impossible to fill.

[Illustration: The First Performance of _Déjanire_ at Les Arènes de
Béziers]




CHAPTER VI

HISTORY AND MYTHOLOGY IN OPERA


Oceans of ink have been spilled in discussing the question of whether
the subjects of operas should be taken from history or mythology, and
the question is still a mooted one. To my mind it would have been better
if the question had never been raised, for it is of little consequence
what the answer is. The only things worth while are whether the music is
good and the work interesting. But _Tannhauser_, _Lohengrin_, _Tristan_
and _Siegfried_ appeared and the question sprang up. The heroes of
mythology, we are told, are invested with a prestige which historical
characters can never have. Their deeds lose significance and in their
place we have their feelings, their emotions, to the great benefit of
the operas. After these works, however, _Hans Sachs_ (Die Meistersinger)
appeared, and although he is not mythical at all he is a fine figure
nevertheless. But in this case the plot is of little account, for the
interest lies mainly in the emotions--the only thing, it appears, which
music with its divine language ought to express.

It is true that music makes it possible to simplify dramatic action and