There is a story of a
well-known English conductor who objected to produce a piece by a
noted German composer because it ended _pianissimo_. He was afraid
that it would not be applauded if it did not end loudly. Now the
finales of Italian operas are habitually constructed on this method.
The chorus is brought in at the end, whether the situation calls for
it or not, and made to sing as loudly as possible. This stirs up the
audience to equally loud applause, and all ends well.
How differently Wagner goes to work! In "Siegfried," for instance,
there is no chorus at all. The first act ends with _Siegfried's_
cleaving of the anvil with the sword which he has just forged before
the eyes of the audience; and the third ends with the love duo. In
these cases there are only two persons on the stage; and at the end of
the second act _Siegfried_ is _entirely alone_, and the curtain falls
as he mutely follows the bird to the fire-girdled rock on which
_Bruennhilde_ lies asleep, amid the intoxicating and promising strains
of the orchestra. The ending of "Die Walkuere" is equally quiet and
poetic.
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