All this musical progress was not checked by the tragical events of 1870, quite the con trary. The admirable score of the is known to have been completed by Cesar Franck during the siege of Paris: In the face of so much misery and sadness the soul of the great musician sought refuge in the word of the Gospel, and found there the accents of divine consolation. His first disciples had already comprehended the beauty of his lessons and example. Alexis de Castillon, dying too young, before he had been understood by the public, left an incomplete work, no doubt, but in which there is to be found great nobility, sustained by a pure musical taste, as that of a very sure calling. More distinctly still H. Duparc was a precursor. It is not to be denied that, at times, one meets with signs of genius in his works. Are we astonished to see this word attributed to simple amelodies,* to short and unpretentious compositions? The absolute scale has nothing to do with the matter; cer tain Japanese engravings would always be of more worth than a large but common-place (historical picture.* The profound and mysteri ous beauty of the to travel' escapes in the analysis. It is made up of well-known accords, the line is of the most simple, but thanks to the intuition of a great master, for the first time the nostalgia of Bandelaire enters into our art.
By Lalo, de Castillon, Cesar Franck, Saint Sacns, H. Duparc and a few musicians of the theatre, to whom I shall subsequently refer, the impetus was given to the French school. The National Society of Music, founded in 1873, and which greatly favored the scope of our chamber music, seemed at its dawn to be the fraternal union of all the composers. Chimera, on account of the free and manifold character of our school. The diversity of tastes led to several resignations, _among them that of Saint-Saens. Later on, the schism of the I. M. S. (Independent Musical Society) was equally the resulting logic of analogous causes. Like the heresies which marked the most flourishing epochs, these rivalries and strifes were inseparable from a rich and pro ductive art.
At the time of its foundation the National Society numbered several musicians, the careers of which have since been principally theatrical. With their colleague symphonists they were then the "young)) who were hopefully march ing toward the future. And the public showed them that distrust, so often directed to new works, with which the author has succeeded in forcing an entrance into the Temple of Fame. It was thus that Reyer appeared too modern. His early works, The Statue,' displayed that love of the Orient, so natural with us. From the Night) of Saint-Saens to the (Mama) of Rabaud, the French musicians have always been attracted by the charm and the distinction of the art of Islam. They did not compete with that (other wise so captivating) manner of Rimsky Korsakoff or of Balakireff, but adorned with discreet colors that which they showed to be essentially civilized (consult the translation of the (Arabian Nights' by Galland).
Preceding Reyer, Felicien David had an hour of fame; a musician of disproportionate talent, carried away by a nostalgic remembrance of the desert and of whom Auber so wittily remarked: "I shall expect him only when he alights from his camel.* Let us not forget either the celebrated melody of Berlioz, the impregnated with the romanticism of the (Orientals) of Victor Hugo, and also call to mind that Bizet took part in this move ment, (The Pearl Fishers,' Reyer waited a long time for celebrity, it came with especially with (Sigurd,' of which we must, at times, remember the force, often the pure charm of the melodious thought and the sincere inspiration, issuing at the same time from Gluck and Berlioz. This celebrity George Bizet never knew. He died shortly after the failure of his admirable (Carmen,' which Nietsche so justly designated as the accom plished type of Mediterranean art. A work essentially French in the widest sense of the word, where the imagination and the pathetic style is balanced by clearness and good humor. The musician (as already in the (Artesian,' that other master-piece) reveals himself freed from the influence of the "grand operas)) of Halevy. At the same time the counterpointed writing and the free dramatic style of Bizet were full of neologisms and daring: the public were therefore rebellious. But, now, this lib erty is the current language of the young; scandalous at the time of the first representa tion of (Carmen,' to-day it contributes to rescue it from the verdict of time, so severe toward some other more spontaneous and fashionable work. One knows of the misad ventures of the of Ys,' by Lalo. The directors of the theatres feared the incompre hension of the auditors, doubtless on account of the serious writing of this work, at the same time so clear and expressive. When Lalo finally became celebrated, he was quite 60 years old. is this new young man*?
they said. . . . Destiny was more favorable to Massenet, although much discussed from the first. The future will make its choice among the numberless works of this indefatigable master. The fairies who granted him their precious gifts (notably that of a distinctive personality and such musical charm) had added that of a desire to please; whence some times there appears in his works a transforma tion in his disposition.* It is found more purely, more profoundly eitpressed in some of his earlier works, simple but delicious melodies, orchestral series, ballet airs. Of a generous mind and a wise critic, Massenet was also a remarkable professor of composition at the Paris Conservatoire. There he directed musi cians such as Bruneau, Charpentier, Rabaud, d'011one, Florent Schmitt, G. Enesco. His col league, E. Guiraud, had the honor of including in the number of his pupils: Bachelet, Paul Dukas, A. Gedalge and Claude Debussy. Less illustrious than Massenet, Leo Delibes was still a delightful composer, many of his pages will never die. The young appreciate him so much the more as they find ideas for new harmony, that the art of Faure and Debussy knew how to realize with so much perfection and depth. And his (Lalone) sometimes still enchants those souls thirsting for exoticism. With the first theatrical works of Saint-Saens (among which is the impeccable and really symphonic (Samson and Delilah') is terminated this rapid review of the French opera and comic opera, before the Wagnerian influence and the kind of revolution which it caused. Truly speaking, the revolu tion Was not so sudden, for the use of persist ing themes had already been found in (Sam son.) At the other musical pole were camped, at the National Society, a group of composers clustered round the professor Cwsar Franck. The latter (all his life one might say, if not ignored, at least unacknowledged by more au thorized artists, and particularly by the musi cians of the theatre) was of a modest disposi tion, humbly canting his living, far from all aarrivism,* desiring only to realize his sonorous dream; an enterprising spirit also whose link ing of accords and personal style were little appreciated by his colleagues, with the exception of his pupils and a few other juniors. At the present time everyone renders homage to the angelical purity of his melodies as well as to the fulness of his noble thought. Goodness predominates in it, a naive goodness with a serene smile, which, without ignoring suffering, contemplates the world through the hope of his beautiful vision. Moreover, neither humanity nor passion are strangers to him, but he knows nothing of the bitterness of hatred. His art is inspired by the classical symphony, with, however, this very decided principle that the same idea begets the development and the form. By this independence, as also by the boldness of his harmony, so naturally free from all pedantry, Cirsar Franck remains one of the fathers of our modern school. Certain accents of divine consolation in the seem to belong to all Christian humanity, more, to all suffering humanity. His example shows the beauty of the simple chamber music, and was a precious encouragement. But a curious thing which remains clearly defined, is the Northern origin* of Franck; this is particularly noticeable in the way his disciples understood his lessons. His amplitude of style, his calm but vigorous thought, as organist, are not with out a certain heaviness in the realization; they, however, agree even with the idea. The full accords, the development which is displayed without fear of levying too great a stress, all these things do not displease us in Franck. It is not always the same with certain pupils; their noble intention °to live always on the does not give the expected result, for lack of sufficiently fine musical ideas, or orig inality in the invention of means. Franck s means, having been discovered by himself, have a true accent, they are adapted to his own music. The art of his disciples of the present time, especially, seems, to us, in general, duller and more diffuse. It was also burdened with a fairly strong dose of pessimism. At the most active period of the Wagnerian influence a great wave of sorrow, proceeding from 'Tristan and Isolde' burst, threatening to sub merge all familiar art, joyous, serene and con fident. More than one of us believed himself called upon to sink into the bitter delights of this magic tide. Still, when this style of ex pression was natural to the musician, the works created under this Saturnian attraction are really fine. It was the case with Ernest Chans son. A great melancholy hovers over all he wrote; but it came from the depth of his heart. That is why the 'Funeral Song,' the 'Poem for Violin,' the Hymn,' and many a melody on certain poems of Verlaine, of Maeterlinck will never cease to move future generations. They are and they will remain.