And the valse--
who does not know it? with its sad refrain, which comes in every now
and then throughout, even in the most brilliant passages. The whole
story of a man's faith and a woman's treachery is contained therein.
'One summer's night in Munich,' sighed the heavy bass instruments,
sadly and reproachfully, 'I thought your heart was true!' Listen to
the melancholy notes of the prelude which recall the whole scene--do
you not remember? The stars are shining, the night wind is blowing,
and we are on the terrace looking down on the glittering lights of
the city. Hark! that joyous sparkling strain, full of riant
laughter, recalls the sad students who wandered past, and then from
amid the airy ripple of notes comes the sweet, mellow strain of the
'cello, which tells of love eternal amid the summer roses; how the
tender melody sweeps on full of the perfume and mystic meanings of
that night. Hark! is that the nightingale in the trees, or only the
silvery notes of a violin, which comes stealing through the steady
throb and swing of the heavier stringed instruments? Ah! why does
the rhythm stop? A few chords breaking up the dream, the sound of a
bugle calling you away, and the valse goes into the farewell motif
with its tender longing and passionate anguish. Good-bye! you will
be true? Your heart is mine, good-bye, sweetheart! Stop! that
discord of angry notes--she is false to her soldier lover! The stars
are pale, the nightingale is silent, the rose leaves fall, and the
sad refrain comes stealing through the room again with its bitter
reproach, 'One summer's night in Munich I knew your heart was
false.
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