone so beautiful as she; the theme of _Ecstasy_
follows in the strings, horns, and wood-wind, _forte_; the theme of
_The Shadows_ returns as Pelleas again invites her into the darkness
beneath the trees; there is a dolorous hint of the _Melisande_ theme as
she says that she is happy, yet sad. And then the amorous and caressing
quality o