he bow into the fire, when the
beggar advances and asks leave to try his strength at bending it,
which, though indignantly refused by the suitors, is immediately
granted by Telemachus, who owns the bow. Odysseus bends it and shoots
through all the rings.

During this scene Pallas appears in the air, holding her shield aloft.
Horror seizes the wooers, when they recognize the mighty arm, which
alone can bend the bow, and Odysseus, flinging his cloak from him and
standing erect in his shining armour, slays his enemies aided by his
son and those of his servants who have remained true to him and to
their queen. The latter, walking slowly over the peristyle all at once
sees Odysseus and recognizes her lord, who folds her to his heart.
When the palace is cleared of the dead, the people press in to hail
their king and Athene appears once more, holding her shield over the
happy crowd and blessing the faithful spouse.

{389}

BEARSKIN.

(DER BAeRENHAeUTER).

An Opera in three acts by SIEGFRIED WAGNER.

In the beginning of the year 1899 a great sensation thrilled through
the musical world; Siegfried Wagner had written his first musical
drama. Some call him the small son of a great father; others consider
him to be the true heir of his father's greatness; I, for my part think
that the truth, as usual, lies between these two extremes.

The drama was first performed in January 1899 on the Munich Stage, and
a few days later Leipzig followed suit. The effect the work produced
was much greater than the opponents of the young composer thought
possible, and no doubt the "Baerenhaeuter" will soon appear on all stages
of importance, including that of Bayreuth, whose fanatical adherents
have noised abroad young Siegfried's fame perhaps too loudly and too
early for his advantage. That his work shows talent nobody will deny
after having heard this drama, which is however not free from imitation
of the works of greater masters. The manner of instrumentation, the
musical declamation are his father's, but the orchestration is much
simpler, and, unlike his father, he produces his greatest and best
effects by means of simple melodies, but he fails when he seeks to
become pathetic or dramatic. Like most modern composers he has written
his libretto himself, and he has chosen a most original subject from
one of {390} Grimm's old fairy tales. The story is well told though at
rather too great a length, and both libretto and musi