Curiosities in the music occur now and then: such, for instance, is the weird portion in the middle of Weber’s _Euryanthe_ overture, where the curtain rises momentarily to display a gruesome tomb: such is the thrusting aside of the stage curtain in the midst of Leoncavallo’s _Pagliacci_ prelude for one of the characters to sing a song; such is the curious vocal scherzo upon one reiterated note, for the chorus of seraphim in Boito’s _Mefistofele_. On a bigger scale is the curious experiment made by Michael in the opera _Utal_, in writing his work without any violins in the orchestra. Of more frequent occurrence than the omission of instruments is the inclusion of various unusual effects, such as the introduction of a mandoline for the serenade in Mozart’s _Don Giovanni_, of the Glockenspiel for Papageno in the _Magic Flute_, of peal of bells in many works, and so forth, whereas Handel sighed for a cannon, and Tchaïkovsky actually used one in his _1812_ overture. The maximum of stage noise in this way was probably reached by Spontini, who, in his opera _Alcidor_ had a number of anvils upon the stage tuned to certain notes! An anvil accompaniment, not ineffectively used, may be heard in Gounod’s _Philémon and Baucis_. [Sidenote: =Vocal Cadenzas=] Among curiosities of the music must be mentioned the vocal cadenzas, etc., written for exceptional singers; and in the days when these singers used to include male sopranos and contraltos (termed Castrati), the majority of singers appear to have been exceptional. For a man to develop a high soprano voice seems not only unnatural but inartistic; and these singers, many of them most famous, belong to an order of things that obtains no longer, being contrary both to modern ethics and to good taste: what the male soprano could do can usually be done equally well by a good woman singer, and of these there is usually a sufficient supply. For women singers with voices of exceptional compass special music has often been written, as witness the part of “Queen of the Night” in Mozart’s _Zauberflöte_, much of which lies abnormally high. Even where not written, singers of Italian opera have often introduced elaborate and wonderful cadenzas for the purposes of display, and these, although not tolerated in opera of the most exalted kind, may still be frequently heard. An example of a cadenza of this kind may conclude the chapter. Example of a Vocal Cadenza quoted by Mozart as sung to him by Lucrezia Agujari in 1770. [Music] Nowadays little of this kind of music is written for the voice, so far as opera is concerned. The work required of the modern operatic singer is more dramatic by nature, and makes demands upon technique of a different order. CHAPTER XIX. A CHAPTER OF CHATTER.