ject. There is
very little except the subject common to the two works. 'Sigurd' is a
work of no little power and beauty, but it is conceived upon a totally
different plan from that followed in Wagner's later works. Reyer uses
guiding themes, often with admirable effect, but they do not form the
foundation of his system. Vigorous and brilliant as his orchestral
writing is, it is generally kept in subservience to the voices, and
though in the more declamatory parts of the opera he writes with the
utmost freedom, he has a lurking affection for four-bar rhythm, and many
of the songs are conveniently detachable from the score. 'Sigurd' is
animated throughout by a loftiness of design worthy of the sincerest
praise. Reyer's melodic inspiration is not always of the highest, but he
rarely sinks below a standard of dignified efficiency. In 'Salammbo,' a
setting of Flaubert's famous romance which was produced at Brussels in
1890, he did not repeat the success of 'Sigurd.' 'Salammbo' is put
together in a workmanlike way, but there is little genuine inspiration
in the score. The local colour is not very effectively managed, and
altogether the work is lacking in those qualities of brilliancy and
picturesqueness which Flaubert's Carthaginian story seems to demand.

Reyer and Saint Saens both show traces of the influence of Wagner, but
though guiding themes are often employed with excellent effect in their
works, the general outlines of their operas remain very much in
accordance with the form handed down by Meyerbeer. Massenet, on the
other hand, has drunk more deeply at the Bayreuth fountain. His early
comic operas, 'La Grand' Tante' (1867) and 'Don Cesar de Bazan' (1872)
are purely French in inspiration, and even 'Le Roi de Lahore' (1877),
his first great success, does not show any very important traces of
German influence. Its success was largely due to the brilliant spectacle
of the Indian Paradise in the third act. The score is rich in sensuous
melody of the type which we associate principally with the name of
Gounod, and the subtle beauties of the orchestration bear witness to the
hand of a master.

In 'Herodiade' (1881) the influence of Wagner becomes more noticeable,
though it hardly amounts to more than an occasional trifling with
guiding themes. The libretto is a version of the Biblical story of St.
John the Baptist, considerably doctored to suit Parisian taste. When
'Herodiade' was performed in London in 1904, under the ti