FOOTNOTES:
[1] Wagner calls the composer of an opera "the sculptor or upholsterer," (which is complimentary to sculptors,) and the writer of the words "the architect." I would rather say that the writer of the words produces a sketch, on which the composer paints a picture.
Since writing the above I find that the greatest of French poets describes an admirable libretto of his own as "un canevas d'opéra plus ou moins bien disposé pour que l'œuvre musicale s'y superpose heureusement;" and again, "une trame qui ne demande pas mieux que de se dérober sous cette riche et éblouissante broderie qui s'appelle la musique." (Preface to Victor Hugo's Esmeralda.)
[2] Ménestrier, des representations en musique, anciennes et modernes, page 23.
[3] See Vol. II.
[4] Cambronne, by the way is said to have been very much annoyed at the invention of "La garde meurt et ne se rend pas;" and with reason, for he didn't die and he did surrender.
[5] "The battle or defeat of the Swiss on the day of Marignan."
[6] This was Heine's own joke.
[7] And this, Beaumarchais's.
[8] La Dame aux Camélias was to have been played at the St. James's Theatre last summer, with Madame Doche in the principal part; but its representation was forbidden by the licenser.