the tune taken from an aria of Benvenuto in the first act. The
melody is soon repeated in the dominant key by the violas and
then, treated canonically, by the ’cellos and violins. The canon
really tells and shows that Berlioz, as is often alleged, was not
altogetherlacking in polyphonic skill. The rhythm is now grad-
ually quickened and leads to the main body of the work, in 6/8
time, based on the Italian folk-dance—the Saltarello which, as
its name implies, is of a “skipping” nature. The music is freely
developed from the two following themes; there is no second
theme proper,e.g.
[Music: (a)]
[Music: (b)]
Toward the close there is a return to the introductory melody
which is treated contrapuntally by the bassoons and other wind-
instruments. The saltarello resumes its sway and is worked up to
a fiery ending; especially brilliant are the closing chords scored
for full brass with trills on the cornets.
Two of Berlioz’s most poetically conceived descriptive pieces
are theMenuet des Feux-Follets and theBallet des Sylphes,
incidental orchestral numbers from theDamnation of Faust; for
they illustrate convincingly what one means by the claim that
Berlioz thought in terms of orchestral color and suggestion. To
give a musical picture of such airy and fantastic imaginings by
the mere repetition of conventional formulae would obviously
be of no avail. Berlioz’s genius is equal to the situation; and
as we listen to the music we can really see the flickering of the
Will o’ the Wisps and feel the graceful swaying of the Sylphs
as they hover about the sleeping Faust. To suggest the Feux-
Follets Berlioz ingeniously gives the theme to two piccolos in
thirds, which are supported by a rich but subdued mass of wind
instruments, horns and trumpets,e.g.
[Music]
With equal felicity does he create the picture of the delicate,
graceful Sylphs. Any boisterous rhythmic activity would be
quite out of place; and so, above a sustained ground tone on
muted ’cellos and basses (which continues through the piece),
and the slightest suspicion of motion on the second violins and
violas, there floats in the first violins one of the most perfectly
rounded and exquisite melodies in existence,e.g.