sick father. In the last act, the parents,
having, as they think, snatched their child from destruction, do all in
their power to keep her at home. At first she is resigned, but
afterwards revolts, and the curtain falls as she rushes out to rejoin
Julien with her father's curses ringing in her ears. The strongly marked
Parisian flavour of the libretto ensured the success of 'Louise' in
Paris, but the music counts for a good deal too. Charpentier owes much
to Bruneau, but his music is more organic in quality, and his
orchestration is infinitely superior. Nothing could be more brilliant
than his translation into music of the sights and sounds of Parisian
street life. The vocal parts of 'Louise' are often ugly and
expressionless, but they are framed in an orchestral setting of curious
alertness and vivacity. It remains to be seen how Charpentier's
unquestionable talent will adapt itself to work of a wider scope than
'Louise.'

The fame of Claude Debussy is a plant of recent growth, and dates, so
far as the general public is concerned, from the production of his
'Pelleas et Melisande' in 1902, though for some years before he had been
the idol of an intimate circle of adorers. 'Pelleas et Melisande' is
founded upon Maeterlinck's play of that name, the action of which it
follows closely, but not closely enough, it seems, to please the poet,
who publicly dissociated himself from the production of Debussy's opera
and, metaphorically speaking, cursed it root and branch. Golaud, the son
of King Arkel, wandering in the wood finds the damsel Melisande sitting
by a fountain. He falls in love with her and carries her back to the
castle as his wife. At the castle dwells also Pelleas, Golaud's brother,
whose growing love for Melisande is traced through a succession of
interviews. In the end, Golaud kills the lovers after a striking scene
in which, as he stands beneath the window of the room in which Pelleas
and Melisande have secretly met, he is told what is passing within by a
child whom he holds in his arms. The story is of course merely that of
Paolo and Francesca retold, but placed in very different surroundings
and accompanied by music that certainly could never have been written by
an Italian, of Dante's or any other time.

Debussy has aimed at creating a musical equivalent for the Maeterlinck
'atmosphere,' The score of 'Pelleas et Melisande' is a pure piece of
musical impressionism, an experiment in musical pioneering the value