Life of Mozart

332" DIE ZAUBERFLOTE,together. Thus, bold and energetic as the musical expressionis, it never causes any distortion in the picture of acharming innocent girl, and this has a more tranquillisingeffect on the minds of the audience than the support of thethree boys. In accordance with the situation the movementof the voices is quite free, generally declamatory, the interjectionsof the three boys holding the whole movement firmlyin its groove. Pamina gives ready ear to the reassurance ofthe three boys, but, instead of breaking into loud exultation,her mind recurs lovingly to Tamino, and the music gainsthat soft pathetic tone which belongs to modern music.The supernatural element of the scene idealises it, and preparesthe way for the solemn ordeal which is immediately tofollow. Tamino, who has determined to tread the path ofdanger, but has believed he was to tread it alone, is agreeablysurprised to find Pamina at his side. The reunion of thelovers is deprived, in face of the dangers which they are toovercome together, of every trace of sensual passion. Notuntil they are initiated into the mysteries for which theyare undergoing probation can their love be justified or itsenjoyment assured. The tone of the scene therefore is aserious one, rendered even solemn by the participation ofthe grave guardians of the sanctuary, who have just enunciatedits ordinances. But the human emotion whichirresistibly breaks forth adds a pathos to the solemnityand a charm to the youthful pair, filling us with renewedadmiration for the genius which blends all these diverseelements into a living and harmonious whole.Such a pair of lovers as this, so ideal, so sentimental(schwärmerisch) in their feelings and mode of expression,betray at once their German origin and character ; there isnothing analogous in Mozart's Italian operas ; even Belmontand Constanze, though of the same type, display morehuman passion. To the representatives of noble humanity,Sarastro, Tamino, and Pamina, stands opposed the antagonisticand vindictive principle, in the person of theQueen of Night. The manner of her representation leavesdistinct traces visible of the different part she was originallyintended to fill.At the beginning, when she appears as the