in a wild double-tonguing of the united brass instruments, very effective,
especially in the open air, though a little trying to nervous ladies in the
front rows of an opera-house. This is the celebrated
"_Kilkennische_Katzen_Motiv_" (Motive of Mortal Combat). It is a syncopated
movement, and when given at the piano, is to be played furiously, first
with one hand and then with the other, till the performer is quite weary.

[Kilkennische Katzen Motiv] (ad infinitum, until one is deceased)

We find all through these measures most peculiar phrases, introduced by
half-formed musical rhythms, which are a presentiment of the mental unrest
and nervous prostration of Fatima, who does not know whether Bluebeard will
kill the Brothers or the Brothers will kill Bluebeard. She has never been
an opera-goer and does not realize that there are inexorable laws in these
matters and that the villain always dies; that he agrees in his contract to
die, no matter how healthy he may be, no matter how much he dislikes it nor
how slight the provocation. However, this scene is made notable by the
famous "Suspense Motive," one hundred and seven-teen bars of doubt given by
the big brasses and contra-bassoons.

There is much in this sort of programme music that is not easily
intelligible to a young man who, having purchased an admission ticket, is
wandering from back to back of one opera-box after another; but when fully
comprehended, these special phrases are replete with emotion and insight.
Several motives are so dexterously woven into one gush of melody that they
cannot be disentangled by any ordinary method, and have to be wrenched
apart by the enthusiast, who employs, when milder means fail, a sort of
intellectual dynamite to extricate the meaning from the score. With the aid
of this lecture, which is better than an ear-trumpet and a
magnifying-glass, we can, however, trace a "_Schwert_Motiv_" (Sword