[121] Harmonie et Mélodie.

[122] C. Saint-Saëns, Portraits et Souvenirs, 1900.

[123]

[124] C. Saint-Saëns, Note sur les décors de théâtre dans l'antiquité romaine, 1880, where he discusses the mural paintings of Pompeii.

[125] Lecture on the Phenomena of Mirages, given to the Astronomical Society of France in 1905.

[126] C. Saint-Saëns, La Crampe des Écrivains, a comedy in one act, 1892.

[127] Harmonie et Mélodie.

[128] Charles Gounod, Mémoires d'un Artiste.

[129] Les Heures; Mors; Modestie (Rimes familières).

[130] "Thanks to Berlioz, all my generation has been shaped, and well shaped" (Portraits et Souvenirs).

[131] "I like Liszt's music so much, because he does not bother about other people's opinions; he says what he wants to say; and the only thing that he troubles about is to say it as well as he possibly can" (Quoted by Hippeau).

[132] The quotations are taken from Harmonie et Mélodie and Portraits et Souvenirs.

[133] In Harmonie et Mélodie M. Saint-Saëns tells us that he organised and directed a concert in the Théâtre-Italien where only Liszt's compositions were played. But all his efforts to make the French musical public appreciate Liszt were a failure.

[134] The admiration was mutual. M. Saint-Saëns even said that without Liszt he could not have written Samson et Dalila. "Not only did Liszt have Samson et Dalila performed at Weimar, but without him that work would never have come into being. My suggestions on the subject had met with such hostility that I had given up the idea of writing it; and all that existed were some illegible notes.... Then at Weimar one day I spoke to Liszt about it, and he said to me, quite trustingly and without having heard a note, 'Finish your work; I will have it performed here.' The events of 1870 delayed its performance for several years." (Revue Musicale, 8 November, 1901).

[135] Portraits et Souvenirs.

[136] Harmonie et Mélodie.

[137] C. Saint-Saëns, Portraits et Souvenirs.

[138] Portraits et Souvenirs.

[139] Revue d'Art dramatique, 5 February, 1899.

[140] Vincent d'Indy: Cours de Composition musicale, Book I, drawn up from notes taken in Composition classes at the Schola Cantorum, 1897-1898, p. 16 (Durand, 1902). See also the inaugural speech given at the school, and published by the Tribune de Saint-Gervais, November, 1900.

[141] Vincent d'Indy, Cours de Composition musicale, p. 132.

[142] Id., ibid., p. 13.

[143] Id., ibid., p. 25. In the thirteenth century, Philippe de Vitry, Bishop of Meaux, called triple time "perfect," because "it hath its name from the Trinity, that is to say, from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, in whom is divine perfection."

[144] Id., ibid., pp. 66, 83, and passim.

[145] Id., ibid.

[146] "Make war against Particularism, that unwholesome fruit of the Protestant heresy!" (Speech to the Schola, taken from the Tribune de Saint-Gervais, November, 1900.)

[147] At least Judaism has the honour of giving its name to a whole period of art, the "Judaic period." "The modern style is the last phase of the Judaic school...." etc.

[148] In the Cours de Composition musicale M. d'Indy speaks of "the admirable initial T in the Rouleau mortuaire of Saint-Vital (twelfth century), which represents Satan vomiting two Jews ... an expressive and symbolic work of art, if ever there was one." I should not mention this but for the fact that there are only two illustrations in the whole book.

[149] Cours de Composition musicale, p. 160.

[150] L'Oratorio moderne (Tribune de Saint-Gervais, March, 1899).

[151] Ibid. As much as to say he was a Catholic without knowing it. And that is what a friend of the Schola, M. Edgar Tinel, declares: "Bach is a truly Christian artist and, without doubt, a Protestant by mistake, since in his immortal Credo he confesses his faith in one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church" (Tribune de Saint-Gervais, August-September, 1902). M. Edgar Tinel was, as you know, one of the principal masters of Belgian oratorio.

[152] Revue musicale, November, 1902.

[153] "The only documents extant on ancient music are either criticisms or appreciations, and not musical texts" (Cours de Composition).

[154] "The influence of the Renaissance, with its pretension and vanity, caused a check in all the arts—the effect of which we are still feeling" (Traité de Composition, p. 89. See also the passage quoted before on Pride).

[155] Tribune de Saint-Gervais, November, 1900.

[156] I speak of the passages where he expresses himself freely, and is not interpreting a dramatic situation necessary to his subject, as in that fine symphonic part of the Rédemption, where he describes the triumph of Christ. But even there we find traces of sadness and suffering.

[157] Through a break in the clouds, revealing Celestial joy shining above the deeps.

[158] Tribune de Saint-Gervais November, 1900.

[159] Id., September, 1899.

[160] L'Étranger, "action musicale" in two acts. Poem and music by M. Vincent d'Indy. Played for the first time at Brussels in the Théâtre de la Monnaie, 7 January, 1903. The quotations from the drama, whose poetry is not as good as its music, are taken from the score.

[161] There is a certain likeness in the subject to Herr Richard Strauss's Feuersnot. There, too, the hero is a stranger who is persecuted, and treated as a sorcerer in the very town to which he has brought honour. But the dénouement is not the same; and the fundamental difference of temperament between the two artists is strongly marked. M. d'Indy finishes with the renouncement of a Christian, and Herr Richard Strauss by a proud and joyous affirmation of independence.

[162] Found by M. d'Indy in his own province, as he tells us in his Chansons populaires du Vivarais.

[163] In his criticisms his heart is not always in agreement with his mind. His mind denounces the Renaissance, but his instinct obliges him to appreciate the great Florentine painters of the Renaissance and the musicians of the sixteenth century. He only gets out of the difficulty by the most extraordinary compromises, by saying that Ghirlandajo and Filippo Lippi were Gothic, or by stating that the Renaissance in music did not begin till the seventeenth century! (Cours de Composition, pp. 214 and 216.)

[164] Act III, scene 3. The power of that evocation is so strong that it carries the poet along with it. It would seem that part of the action had only been conceived with a view to the final effect of the sudden colouring of the waves.

[165] Cours de Composition, and Tribune de Saint-Gervais.

[166] Cours de Composition.

[167] This essay was written in 1899.

[168] Nietzsche.

[169] Beyond Good and Evil, 1886. I hope I may be excused for introducing Nietzsche here, but his thoughts seem constantly to be reflected in Strauss, and to throw much light on the soul of modern Germany.

[170] This article was written in 1899. Since then the Sinfonia Domestica, has been produced, and will be noticed in the essay French and German Music.

[171] Composed in 1889, and performed for the first time at Eisenach in 1890.

[171a]Richard Strauss, eine Charakterskizze, 1896, Prague.

[171b]R. Strauss, Essai critique et biologique, 1898, Brussels.

[171c]Der Musikführer: Tod und Verklärung, Frankfort.

[172] Some people have tried to see Alexander Ritter's thoughts in Friedhold, as they have seen Strauss's thoughts in Guntram.

[173] Composed in 1894-95, and played for the first time at Cologne in 1895.

[174] Composed in 1895-96, and performed for the first time at Frankfort-On-Main in November, 1896.

[175] Nietzsche.

[176] Nietzsche, Zarathustra.

[177] Arthur Hahn, Der Musikführer: Don Quixote, Frankfort.

[178] At the head of each variation Strauss has marked on the score the chapter of "Don Quixote" that he is interpreting.

[179] Finished in December, 1898. Performed for the first time at Frankfort-On-Main on 3 March, 1899. Published by Leuckart, Leipzig.

[180] The composition of the orchestra in Strauss's later works is as follows: In Zarathustra: one piccolo, three flutes, three oboes, one English horn, one clarinet in E flat, two clarinets in B, one bass-clarinet in B, three bassoons, one double-bassoon, six horns in F, four trumpets in C, three trombones, three bass-tuba, kettledrums, big drum, cymbals, triangle, chime of bells, bell in E, organ, two harps, and strings. In Heldenleben: eight horns instead of six, five trumpets instead of four (two in E flat, three in B); and, in addition, military drums.

[181] In Guntram one could even believe that he had made up his mind to use a phrase in Tristan, as if he could not find anything better to express passionate desire.

[182] "The German spirit, which but a little while back had the will to dominate Europe, the force to govern Europe, has finally made up its mind to abandon it."—Nietzsche.

[183] A large number of works on Hugo Wolf have been published in Germany since his death. The chief is the great biography of Herr Ernst Decsey—Hugo Wolf (Berlin, 1903-4). I have found this book of great service; it is a work full of knowledge and sympathy. I have also consulted Herr Paul Müller's excellent little pamphlet, Hugo Wolf (Moderne essays, Berlin, 1904), and the collections of Wolf's letters, in particular his letters to Oskar Grohe, Emil Kaufmann, and Hugo Faisst.

[184] Joseph Schalk was one of the founders of the Wagner-Verein at Vienna, and devoted his life to propagating the cult of Bruckner (who called him his "Herr Generalissimus "), and to fighting for Wolf.

[185] Letter of H. von Bülow to Detlev von Liliencron.

[186] Wolf's letters to Strasser are of great value in giving us an insight into his artist's eager and unhappy soul.

[187] Wolf was living there with a friend. He had not a lodging of his own until 1896, and that was due to the generosity of his friends.

[188] The writing of an opera was Wolf's great dream and intention for many years.

[189] Detlev von Liliencron offered him an American subject. "But in spite of my admiration for Buffalo Bill and his unwashed crew," said Wolf sarcastically, "I prefer my native soil and people who appreciate the advantages of soap."

[190]

[191]

[192] This article was written in 1899, on the occasion of Lorenzo Perosi's coming to Paris to direct his oratorio La Résurrection.

[193] This essay was written in 1905.

[194] Man lies in greatest misery; Man lies in greatest pain; I would I were in Heaven!

[195] I come from God, and shall to God return.

[196] Thou wilt rise again, thou wilt rise again, O my dust, after a little rest.

[197] What is born must pass away; What has passed away must rise again.

[198]

[199] May I be allowed to say that I am trying to write this study from a purely historical point of view, by eliminating all personal feeling—which would be of no value here. As a matter of fact, I am not a Debussyite; my sympathies are with quite another kind of art. But I feel impelled to give homage to a great artist, whose work I am able to judge with some impartiality.

[200] That is for musicians. But I am convinced that with the mass of the public the other reasons have more weight—as is always the case.

[201] We must also note that during the first half of the seventeenth century people of taste objected to the very theatrical declamation of French opera. "Our singers believe," wrote Mersenne, in 1636, "that the exclamations and emphasis used by the Italians in singing savour too much of tragedies and comedies, and so they do not wish to employ them."

[202] No other critic has, I think, discerned so shrewdly Debussy's art and genius. Some of his analyses are models of clever intuition. The thought of the critic seems to be one with that of the musician.

[203] Jean-Christophe à Paris, 1904.

[204] One must at least do Hugo the justice of saying that he always spoke of Beethoven with admiration, although he did not know him. But he rather exalts him in order to take away from the importance of a poet—the only one in the nineteenth century—whose fame was shading his own; and when he wrote in his William Shakespeare that "the great man of Germany is Beethoven" it was understood by all to mean "the great man of Germany is not Goethe."

[205] Written in a letter to his sister, Nanci, on 3 April, 1850.

[206] We remark, nevertheless, that that did not prevent Gautier from being a musical critic.

[207] I wish to make known from the beginning that I am only noticing here the greater musical doings of the nation, and making no mention of works which have not had an important influence on this movement.

[208] In the meanwhile France saw the brilliant rise and extinction of a great artist—the most spontaneous of all her musicians—Georges Bizet, who died in 1875, aged thirty-seven. "Bizet was the last genius to discover a new beauty," said Nietzsche; "Bizet discovered new lands—the Southern lands of music," Carmen (1875) and L'Arlésienne (1872) are masterpieces of the lyrical Latin drama. Their style is luminous, concise, and well-defined; the figures are outlined with incisive precision. The music is full of light and movement, and is a great contrast to Wagner's philosophical symphonies, and its popular subject only serves to strengthen its aristocratic distinction. By its nature and its clear perception of the spirit of the race it was well in advance of its time. What a place Bizet might have taken in our art if he had only lived twenty years longer!

[209] Its influence is shown, in varying degrees, in works such as M. Reyer's Sigurd (1884), Chabrier's Gwendoline (1886), and M. Vincent d'Indy's Le Chant de la Cloche (1886).

[210] One knows that the Conservatoire originated in L'École gratuite de musique de la garde nationale parisienne, founded in 1792 by Sarrette, and directed by Gossec. It was then a civic and military school, but, according to Chénier, was changed into the Institut national de musique on 8 November, 1793, and into the Conservatoire on 3 August, 1795. This Republican Conservatoire made it its business to keep in contact with the spirit of the country, and was directly opposed to the Opera, which was of monarchical origin. See M. Constant Pierre's work Le Conservatoire national de musique (1900), and M. Julien Tiersot's very interesting book Les Fêtes et les Chants de la Révolution française (1908).

[211] You must remember that I am speaking here of official action only; for there have always been masters among the Conservatoire teaching staff who have united a fine musical culture with a broad-minded and liberal spirit. But the influence of these independent minds is, generally speaking, small; for they have not the disposing of academic successes; and when, by exception, they have a wide influence, like that of César Franck, it is the result of personal work outside the Conservatoire—work that is, as often as not, opposed to Conservatoire principles.

[212] It is to be noted that since 1807 the Conservatoire pupils have made Beethoven's symphonies familiar to Parisians. The Symphony in C minor was performed by them in 1808; the Heroic in 1811. It was in connection with one of these performances that the Tablettes de Polymnie gave a curious appreciation of Beethoven, which is quoted by M. Constant Pierre: "This composer is often grotesque and uncouth, and sometimes flies majestically like an eagle and sometimes crawls along stony paths. It is as though one had shut up doves and crocodiles together."

[213] This is according to M. Rivet's report on the Beaux-Arts in 1906. The Opera employs 1370 people, and its expenses are about 3,988,000 francs. The annual grant of the State comes to about 800,000 francs.

[214] On the occasion of the revival of Don Juan in 1902, the Revue Musicale counted up the pages that had been added to the original score. They came to two hundred and twenty-eight.

[215] The facts which follow are taken from the archives of the Société Nationale de Musique, and have been given me by M. Pierre de Bréville, the Society's secretary.

[216] It must be remembered that the prices of the seats were much cheaper than they are to-day; the best were only three francs.

[217] There were about 340 performances of Saint-Saëns' works, 380 of Wagner's, 390 of Beethoven's, and 470 of Berlioz's. I owe these details to the kind information of M. Charles Malherbe and M. Léon Petitjean, the secretary of the Colonne concerts.

[218] The Damnation de Faust alone was given in its entirety a hundred and fifty times in thirty years.

[219] It is known that M. Colonne has now a helper in M. Gabriel Pierné, who will succeed him when he retires.

[220] My statements may be verified by the account published in the Revue Éolienne of January, 1902, by M. Léon Bourgeois, secretary of the Committee of the Association des Concerts-Lamoureux.

[221] It published, in eleven volumes, the ancient works that it performed. Before this experiment there had been the Concerts historiques de Fétis, preceded by lectures, which were inaugurated in 1832, and failed; and these were followed by Amédée Méréaux's Concerts historiques in 1842-1844.

[222] The following information was given by M. Vincent d'Indy at a lecture held on 20 February, 1903, at the École des Hautes Études sociales—a lecture which later became a chapter in M. d'Indy's book, César Franck (1906).

[223] A complete list may be found in M. d'Indy's book.

[224]Tribune de Saint-Gervais, November, 1900.

[225] See the Essay on Vincent d'Indy.

[226] Revue d'histoire et de critique musicale, August-September, 1901.

[227] "The Schola Cantorum aims at creating a modern music truly worthy of the Church" (First number of the Tribune de Saint-Gervais, the monthly bulletin of the Schola Cantorum, January, 1895).

[228] The Schola had in mind here the vigorous work of the French Benedictines, which had been done in silence for the past fifty years; it was thinking, too, of the restoration of the Gregorian chant during 1850 and 1860 by Dom Guéranger, the first abbot of Solesmes, a work continued by Dom Jausions and Dom Pothier, the abbot of Saint-Wandrille, who published in 1883 the Mélodies Grégoriennes, the Liber Gradualis, and the Liber Antiphonarius. This work was finally brought to a happy conclusion by Dom Schmitt, and Dom Mocqucreau, the prior of Solesmes, who in 1889 began his monumental work, the Paléo-graphie Musicals, of which nine volumes had appeared in 1906. This great Benedictine school is an honour to France by the scientific work it has lately done in music. The school is at present exiled from France.

[229] When Charles Bordes opened the first Schola Cantorum in the Rue Stanislas he was without help or resources, and had exactly thirty-seven francs and fifty centimes in hand. I mention this detail to give an idea of the splendidly courageous and confident spirit that Charles Bordes possessed.

[230] Tribune de Saint-Gervais, November, 1900.

[231] There are actually nine courses of Composition at the Schola—five for men and four for women. M. d'Indy takes eight of them, as well as a mixed class for orchestra.