form one
of the marked characteristics of Mascagni's score and one of the most
effective. We meet it also in the instrumentation--the harp
accompaniment to the serenade, the pauses which give piquancy to Lola's
ditty, the unison violins, harp arpeggios, and sustained organ chords
of the intermezzo.

When the curtain rises it discloses the open square of a Sicilian
village, flanked by a church and the inn of Lucia, Turiddu's mother. It
is Easter morning and villagers and peasants are gathering for the
Paschal mass. Church bells ring and the orchestra breaks into the eager
melody which a little later we hear combined with the voices which are
hymning the pleasant sights and sounds of nature:--

[figure: a musical score excerpt setting the words "tempo e si mormori"]

A charming conception is the regular beat and flux and reflux of the
women's voices as they sing

[figure: a musical score excerpt setting the words "Gliaranci olezzano
sui verdi margini cantando le allo do le tra i mirti in flor . . ."]

Delightful and refreshing is the bustling strain of the men. The
singers depart with soft exclamations of rapture called out by the
contemplation of nature and thoughts of the Virgin Mother and Child in
their hearts. Comes Santuzza, sore distressed, to Mamma Lucia, to
inquire as to the whereabouts of her son Turiddu. Lucia thinks him at
Francofonte; but Santuzza knows that he spent the night in the village.

In pity for the maiden's distress, Lucia asks her to enter her home,
but Santuzza may not--she is excommunicate. Alfio enters with
boisterous jollity, singing of his jovial carefree life as a teamster
and his love of home and a faithful wife. It is a paltry measure,
endurable only for its offering of contrast, and we will not tarry with
it, though the villagers echo it merrily. Alfio, too, has seen Turiddu,
and Lucia is about to express her surprise when Santuzza checks her.
The hour of devotion is come, and the choir in the church intones the
"Regina coeli," while the people without fall on their knees and sing
the Resurrection Hymn. After the first outburst, to which the organ
appends a brief postlude, Santuzza leads in the canticle, "Innegiamo il
Signor non dmorte":

Let us sing of our Lord ris'n victorious!
Let us sing of our Lord ever glorious:--

[figure: a musical score excerpt]

[figure: a musical score excerpt]

The instrumental basses supply a foundation of Bachian granite, the
chorus wi