Phaeton, having been allowed by his father, the Sun, to drive the fiery chariot, loses control of the steeds. The naming car is in danger of setting the earth on fire, when Jupiter hurls a thunderbolt, saving the universe, but destroying Phaeton. This is the legend which Saint-Saens illustrates in his orchestral piece. A dignified introduction of four bars prepares us for the magnificent scene of Phaeton's ride. The galloping horses are heard, and a bold, imperious theme on the Trumpets and Trombone presumably stands for the youthful ardour of the charioteer. A broadly melodious passage, played by four Horns, may suggest either the Sun or the lament of Phaeton's sister (who had harnessed the horses, and so had a part in the disastrous adventure). The pace increases and the excitement is worked up. Phaeton's theme is heard, agitatedly, and then the thunderbolt falls, and the end comes with the Sun's lament for Phaeton.
A Bergamask is, properly, an old rustic dance in imitation of one of Bergamo (Bottom, in A Midsummer Night's Dream: 'Will it please you to see the epilogue or to hear a Bergamask dance between two of our company?'). Just what Debussy meant by the use of this word in the title of this early Piano Suite (for the original score is for Piano) is difficult to say. Perhaps he simply wanted a pleasant flavour of the antique, and thought that word supplied it. The music itself conveys the same suggestion: it is not an actual reconstruction of the music of old times, but it at least revives the spirit of those dainty and delicate French composers of the eighteenth century to whom Debussy admitted so much indebtedness.
There are four Movements in the Suite: (1) Prelude; (2) Minuet; (3) Moonlight; (4) Passepied Siegfried, the hero, having killed the dragon who guarded the gold, and tasted the monster's blood, is able to understand the voices of nature. Resting under a tree, he listens to the murmur of the forest's life. He would imitate the birds' songs, and cuts himself a reed from which lie fashions a pipe. Then his thoughts turn to his mother, who died when he was born, and the music clouds over for a moment, only to resume its gunny course with a new theme. The whole episode is one of the loveliest even Wagner ever conceived.
Auber became one of the most popular writers of French Opera in the nineteenth century, but he had to make several attempts before he had any success in that side of composition. His first Opera was such a failure that he would not try again for six years. He really got into his stride, however, when he became associated with the clever playwright Scribe. Auber and he were a sort of Gilbert-and-Sullivan pair. Their partnership lasted until Auber's death in his ninetieth year (1871). Masaniello (better known abroad as The Dumb Girl of Portici) is much more dramatic and emotional than most of his other works. Its plot is worked out in an atmosphere of revolution, and a performance of the work in Brussels in 1830 is said to have been a factor in inciting the people to put an end to Dutch ascendancy in Belgium.

Source: Radio Times

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