mic
opera, 'Die Abreise' (1898), may most suitably be recorded here. His
more ambitious works have been less favourably received. Siegfried
Wagner, in spite of his parentage, seems to have founded his style
principally upon that of Humperdinck. His first opera, 'Der Baerenhaeuter'
(1899), was fairly successful, principally owing to a fantastic and
semi-comic libretto. 'Herzog Wildfang' (1901) and 'Der Kobold' (1904)
failed completely, nor does his latest work, 'Bruder Lustig' (1905),
raise very sanguine hopes as to its young composer's future career.
Another follower of Humperdinck is Eduard Poldini, whose clever and
charming 'Der Vagabund und die Prinzessin,' a graceful version of one of
Hans Andersen's stories, was given in London with success in 1906.

Mention must also be made of Felix Weingartner, whose 'Genesius' (1892)
and 'Orestes' (1902) are said to contain much fine music; of August
Bungert, whose trilogy founded upon the Odyssey has been received with
favour in Dresden, though it does not appear to have made much way
elsewhere; and of Hans Pfitzner, whose 'Rose von Liebesgarten' (1901) is
one of the most promising operas of the younger generation.

The most important figure in the world of German opera to-day is
unquestionably that of Richard Strauss. This is not the place to dilate
upon Strauss's achievements as a symphonic writer, which are
sufficiently well known to the world at large. His first opera,
'Guntram' (1894), was hardly more than an exercise in the manner of
Wagner, and made comparatively little impression. 'Feuersnoth' (1901)
was a far more characteristic production. It deals with an old legend of
the love of a sorcerer for a maiden. The sorcerer is rejected, and in
revenge he deprives the town in which the maiden lives of fire and
light. The townspeople press the maiden to relent, and her yielding is
signalised by a sudden blaze of splendour. Strauss's score shows to the
full the amazing command of polyphony and the bewildering richness and
variety of orchestration which have made his name famous. The plot of
'Feuersnoth,' however, was against it, and it does not seem to have won
a permanent success. 'Salome' (1906), on the other hand, has triumphed
in Italy and Paris as well as in Germany, and succeeded in scandalising
New York so seriously that it was withdrawn after a single performance.
'Salome' is a setting, almost unabbreviated, of Oscar Wilde's play of
that name, which itself owed much