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It appeared in Les Soirées de Medan, and its originality quite outshone the more solid qualities of Zola's L'Attaque au Moulin, and a realistic tale of Huysmans's, Sac au dos. It was this knapsack of story, nevertheless, that opened the eyes of both Zola and Goncourt to the genuine realism of Huysmans as opposed to the more human but also more sentimental surface realism of Maupassant.
'L'Attaque du Moulin' opens with the festivities attendant upon the betrothal of Françoise, the miller's daughter, to Dominique, a young Fleming, who has taken up his quarters in the village. In the midst of the merry-making comes a drummer, who announces the declaration of war, and summons all the able-bodied men of the village to the frontier. In the second act, the dogs of war are loose.
"A la pointe du jour les Autrichiens commencerent l'attaque, dabord assez lentement, plus vivement ensuite, et enfin avec une telle furie que les Français furent enfoncès de tous cotès. Dans ce moment affreux ou les morts et les mourants jonchaiènt la terre, le premier Consul, placè au milieu de sa garde, semblait immuable, insensible, et comme frappè de la foudre.
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 Rêve, and the attempts to bid for popular favour are not nearly popular enough to catch the general ear.
The orchestral part of the opera, too, is far less satisfactory than in 'Le Rêve. 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.
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 Rêve. In it Bruneau shows an inclination to relax the stern principles of his former creed.
Vous voyez si bien que moi, qu'il ne compte plus. C'est un homme par terre. Tout le monde le sait; la gauche meme ne l'attaque plus." Even General Trochu, the Governor of the capital, did not mention Napoleon's name in his proclamation to Paris. He himself hardly dared to send any messages.
'Le Rêve' at any rate was not a work to be passed over in silence: it was intended to create discussion, and discussion it certainly created. In 'L'Attaque du Moulin' , another adaptation of Zola, Bruneau set himself a very different task. The contrast between the placid Cathedral close and the bloody terrors of the Franco-Prussian war was of the most startling description.
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