This opera has been described as one long love duet, with occasional interludes: there is very little action or movement, and it is the surpassing beauty of the music which accounts for the wondrous hold the work has upon the cultured public. It is the manifestation to the full of Wagner’s ideas of the propriety of music for illustrative purposes, and the music is a continuous stream of surging sound, passion laden. The chromatic nature of the themes intensify the emotionalism sought to be conveyed: such music can never be popular in the ordinary interpretation of the word, but as an illustration of the musical expression of the beauty and passion of love it is unapproachable and inimitable. [Sidenote: “=Die Meistersinger=”] _The Mastersingers of Nuremberg_ is the one work of Wagner embodying touches of humour. It is sometimes called a comic opera, but this is to give it a misleading title: humorous it is in parts, but these are separated by long stretches of music of a serious and dignified nature. The plot is concerned with the old guild of Mastersingers, entry to which was hedged about by numberless petty restrictions in the middle ages. Walther, a young knight, seeks entry, since it is only as a master singer that he can hope to win the hand of Eva, daughter to Pogner, who awards her as the prize to the composer and singer of the most beautiful song. Beckmesser, another candidate for the fair Eva, is also umpire to the guild, and thus has an unfair advantage over Walther when he sings the song which he hopes will gain him admission. He breaks every possible rule, and is hopelessly rejected. But Hans Sachs, the shoemaker, is convinced of the beauty of Walther’s song, and induces the other masters to give him another hearing. Beckmesser breaks down in a comically hopeless attempt at the final competition, and Walther, with a beautiful and impassioned “Prize Song,” wins the coveted award. “The Mastersingers.” [Music] The dignified overture, with its contrapuntal skill in combined themes, the songs sung by Walther at various periods in the development of the story, the curious and humorous lute music allied to Beckmesser’s quaint verses, the noble monologue for Hans Sachs, the dance of the apprentices, and the quintet of the principal characters which occurs late in the opera, are all features of musical interest. The story allows more scope than in the other music dramas for numbers in set musical form, with the result that we have several delightful excerpts from this work which are quite capable of effective performance apart from the stage setting. For the rest, the music is in Wagner’s advanced manner, but often in lighter style than is usual with him; a natural sequel to the humorous nature of many of the scenes which the music portrays. [Sidenote: “=The Ring=”]