Boedder—“Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg.” 
103 
sary lines for the prize poem. From the misunderstood sentences 
that Phantasy in her distress utters he manufactures the veriest 
nonsense, and finally runs away in despair, determined to sing a 
popular street ballad and merely to substitute the queen’s name 
for the heroine’s. The poets of the whole island are in the worst 
possible plight—not one of them succeeds in finding a single rhyme, 
and Hermione is horrified to see that even her beloved Amphio 
has turned as stupid as all the rest. The fateful hour arrives— 
Nachtigall is the only candidate to enter the lists, and Vipria and 
Arrogantia, disguised as the priests of Apollo, declare that Her¬ 
mione must wed him if nobody produces a better poem, even 
though all those assembled are incensed and furious at Nachti¬ 
gall ’s song. All seems lost when Phantasy, in the supreme moment 
freed by Jupiter, appears on the scene and inspires Amphio to 
sing Hermione’s praise in a long poem at the close of which he 
reveals his identity. Apollo appears in person to plunge the two 
sorceresses into the deepest depths of Orcus, and Amphio and 
Hermione are married, and, let us hope, live happily ever after. 
It is to be regretted that Raimund’s poetic power did not suffice 
to do justice to this idea, which would have been worthy of Shakes¬ 
peare’s pen. He lacked markedly what Coleridge calls ‘'the 
shaping spirit of imagination.” Die gefesselte Phantasie is one 
of his weakest plays, and appears on the modern stage only at 
long intervals. Even Schubert’s music does not sustain it on the 
boards. 22 In the author’s own time this evidently was different: 
22 The following extract from Eugen Kilian, Felix Mottl. Karlsruher Erin- 
nerungen (in Siiddeutsche Monatshefte, 1911—12, I, 488—496 ; reprinted in Aus 
der Praxis der modernen Dramaturgie. Der Dramaturgischen Blatter zweite 
Reihe. Miinchen 1914, pp. 294-302), gives a good idea of the possibilities con¬ 
tained in Raimund’s play when properly staged: “Mottl was especially de¬ 
lighted with conducting the musical rehearsals of Raimund’s magic-play Die 
gefesselte Phantasie, with Franz Schubert’s music arranged for this purpose. 
This new musical adaptation of the old Vienna magic-play, the arrangement 
of the music of Schubert’s long forgotten Magic Haw for Raimund’s work, 
and its further embellishment with Schubert tunes and dances, was an ex¬ 
ceedingly felicitous and in its way ingenious idea of Mottl’s. This superb 
score deserves first rank among all his works belonging under this head. 
My co-operation with Mottl in the rehearsals of this play belongs among 
the most beautiful reminiscences from the time of my Karlsruhe activity. 
Mottl set his whole heart on, and watched over, this creation, on which the 
double star of Raimund and Schubert beamed, with a truly touching tender¬ 
ness. The whole kindliness and warmheartedness of Old Vienna, the naive 
and yet graceful, exquisitely humorous ingenuity of Raimund’s play was a 
true heart’s delight to Mottl, the Viennese. It was blood of his blood, flesh 
of his flesh that here he laid on the altar of art with patriotic pride. As he 
was conducting the rehearsals at the piano, he would enjoy again and again 
the charm and frolicsome humor of these Old Vienna figures, and could laugh 
till he cried when Fritz Herz as Nachtigall in his duo with Phantasy chained 
to the writing desk—one of the most superb gems of all humorous literature! 
