_Wotan_ has placed poor _Bruennhilde_ on a mound of moss, for
disobeying his orders, and covered her with her helmet, after plunging
her into a magnetic sleep which is to last until a hero shall come to
wake her. He strikes the rock with his spear, whereupon a flame breaks
out that quickly becomes a sea of fire encircling the rock. Then he
disappears in the fire toward the background, and for several minutes
there is no one on the stage but the sleeping Valkyrie, and nothing to
be heard but the crackling and roaring of the flames, re-echoed in the
orchestra; and this is the end of the opera.
One more illustration: The greater part of the second act of "Die
Meistersinger" is taken up with _Beckmesser's_ serenade, comically
interrupted by the songs and the hammering of _Hans Sachs_ the
cobbler. Toward the end the apprentice _David_ sees _Beckmesser_, and
imagining he is serenading _his_ sweetheart, assaults and beats him
most unmercifully. The noise attracts the neighbors, who all take part
in the affray, and the scene culminates in a perfect pandemonium of
noise. Now there is hardly an operatic composer who would not have
closed the act with this exciting and tumultuous chorus.
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