er all, the love music
in the third act. The dreamy languor which pervades the scene, the
cloying sweetness of the harmonies, the melting beauty of the
orchestration, all combine to produce an effect; which was at that time
entirely new to opera, and had no little share in forming the modern
school. With all his admiration of Mozart, Gounod possessed little of
his idol's genius for characterisation. The types in 'Faust' do not
stand out clearly. Margaret, for instance, is merely a sentimental
school-girl; she has none of the girlish freshness and innocence of
Goethe's Gretchen, and Mephistopheles is much more of a tavern bully
than a fallen angel. Yet with all its faults 'Faust' remains a work of a
high order of beauty. Every page of the score tells of a striving after
a lofty ideal, and though as regards actual form Gounod made no attempt
to break new ground, the aim and atmosphere of 'Faust,' no less than the
details of its construction, contrast so strongly with the conventional
Italianism of the day, that it may well be regarded as the inauguration
of a new era in French music.

'Faust' marks the zenith of Gounod's career. After 1859 he was content
for the most part merely to repeat the ideas already expressed in his
_chef-d'oevre_, while in form his later works show a distinctly
retrograde movement. He seems to have known nothing of the inward
impulse of development which led Wagner and Verdi from strength to
strength.

Philemon et Baucis' (1860) is a charming modernisation of a classical
legend. Jupiter and Vulcan, visiting earth for the purpose of punishing
the impiety of the Phrygians, are driven by a storm to take refuge in
the cottage of an aged couple, Philemon and Baucis. Pleased with the
hospitable treatment which he receives at their hands, and touched by
the mutual affection of the old people, which time has done nothing to
impair, Jupiter restores their lost youth to them. This leads to
dangerous complications. The rejuvenated Baucis is so exceedingly
attractive that Jupiter himself falls a victim to her charms, and
Philemon becomes jealous and quarrelsome. Baucis finally persuades
Jupiter to promise her whatever she wishes, and having extorted the oath
compels him to return to Olympus, leaving Philemon and herself to enjoy
another lifetime of uninterrupted happiness. 'Philemon et Baucis'
adheres strictly to the conventional lines of opera comique, and has
little beyond its tuneful grace and delicate o