Meyerbeer gave us a foretaste of the famous _leit-motif_. We find it in _Robert_ in the theme of the ballad, which the orchestra plays again while Bertram goes towards the back of the stage. This should indicate to the listener his satanic character. We find it in the Luther chant in _Les Huguenots_ and also in the dream of _Le Prophete_ during Jean's recitative. Here the orchestra with its modulated tone predicts the future splendor of the cathedral scene, while a lute plays low notes, embellished by a delicate weaving in of the violins, and produces a remarkable and unprecedented effect. He introduced on the stage the ensembles of wind instruments (I do not mean the brass) which are so frequent in Mozart's great concertos. An illustration of this is the entrance of Alice in the second act of _Robert_. An echo of this is found in Elsa's entrance in the second act of _Lohengrin_. Another illustration is the entrance of Berthe and Fides in the beginning of the _Le Prophete_. In this case the author indicated a pantomime. This is never played and so this pretty bit loses all its significance. Meyerbeer ventured to use combinations in harmony which were considered rash at that time. They pretend that the sensitiveness of the ear has been developed since then, but in reality it has been dulled by having to undergo the most violent discords. The beautiful "progression" of the exorcism in the fourth act of _Le Prophete_ was not accepted without some difficulty. I can still see Gounod seated at a piano singing the debated passage and trying to convince a group of recalcitrant listeners of its beauty. Meyerbeer developed the role of the English horn, which up to that time had been used only rarely and timidly, and he also introduced the bass clarinet into the orchestra. But the two instruments, as he used them, still appeared somewhat unusual. They were objects of luxury, strangers of distinction which one saluted respectfully and which played no great part. Under Wagner's management they became a definite part of the household and, as we know, brought in a wealth of coloring. It is an open question whether it was Meyerbeer or Scribe who planned the amazing stage setting in the cathedral scene in _Le Prophete_. It must have been Meyerbeer, for Scribe was not temperamentally a revolutionist, and this scene was really revolutionary. The brilliant procession with its crowd of performers which goes across the stage through the nave into the choir, constantly keeping its distance from the audience, is an impressive, realistic and beautiful scene. But directors who go to great expense for the costumes cannot understand why the procession should file anywhere except before the footlights as near the audience as possible, and it is extremely difficult to get any other method of procedure.