[17] The reader may need to be reminded that the published score of
_Mefistofele_ is an abbreviation of the opera as it was originally
given. The opening scene of the first Act and the Walpurgis Night
scene in the second have been cut down (see Mazzucato's article on
Boïto in "Grove's Dictionary"). "The grand scene at the Emperor's
Palace," says Signor Mazzucato, is "entirely abandoned." "A strikingly
original _intermezzo sinfonico_ ... stood between the fourth and fifth
Acts; it was meant to illustrate the battle of the Emperor against
the pseudo-Emperor, supported by the infernal legions led by Faust
and Mephistopheles--the incident which in Goethe's poem leads to the
last period of Faust's life. The three themes--that is, the _Fanfare_
of the Emperor, the _Fanfare_ of the pseudo-Emperor, and the _Fanfare
infernale_--were beautiful in conception and interwoven in a masterly
manner, and the scene was brought to a close by Mephistopheles leading
off with 'Te Deum laudamus' after the victory." As to the beautiful
conception and the masterly interweaving I am inclined to be sceptical;
but in any case the inclusion of this scene simply puts Boïto in
a worse light than ever. The whole episode is practically without
significance as far as regards Faust's spiritual evolution. So far as
music is concerned, it merely gives the opportunity for a clap-trap
battle-piece.
[18] Henry Hugh Pearson was born at Oxford in 1815. He settled in
Germany, where he found a more congenial musical atmosphere than was to
be had at that time in England. After writing for a little while under
the pseudonym of "Edgar Mansfeldt," he reverted to his own name, but
metamorphosed it into Henri Hugo Pierson. His "Music to the Second Part
of Goethe's _Faust_" was brought out at Hamburg in 1854. Pierson died
in 1873.
_To GRANVILLE BANTOCK_