=The Spieloper=.—The Romantic school had a strong influence in the development of a form known as the _Spieloper_ (literally play-opera), which occupies a place between the works we have been considering and the _Singspiel_. As thoroughly German as the latter, it shows more finish and greater elaboration of musical effect. Though essentially romantic in the freedom of its scope and choice of means, its real sphere is neither the heroic nor the mystic; it concerns itself rather with the lighter aspects of life, those which require no exalted powers of imagination or wide culture to appreciate—humor, good cheer, the merriment and mirth of the people in holiday mood. =Albert Lortzing= (1803-1851) is accepted as the creator of this type, of which his most popular opera, _Zar und Zimmermann_ (Czar and the Carpenter), is the best known example. =Influence of the Romantic Opera=.—The value of the application of all the resources of music to the unfettered delineation of feeling and emotion in all their phases inaugurated by the romantic opera can hardly be over-estimated. From the opera it has won its way into absolute music, creating new and original forms. The change it has wrought in the progress and development of the art in general is only second to the revolution occasioned by the birth of the opera itself, three centuries ago. The impulse of the romantic movement in music is far from being exhausted at the present day. On the contrary, it seems to have gathered strength and if it has reached its culmination, as some would have us believe, the signs are not yet apparent to an unprejudiced observer. QUESTIONS. What was the Romantic Movement? Its effect on music? Tell about the Romantic Opera. Who was the founder of the Romantic Opera? Give an account of Weber’s operas. Contrast the use of Recitative and Dialogue in opera. What is the Melodrama? Give an account of Spohr and his work. Give an account of Marschner and his work. What is the Spieloper? What was the influence of the Romantic Opera? LESSON XXXVIII. THE FRENCH SCHOOL OF THE XIXTH CENTURY.