Minstrels' at the Wartburg.

Count Hermann holds a singing contest in honor of the return of Tannhäuser, the most famous of all singers; the first prize, for the victor in it, is to be the hand of Elisabeth, his brother's daughter, who is madly in love with Tannhäuser and for whom Wolfram, Tannhäuser's friend, harbors his own love. The contest is to take place in the spacious hall of Wartburg castle, with its Romanesque arches, the elegant throne reserved for the Count and Elisabeth, and the rows of seats for the knights and their ladies.

Elisabeth enters the hall alone, dressed in her most splendid robes, and sings the song 'Once more I greet thee, beloved hall!' Then Wolfram arrives with Tannhäuser in his company; the latter joins Elisabeth and together, in her happiness, they sing the song of reunion, which opens 'O sacred hour,' while Wolfram withdraws and sits at the back rows.

The repentant Tannhäuser begs Elisabeth not to mention the year that has passed since their parting, nor to ask him where he has been. It is enough that he has returned, and that they love one another. This reaches Wolfram's ear, and he perceives that his love for Elisabeth is without hope.

The hour of the contest draws near, and Hermann and his niece greet each knight and lady as the two advance to their appointed place, to the strains of the 'Tannhäuser march' played by the brass band.

To the right sit the members of the jury; above them, on the throne, Hermann and Elisabeth; to the left, the six contending knights of poetry and song, among them Tannhäuser and Wolfram, with servants attending to their comfort. He delivers a speech of welcome to them, and Elisabeth draws from a vessel the name of the first singer: it proves to be Wolfram's. He takes up his lute and sings a song glorifying spiritual love, 'In Praise of Love,' into which he pours his faithful love for Elisabeth — that love which he does not declare aloud.

Tannhäuser is irritated by Wolfram's singing; scarcely has the latter finished when he seizes his lute and rises to express his contempt for so paltry a love as Wolfram sings. Carried away by emotion, he plunges into a merry love song dripping with sensuality, 'O Goddess of Love.' Amazement seizes the members of the jury, especially as the song grows ever more wanton and licentious. A knight more stubborn and hardened than the rest, named Biterolf, interrupts him and rebukes him angrily, and soon draws his sword when Tannhäuser goes on singing.

The Count orders Biterolf to lower his sword; order is restored, and an attempt is made to con-tinue the contest. Wolfram begins to sing anew, but Tannhäuser interrupts him, repeating his glorification of Venus and saying that he alone, of all those present, knows the true delights of love, having learned them from Venus herself. Thus all learn

that Tannhäuser has visited the Venusberg. The ladies flee in terror, while Elisabeth remains, robbed of movement by what she has heard. And as the knights draw their swords, threatening to kill the errant Tannhäuser, she rushes from her throne and pleads for his pardon in a tender song opening 'I intercede for him.'

At last the Count rises and pronounces the sentence of banishment upon Tannhäuser as punishment for his blasphemy, bidding him join a company of pilgrims about to set out for Rome, that he may win the pardon of His Holiness the Pope. As for Tannhäuser, he by then feels remorse for what he has done, and throws himself to the ground at Elisabeth's feet; then he rises to join the pilgrims, whose singing is heard as they cross the valley.

He submits to the sentence, repeating 'To Rome!' — and as the curtain falls the knights are heard echoing his words.

Act Three

The scene: before the shrine at which Tannhäuser stopped to pray in the second scene of Act One.

It is autumn in the valley of the Wartburg, and the day is near its close, in keeping with this dead season. There, before the shrine standing at the roadside, Elisabeth kneels, praying silently and quietly for Tannhäuser's salvation. Soon the singing of the pilgrims echoes as they return from Rome, where they were absolved of their sins. Elisabeth rises and peers, anxious and troubled, into the faces of the