Let it be called the "Prayer Theme," for the melody is that of the prayer which the little ones utter before laying themselves down to sleep in the wood. The melody seems to be associated throughout the opera with the idea of divine guardianship, and is first heard in the first scene, when Hänsel, having complained of hunger, Gretel gently chides him and holds out comfort in the words (here I use the English version of the opera):--
When past bearing is our grief God, the Lord, will send relief.
Humperdinck's splendid contrapuntal skill shows itself in a most varied use of this theme. Once in the prelude it appears in three different forms simultaneously, and in an augmented shape it forms the substratum of the prelude, while other themes are cunningly woven above it. The second theme is an exceedingly bright and energetic little phrase with which the rapid portion of the prelude begins. It shall be called the "Counter-Charm" theme, because it is the melodic phrase which serves as a formula with which the spell which the witch puts upon her victims is released by her as well as by the children who overhear it. When it occurs in the play it has this form:--
[Musical excerpt--"hocus pocus elder bush!"]
Words and music come from the mouth of Gretel when she releases Hänsel from the spell in the third act, and from that of Hänsel when he performs the same office for the gingerbread children. After two phrases of minor significance there comes the "Theme of Fulfilment," so called because of its association with the answer to the prayer for protection in the woods. Thus it forms part of the dawn music at the beginning of the third act when the children are awakened by the Dewman. It makes up the original part of the song of this Dawn Fairy and is the melody to which Hänsel and Gretel sing their explanation to the wondering gingerbread children:--
The angels whispered in dreams to us in silent night What this happy day has brought to light.
There is a fourth theme, the "Theme of Rejoicing" which is the inspiration of the dance which the gingerbread children execute around Hänsel and Gretel to celebrate their release from the enchantment put upon them by the wicked Witch.
At the parting of the curtain we see the interior of the hut of a poor broom-maker. Specimens of his handiwork hang upon the walls. A tiny window beside the door in the background, shows a glimpse of the forest beyond. Hänsel and Gretel are at work, he making brooms, she knitting. Gretel sings an old German folk-song, beginning thus:--