he words "_come se fosse l'ultima ora del nostro amor_," constitute
one phrase. It would be extremely difficult, impossible even, for
many, to sing the passage in one breath. But the first musical phrase
ends after the word "_ultima_;" to separate it from the next word,
"_ora_" (second and third bars), thus: "last--hour," is impracticable.
It would be out of the question to destroy the musical phrase by
breathing after the word "_ora_," in the third bar. If the text is
phrased when spoken as it is when sung, the incongruity is at once
apparent. The published score gives a pause [fermata symbol] after the
word "_ora_:" "_ultima ora_ [fermata symbol] _del nostro amor_." This
phrasing is good and effective, especially if the artist changes at
once to the sombre quality after the pause, and finishes the phrase
_piano_ and _rallentando_. One very often hears it, however, given
with a pause for breathing after the high _a_; the unfortunate singer
having prolonged the tone until, in order to continue, he is compelled
to take in more air. The result is the absurd phrasing given below:

[Music: l'ultima ora del nostro amor]

In the final cadenza, the composer has cut out the word "ora"
altogether. The whole air is of interest to the musical student, as it
shows clearly the little value attached by Verdi, at that period of
his career, to the exigencies of the verbal or poetic phrase. This
neglect of the verbal punctuation is in marked contrast to the care he
bestowed on it in his later works, witness _Aida_, _Otello_, and
particularly _Falstaff_.

Here I may say that it is sometimes necessary to alter the words on
account of the impossibility of performing certain passages as
written. In the earlier published scores of _Samson et Dalila_
(Saint-Saens), the following passage in Act II, "Mon coeur s'ouvre a
ta voix," as the composer wrote it, occurs as one phrase:

[Music: Ah! reponds a ma tendresse!]

This being impracticable of execution in one phrase, and there being
no opportunity of retaking breath until the close of the passage, it
was altered in the later editions, and now stands thus:

[Music: Ah! reponds, reponds a ma tendresse!]

This device of repetition, applied either to a word or to part of a
phrase, is perfectly justifiable in cases where the artist, for
physical reasons, is unable to sing the phrase in one breath. I give
an excerpt from Weber's _Der Freischuetz_ (Grand Air, Act II):

[Music: Oh lovely night