Debussy, in "Pelleas and Melisande" places a statue on a stage, not a musical one, but one of dramatic action and declamation. The vocal parts are reduced to a minimum of musical expressiveness and the music, a sort of rythmless chant, is subordinate to action. He is about the only composer who makes music dependent entirely on the drama. Wagner's orchestra is a bug driving force, while Strauss' delicate shifting of the background of the polyphony does not drown the voices. Debussy does not compose with the aim of orchestral composition as do Wagner and Strauss. With Puccini, Debussy and Charpentier, the human voice counts as a real medium. In "Pelleas and Melisande" there is a tress on the naturalness of the recitative. Debussy makes music the servant of the drama and makes a symphonic use of motives which are not developed formally, but manipulated in an undercurrent of musical thought. He declares melody anti-dramatic, and in recitative with the orchestra there is freedom for individual interpretation. His "L'Enfant Prodigue" is composed along the regular lines and is his best work. He follows Cesar Franck's method of scattering a number of disconnected themes and leaving them to sort themselves. In Dukas' "Ariane and Bluebeard", set melodies are avoided and everything is in plastic style of music drama, with shimmering tone color and a wealth of orchestral touches. Louis Aubert's "The Blue Forest", is an effective combination of modernity and simplicity with much use of leading motives and some fairly definite numbers. "Les Heretiques" displays enervating voluptuousness and languor in the duet. There are grave and large accents for the invocation to Venus by Daphne. The orchestral lamentation at the close is graceful and the choruses are charming, but the dialogue is wearisome. He is a disciple of Massenet in his correct portrayal of the suavity, sweetnes and fascination of women. In "Le Petite Boheme" the orchestration is rich and effective and the dramatic action is developed. Franchetti's "Germania" is a lyric two act drama with a prologue and an epilogue, aping Wagner, Verdi, Puccini and Tschaikovski. Delibes, a new dramatist, uses unusual discretion in the color expression of the orchestra but with very little acting. His modulation scheme is rich and more melodic, but it is almost as declamatory as that of Strauss. Saint Saens and Massenet are less radical with a light melodic orchestra. Massenet's music in "Le Jongleur" and "Griselidis" is not strong enough to atone for tiresome episodes in the plot. The chorus plays an important but invisible part, throughout.