The Unknown Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac

Author:Honore de Balzac
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1590174159
Publisher: New York Review of Books

“The prophecy is interrupted by a chorus of victorious Arabs (twelve-eight time, allegretto). Trumpets and brasses accompany the various tribes which now enter. A general festivity in which all the voices take up the melody, one after the other, and in which Mohammed proclaims polygamy. Amid this rejoicing, the woman who has served Mohammed so loyally is given a magnificent melody (B-major): ‘And I,’ she sings, ‘am I to be loved no longer?’ ‘We must part, for you are a woman, and I am a prophet: I may have slaves, but no longer an equal!’ Listen to this duet (G-sharp minor). What torments! The woman realizes the greatness to which her own hands have raised him, and loves Mohammed enough to sacrifice herself to his glory; she worships him as a God, without criticism and without complaint. Poor creature, the first dupe and the first victim! What a theme for the finale (B-major), this grief of hers, depicted in dark colors against the background of the chorus’s acclamations and the accents of Mohammed abandoning his wife as a useless instrument but acknowledging he will never forget her! What triumphant explosions, what cascades of joyous song uttered by the two young voices (first and second soprano) of Ayesha and Hafsah, supported by Ali and his wife, by Omar and Abu-Beker! Mourn! Rejoice! Triumphs and tears! There’s life for you.”

Marianna could not restrain her sobs. Andrea was so moved that his eyes filled with tears. The Neapolitan cook, shaken by the magnetism of the ideas expressed by the spasms in Gambara’s voice, joined in this show of emotion. The musician turned around, glanced at this group, and smiled. “At last you understand me!” he cried.

Never had a general parading in triumph to the Capitol, amid the purple streamers of glory and the acclamations of an entire people, shown such an expression as he felt the crown pressed upon his forehead. The composer’s face shone like that of a holy martyr. No one corrected his misapprehension. A dreadful smile passed over Marianna’s lips, and the count was horrified by the naïveté of Gambara’s madness.

“Third act!” exclaimed the delighted composer, seating himself again at the piano. “Andantino solo: Mohammed despairs in his seraglio, surrounded by women. Quartet of houris (A-major). What festivities! What songs of happy nightingales! Modulations (F-sharp minor). The theme is heard (first in the dominant E, then transposed to A-major). The pleasures of the senses are brought together and articulated in order to produce a contrast with the somber first-act finale. After the dances, Mohammed rises and sings a grand bravura aria (F-minor), lamenting the unique and devoted love of his first wife and acknowledging himself defeated by polygamy. Never has a musician had such a theme. The orchestra and the chorus of women express the joys of the houris, while Mohammed returns to the melancholy with which the opera began...Where is Beethoven?” cried Gambara. “Where is the one spirit who could understand this mighty return of the opera upon itself?

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