layed in their construction.

'Fidelio,' as has already been said, is the only opera produced in
Germany at this period which is deserving of special mention. Mozart's
success had raised up a crop of imitators, of whom the most meritorious
were Suessmayer, his own pupil; Winter, who had the audacity to write a
sequel to 'Die Zauberfloete'; Weigl, the composer of the popular
'Schweizerfamilie' the Abbe Vogler, who, though now known chiefly by his
organ music, was a prolific writer for the stage; and Dittersdorf, a
writer of genuine humour, whose spirited Singspiel, 'Doktor und
Apotheker,' carried on the traditions of Hiller successfully. But though
the lighter school of opera in Germany produced nothing of importance,
upon the more congenial soil of France opera comique, in the hands of a
school of earnest and gifted composers, was acquiring a musical
distinction which it was far from possessing in the days of Gretry and
Monsigny. Strictly speaking, the operas of Mehul and Cherubini should be
ranked as operas comiques, by reason of the spoken dialogue which takes
the place of the recitative; but the high seriousness which continually
animates the music of these masters makes it impossible to class their
works with operas so different in aim and execution as those of Gretry.
Of the many writers of opera comique at the beginning of this century,
it will be enough to mention two of the most prominent, Nicolo and
Boieldieu. Nicolo Isouard (1777-1818), to give him his full name, shone
less by musical science or dramatic instinct than by a delicate and
pathetic grace which endeared his music to the hearts of his
contemporaries. He had little originality, and his facility often
descends to commonplace, but much of the music in 'Joconde' and
'Cendrillon' lives by grace of its inimitable tenderness and charm.
Nicolo is the Greuze of music. Boieldieu (1775-1834) stands upon a very
different plane. Although he worked within restricted limits, his
originality and resource place him among the great masters of French
music. His earlier works are, for the most, light and delicate trifles;
but in 'Jean de Paris' (1812) and 'La Dame Blanche' (1825), to name only
two of his many successful works, he shows real solidity of style and no
little command of musical invention, combined with the delicate melody
and pathetic grace which rarely deserted him. The real strength and
distinction of 'La Dame Blanche' have sufficed to keep it alive until