Equally in accord with the situation, but not by any means so deep and expressive, is the terzet (8) which brings the first act to a conclusion. In this there is no conflict of sentiment; Zaide, Gomaz and Alazim are happy in the feeling of mutual love and friendship, and in the hope of a speedy deliverance; the fear lest their plan of escape should fail casts only a passing shadow on their cheerful frame of mind.[ 31 ] The music therefore expresses content and happiness with great tenderness and the purest melody, especially in the first movement. The duet between Zaide and Gomaz (5), whose love is not a stormy passion, but the devotion of two noble beings, expresses in the most delightful manner the purity and openness of a happy affection.
There are not wanting, either such delicate features of detail as characterise the genuine musical dramatist. For instance, in Gomaz' song (6), when he is divided between gratitude to Alazim and impatience to hasten to Zaide, there is charming humour in his confusion, particularly at the words "doch ich muss dich schnell verlassen," and "lass dich küssen, lass dich drücken," which in no way interferes with the more serious sentiment of the song as a whole. The union of humour and sentiment at the close is excellent. While the accompaniment continues the last subject, Gomaz, who had rushed off in hot haste, turns back, and sings once more with heartfelt emotion: "Herr und Freund, wie dank' ich dir!" There is a pretty touch in Osmin's air (11) where the purely musical return to the theme is used to express recurring bursts of hearty laughter.
The workmanship of the opera, both as regards the ZAIDE—ORCHESTRA. treatment of the voices and of the orchestra, is, as might be expected, thorough and sure. The orchestra deserves special notice. We find only the instruments in use at Salzburg, and the wind instruments are sparingly employed. The flutes and oboes generally alternate, but they are together and in conjunction with bassoons and horns in the quartet(16) and in one of the Sultan's airs (12); trumpets and drums are only used in the Sultan's raging scene (9). Many songs (1, 11, 13) are accompanied by stringed instruments alone. The hand of a master is recognisable throughout, in the life and movement which we follow with unflagging interest, in the force and beauty of the sound effects, and in the delicacy of the lights and shades. Many touches recall later works of Mozart; but these for the most part consist in turns of expression, in the treatment of the accompaniment, &c. One decided reminiscence is not without interest. The quartet is introduced by a short passage for the wind instruments, which recurs several times in the course of the piece, whereupon the voices enter as follows:—[See Page Image] COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG. where it appears in the song of Constanze, "Traurigkeit ward mir zum Loose" (10) in the following form:—[See Page Imge]
The alternate rendering of the subject by the voices and accompaniment, and the alternation between the wind instruments, give it a new charm; and it is not without intention that the instrumentation here is less full than in the former case.
One peculiarity of this operetta is the introduction of melodrama. J. J. Rousseau, in his production of "Pygmalion" at Lyons in 1770 and Paris in 1775, gave the first example of a dramatic piece in which spoken dialogue was interspersed with music in the nature of obbligato recitatives.[ 32 ] The attempt thus to render music effective as a means of dramatic expression was successful, although the critics raised objections to the union of music and speech.[ 33 ]
Independently of Rousseau's experiment, it had occurred to Brandes in 1772 at Weimar to adapt Gerstenberg's cantate "Ariadne" as a melodrama for his wife, who was an excellent actress, but no musician. Schweitzer undertook the composition, but owing to the interruption caused by his "Alceste" he did not finish it.[ 34 ] When Brandes removed to Gotha in 1775, he transferred "Ariadne" to Georg Benda, with whose music it was then produced.[ 35 ] The extraordinary success it met with suggested to Gotter the idea of writing the melodrama "Medea" for Madame Seyler, the rival of Madame Brandes; this also was composed by Benda.[ 36 ] The success of the melodramas was universal and extraordinary.[ 37 ] Critics might object to the principle as they pleased,[ 38 ] the public was not to be reasoned out of its enthusiasm, which was shared even by many connoisseurs.[ 39 ] That the success wras mainly due to Benda's expressive music, which all joined in praising, admits of no doubt, and none of his successors have been able to produce a similar effect.[ 40 ]
Mozart's idea of substituting melodrama for accompanied recitative in German opera was a kindred one (Vol. II., p. 74), and the same idea is evident in other directions.[ 41 ] It is put into practice in "Zaide." Two important monologues are melodramatically treated; one by Gomaz at the beginning of the first, and another by Soliman at the beginning of COURT SERVICE IN SALZBURG. the second act.[ 42 ] Benda's composition has evidently been taken as a model; the music in short periods, often only in detached chords, follows each turn of the monologue, and seeks to give expression to the lightest shades of sentiment. The musical treatment is essentially different from that of obbligato recitative, where the independent instrumental passages are connected partly by the recitative itself, which is always sung, partly by the harmonies of the accompaniment; in the melodrama, on the other hand, every passage, even the smallest, is treated as distinctly apart. In the recitatives, again, which are sung, the lighter shades of sentiment may be rendered by cadence, rhythm, or harmony, without the intervention of any instrumental passages. In the melodrama this is impossible, and in order to accentuate details, the continuity of the dialogue must be sacrificed; another decided and almost inevitable drawback is the dependence upon details for characterisation, which is thereby often out of proportion. In this way, spoken dialogue loses its chief means of effect—that is, its continuity of idea—while nothing is gained for musical unity, which ought to make up for all deficiencies by the steady maintenance of a sustained mood. For, impelled as Mozart might be by his nature to gather into a whole the shattered members of this musical representation by means of rhythmical combinations and harmonic progressions, this was only possible to a limited degree, and musical construction in its proper sense can only exist in those few places where the music is independent of the melodrama. The main point, however, cannot be denied, which is that the words and the music are not here so blended that each part is richly repaid for what it sacrifices by its union with the other, but that each is continually asserting itself in opposition to the other, so that both are in fact the losers. To
It is particularly to be regretted that the original words for these melodramatic scenes have not been printed. The alterations in Soliman's monologue are not so essential, but Gomaz's monologue is entirely transformed. In the original text he was absorbed by his unpleasant position; when he prays for refreshing slumber, and the music represents his repeated starting up from rest, the altered version puts love-ravings for Zaide into his mouth.
