SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019
conditions of the combat
Such were the conditions of the combat; and they were, whether intentionally or not, unfavourable to France. And yet to the eyes of an impartial observer the result was full of hope and encouragement for us.
I have never bothered myself in art with questions of nationality. I have not even concealed my preference for German music; and I consider, even to-day, that Richard Strauss is the foremost musical composer in Europe. Having said this, I am freer to speak of the strange impression that I had at the Strasburg festival–an impression of the change that is coming over music, and the way that French art is silently setting about taking the place of German art.
«Wälschen Dunst und wälschen Tand….» How that reproachful speech seems to be misplaced when one is listening to the honest thought expressed in César Franck’s music. In Les Béatitudes, nothing, or next to nothing, was done for art’s sake. It is the soul speaking to the soul. As Beethoven wrote, at the end of his mass in D, «Vom Herzen … zu Herzen!» («It comes from the heart to go to the heart»). I know no one but Franck in the last century, unless it is Beethoven, who has possessed in so high a degree the virtue of being himself and speaking only the truth without thought of his public. Never before has religious faith been expressed with such sincerity. Franck is the only musician besides Bach who has really seen the Christ, and who can make other people see him too. I would even venture to say that his Christ is simpler than Bach’s; for Bach’s thoughts are often led away by the interest of developing his subject, by certain habits of composition, and by repetitions and clever devices, which weaken his strength. In Franck’s music we get Christ’s speech itself, unadorned and in all its living force. And in the wonderful harmony between the music and the sacred words we hear the voice of the world’s conscience. I once heard someone say to Mme. Cosima Wagner that certain passages in Parsifal, particularly the chorus «Durch Mitleid wissend,» had a quality that was truly religious and the force of a revelation. But I find a greater force and a more truly Christian spirit in Les Béatitudes.
And here is an astonishing thing. At this German musical festival it was a Frenchman who represented not only serious music moulded in a classical form, but a religious spirit and the spirit of the Gospels. The characters of two nations have been reversed. The Germans have so changed that they are only able to appreciate this seriousness and religious faith with difficulty. I watched the audience on this occasion; they listened politely, a little astonished and bored, as if to say, «What business has this Frenchman with depth and piety of soul?»
«There is no doubt,» said Henri Lichtenberger, who sat by me at the concert, «our music is beginning to bore the Germans.»
It was only the other day that German music enjoyed the privilege of boring us in France.
this was: Conditions Of The Combat
go to next chapter: Gustave Charpentier’s
