Dominique creeps back in the grey dawn from
the forest, and Francoise, torn by conflicting emotions, knows not
whether she should wish him to stay and face his sentence or escape
once more and leave her father to his fate. The miller determines to
sacrifice himself for his daughter's lover, and by pretending that his
sentence has been revoked induces Dominique to depart. The old man is
shot by the Germans just as the French rush in triumphant with Dominique
at their head.
'L'Attaque du Moulin' was received with more general favour than 'Le
Reve.' In it Bruneau shows an inclination to relax the stern principles
of his former creed. The action is often interrupted by solos and duets
of a type which approaches the conventional, though for the most part
the opera follows the Wagnerian system. The result of this mixture of
styles is unsatisfactory. 'L'Attaque du Moulin' has not the austere
sincerity of 'Le Reve,' and the attempts to bid for popular favour are
not nearly popular enough to catch the general ear. Bruneau has little
melodic inspiration, and when he tries to be tuneful he generally ends
in being merely commonplace. The orchestral part of the opera, too, is
far less satisfactory than in 'Le Reve.' There, as has already been
pointed out, the monotony and lack of colour were to a certain extent in
keeping with the character of the work, but in 'L'Attaque du Moulin,'
where all should be colour and variety, the dull and featureless
orchestration is a serious blot.
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