's arms. The closing
scene shows the discomfiture and disgrace of Pizarro, and the
restoration of Florestan to his lost honours and dignity.

The form of 'Fidelio,' like that of "Die Zauberfloete," is that of the
Singspiel. In the earlier and lighter portions of the work the
construction of the drama does not differ materially from that of the
generality of Singspiele, but in the more tragic scenes the spoken
dialogue is employed with novel and extraordinary force. So far from
suggesting any feeling of anti-climax, the sudden relapse into agitated
speech often gives an effect more thrilling than any music
could command. At two points in the drama this is especially
remarkable--firstly, in the prison quartet, after the flourish of
trumpets, when Jaquino comes in breathless haste to announce the arrival
of the Minister; and secondly, in the brief dialogue between the husband
and wife which separates the quartet from the following duet. Leonore's
famous words, 'Nichts, nichts, mein Florestan,' in particular, if
spoken with a proper sense of their exquisite truth and beauty, sum up
the passionate devotion of the true-hearted wife, and her overflowing
happiness at the realisation of her dearest hopes, in a manner which for
genuine pathos can scarcely be paralleled upon the operatic stage.

It is hardly necessary to point out to the student of opera the steady
influence which Mozart's music exercised upon Beethoven's development.
Yet although Beethoven learnt much from the composer of 'Don Giovanni,'
there is a great deal in 'Fidelio' with which Mozart had nothing to do.
The attitude of Beethoven towards opera--to go no deeper than questions
of form--was radically different from that of Mozart. Beethoven's talent
was essentially symphonic rather than dramatic, and magnificent as
'Fidelio' is, it has many passages in which it is impossible to avoid
feeling that the composer is forcing his talent into an unfamiliar if
not uncongenial channel. This is especially noticeable in the concerted
pieces, in which Beethoven sometimes seems to forget all about opera,
characters, dramatic situation and everything else in the sheer delight
of writing music. No one with an ounce of musical taste in his
composition would wish the canon-quartet, the two trios or the two
finales, to take a few instances at random, any shorter or less
developed than they are, but one can imagine how Mozart would have
smiled at the lack of dramatic feeling disp