the symphonie-ballet "Callirhoé." Both these works present much that is interesting, and are, moreover, effectively orchestrated. It is yet too early to judge whether the fame of Gustave Charpentier (1860) is destined to be effervescent or enduring. At the present moment both the opera "Louise" and his orchestral efforts have most assuredly excited more than passing comment. Other contemporary Frenchmen, however, such as Fauré, Chausson, Bruneau, Debussy, have in turn also attracted attention, but with the exception of Claude Debussy (1862), none of them prove worthy of retaining more than the respectful esteem of the public.[88] Charpentier's "Louise" is conspicuous for its incidental episodes that are full of action, and the work in its entirety presents an attractive series of contrasted tableaux. The opera embodies an interesting experiment in that the lines of the libretto are of a decidedly colloquial _genre_. The music is modern in the extreme and suggests Wagnerian influence as pronounced as that of any other French composer with the possible exception of Chabrier. The latter, however, appropriated to himself little more than Wagner's fundamental distribution of orchestral forces, whereas Charpentier has unquestionably permitted the distinctive atmosphere of "Die Meistersinger" to permeate portions of his opera. The vocal parts are designedly declamatory rather than melodic, unvocal, and excessively difficult. The regisseur of the Munich Opera, Anton Fuchs,[89] declares that in all his experience at Bayreuth he never found a more knotty problem to solve than in teaching the singers the correct intonation of some of Charpentier's vocal cues. "Louise" is scored with the same due regard for proper effect that in these days is required of all meritorious composers. Although the orchestration may at times be somewhat noisy and overburdened, it reveals numerous insignia of characteristic individuality. Charpentier's orchestral music which M. Colonne has recently been presenting to the American public is on the whole analogous to that of "Louise," and the instrumentation is imbued with delicacy and refinement. [Footnote 88: During the past two years particularly, Debussy's orchestral compositions have awakened much interest in France and in the United States, while his opera "Pelléas et Mélisande" to-day shares critical favor in Paris with Charpentier's "Louise." Both these operas are being performed in New York during the present season of 1907-1908.