Very different from Chabrier, the same cult of the sonorous beauty, the same very frank, decided will to write whatever he likes, also characterizes G. Faure. His most uncommon gifts which have sometimes made us say (as of Gounod) that he is •music itself," com bined with such exquisite taste and prophetic imagination. G. Faure is, one of our greatest masters. His art is like that of the ancient Hellenes, of an entire panty, discretion and harmony, not excluding, however, depth and penetrating charm. The construction of his Orase is really inimitable. In order to de fine these words °Faure's you might as. well crush the marvelous wings of a butterfly between your benumbed fingers. One cannot explain the great and delicate mystery of the or the 'Moonlight.) Let us only state, on the whole, that this class of music is the most representation of the senti ments uttered by the poets:. A portion of Faure's works is known to consist of melodies, written on the verses of Verlaine, Samain. Leconte de Lisle. The material dimensions matter little, a simple melody which is really beautiful like the 'Imperishable Per fume,' is worth more than a series of tedious sonatas. On the other hand, let us acknowledge. the power of charm• (a. dangerous error to think the expression of brutal force more powerful). Here, this charm is the Latin 'Carmen) and there is a magic in this music, so mysteriously, so entirely musical. Besides, it did not require much to make Faure's song heard with still greater force. He seized the opportunity and conquered. His them,' at once simple and concise, shows splen did vigor. His of a wonderfully Greek art, interprets the eternal humanity of old Homeric legend.
This style scarcely offers anything else lint known accords, linked, however, Mostly by "ex ceptional very new and altogether characteristic. Debussy, likewise makes use of many new But let it be distinctly affirmed that he possesses all the fine qualities of a 'French classic. If he be essentially of our epoch (in order to •give a more just expression. to contemporaneous appreciation, no one ever appeared so precisely at the right -moment) if, by this happy concordance (Pelleas and Melis ande' (iri spite of so much that is surprising in the style) called forth numerous and sincere commendations, it is none the less a perfect classical work. At the present time we dis cern in it that good sense which knows how to reserve its means; one enjoys the soberness of the writing and scoring.
It is false to say that 'Pelleas) is a °con tinuation of perpetual dissonances.° These latter are realized with an extreme softness, and attached to them, perfect accords play an important part. Those who remained bigoted followers of Wagner, judged that there was no thing in 'Pe!leas) precisely on account of that conciseness, that admirable fact, and because Debussy made use of no long developments in ordet to interpret his thoughts. The art of Moussorgski had revealed to him by what genial curtailings the author of 'Boris Godu noff' knew how to depict such a sentiment or vision. He drew from it the boldness to free himself from all restraint as regards rules, every time his natural instinct demanded; the law of all original beings from Monteverdi to Beethoven, from Bach to Stravinsky or Schon berg. This instinct, so sure, combined with the good fortune to have known Stephan Mal tarn* and his associates, had guided him to a new study of books, precisely those charm ing °little dramas" of Maeterlinck. His direct
interpretation of nature has caused Debussy to be classed among the °impressionists? And those who only half appreciated him readily add °particles of sounds, contempt of all construc tion.° This is a very correct opinion. The scenes of 'Pelleas' especially are well combined, because an impression of unity proceeds from them, of harmonious lines, and because the form is exempt from tediousness. Study the 'Prelude to an Afternoon of a Faun > the 'Nocturnes,' You will be convinced that it is not a question of °sonorous dashes" set down by chance. It is the freshness of a sketch in front of the landscape combined with the quality of the pictures of finished composition. Lastly, like Chabrier and Faure, Debussy has never looked upon the charm of music as a faulty thing. And the neopaganism of this tendency has only that which elevates it. It is none the less opposed to the materialism of the theatre veritist than to the scholasticism of misunderstood tradition. A pantheist, he adored, as divine, the beauty of the material, or if one prefers, he decks it with all that is divine in man, that is the exact opposite to commonplace art.
In France, at first, and for a few years in foreign countries the repercussion of this music has been considerable.
'The Pavan for a deceased Infant,' by Ravel, at first appeared confusing; it strikes us to-day by its classical and regular beauty.
After 'Pelleas,) all music, irregular, new, unexpected, seems Debussyst to the ears of critics. As such was entitled at the first hearing, the vigorous and sonorous 'Psalm' of Fl. Schmitt, so remote from the 'Nocturnes) or 'Iberia.) As much was said of Ravel's 'Imi tations)! Nothing is more unjust. Relation ship, influence, be it. But before all, let us consider the general course of events, the state of the mind, of art, of literature, the preceding chance discoveries of our masters, the music of the °Five Russians" the need of natural reaction against the factitious research for ex _ pansion, these are many of the reasons which are at the origin of the means of expression of Debussy, as of Ravel. The charming 'Elegy) of Raymond Bonheur may remind us of some expressions in the 'Chosen Damsel' ; it would be absurd to see a °copy° in it. (The real copy does not exist in music and plagiarism only ends in tame repetitions). One hears also in the earlier works of Erik Satie (especially in the 'Son of a Star') some curious °parallel movements" which it is possible Debussy and Ravel kept in mind. Moreover, every artist must possess some genuine originality in order to be inspired with success by the chance dis coveries of a colleague. Thus Wagner ac quired certain harmonies from Liszt; Debussy does not ignore some pages of Monssorgski. But the result of it was beauty and of quite a personal kind. If young musicians, in their turn, have walked in the footsteps of Debussy (continuing in case of need to venture into the pathways, the starting point of which he has pointed out) it would be foolish and wrong to quarrel with them. The whole history of art is composed of rich and fruitful influences, terminating in original works; and we have only to judge by the results.