adoring your beloved at a safe
distance and never disturbing her (nor yourself) with a word about
human passion; but, for my humble part, I beg to say I always share
Tannhaeuser's impatience and am glad when it is over. As soon as
Tannhaeuser gets up the mighty spirit of Wagner begins to work. With a
dramatic abruptness that startles one, a fragment of a Venusberg theme
shoots up; then a few chords, and Tannhaeuser begins praise of the
thing he understands by love. His strains are impassioned--too much so
for another of the troubadours, Walther, who follows somewhat in
Wolfram's manner, but with much more energy. Again there is, as it
were, a glimpse of the Venusberg fire in the orchestra, and Tannhaeuser
sings another song, more intense, again, in passion than his first,
and ending with an aggressively fierce declaration of his creed.
Biterolf challenges him; the Venusberg music boils up once more--we
almost see the vision that is about to break on Tannhaeuser's inner
sight; he sings more passionately still the joys of a human love;
Wolfram again contends, giving us this time a really glorious song,
and the storm breaks: the Venusberg is before Tannhaeuser's eyes; the
violins sweep to their highest register, and remain there boiling and
dancing in a kind of divine fury; and in mad exaltation he chants his
hymn to Venus. Then the commotion occurs as I have described.

Let us consider this scene a moment. For theatrical effect, in the
best sense, it is in most respects one of the greatest Wagner wrote.
There is the pomp of the entry of the knights and ladies, and
afterwards of the minstrels; the Landgrave's music is effective, which
is more than can be said for that usually allotted to the heavy father
in an opera; the business of arranging the order in which the
competitors shall stand up is accompanied by fragments of the graceful
march--or, rather, processional--to which the minstrels had entered,
and these come as a welcome preparation of the ear for the essential
part of the scene. Wolfram's first effort, I say, I can hardly
tolerate, considered as a piece of composition; yet, shortened, it
would be admirably in place. From the moment Tannhaeuser begins all is
perfect. Tannhaeuser's music grows in intensity, and Wagner is careful
not to give us a setback by allowing the other singers to throw
Wolfram-ian cold douches over us; on the contrary, they get excited,
too; and the orchestra is let loose with them by degree