"THE WILD HUNTSMAN," SYMPHONIC POEM [57]
Le Chasseur Maudit, composed in 1883, tells the story of Bürger's ballad, Der Wilde Jäger. This argument, in prose, is prefaced to the score:
"'Twas a Sunday morning; far away resounded the joyous sound of bells and the joyous chants of the crowd.... Sacrilege! The savage Count of the Rhine has winded his horn.
"Halloo! Halloo! The chase rushes over corn-fields, moors, and meadows.—'Stop, Count, I entreat you; hear the pious chants!'—No! Halloo! Halloo!—'Stop, Count, I implore you; take care!'—No! and the riders rush on like a whirlwind.
"Suddenly the Count is alone; his horse refuses to go on; the Count would wind his horn, but the horn no longer sounds.... A dismal, implacable voice curses him: 'Sacrilegious man,' it cries, 'be forever hunted by Hell!'
"Then flames flash all around him.... The Count, terror-stricken, flees faster and ever faster, pursued by a pack of demons, ... by day across abysses, by night through the air." [58]
In the music there is first a portrayal of the serene Sabbath landscape, the chanting chorus; there is pealing of bells, and the sacred song rises to a climax.
Then follows the entry of the ribald huntsmen, led by the Count; the chase is pictured, and we hear the complaints of the protesting peasants.
The Count, suddenly left alone, attempts in vain to wind his horn; then, in uncanny and terrifying tones, the curse is pronounced.
The Infernal Chase begins, there are wild horn calls; the pace grows more and more precipitous until the close.