Strongly dramatic and of distinctive colour is the orchestral passage
which accompanies the entrance of Tigrana. She is a gipsy girl, who has
been brought up by the villagers. She enters with a species of lute--or
guitar, more properly perhaps--called the dembal, a stringed instrument
in common use even now by descendants of the Magyar race. She laughs at
Edgar with a fine scorn of his tame admiration for the gentle village
damsel. "There! I have made Fidelia run away," she sings with a mixture
of sarcasm, irony, and hypocrisy. "I am so sorry. I did not know a
pastoral love affair was at all in your way."
Gualtiero, Fidelia's father, now comes on, and, with the gathering
crowd of villagers, enters the church. The beginning of the voluntary
on the organ is heard, and over and above this simple diatonic,
ecclesiastical tune, come, in skilful and expressive contrast, the
remarks of the gipsy girl to Edgar, by which she reminds him that she
has opened to his nature the delights of an intense full-blooded love
in place of the mildly inocuous affection of peasant girls. "Trot
along, good little boy," she sings, "and go to church." Edgar's feeling
about the matter is quickly shown by his emphatic "Silence, demon!"
which comes out like the crack of a whip. But Tigrana only laughs at
him.
As Tigrana turns to go into the inn she is stopped by Frank, the
brother of Fidelia. Frank is in love with the gipsy girl, and from
him we learn that fifteen years ago she was abandoned in the village.
Questioned as to her doings, Tigrana tells Frank that he is a tiresome
bore, while he proceeds with the not very tactful method of reproaching
her for her ingratitude. "You were the child of us all," he sings, "and
we did not know we were nursing a viper in our midst."
Tigrana, who is not given to wasting much time with preliminaries,
tells Frank that if he has any regard for his virtue he had better not
be seen talking to her; and she goes towards the inn. Frank bursts out
with the confession that he has tried to tear her out of his heart, but
although she brings nothing but grief to him she remains there in full
possession.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account