"
All expression is made in low, aristocratic tone, in grisaille. Most
often it achieves itself through a silvery grace. It is normal for these
men to be profound through grace, to be amusing and yet artistically
upright. It is normal for them to articulate nicely. High in their
consciousness there flame always the commandments of clarity, of
delicacy, of precision. Indeed, so repeatedly have temperaments of this
character appeared in France, not only in her music, but also in her
letters and other arts, from the time of the Pleiade, to that of Charles
Louis Philippe and Andre Gide and Henri de Regnier, that it is difficult
not to hold theirs the centrally, essentially French tradition, and not
to see in men like Rabelais only the Frank, and in men like Berlioz only
the atavism to Gallo-Roman times.
But it is not only the spirit of French classicism that Ravel and
Debussy inherit. In one respect their art is the continuation of the
music that came to a climax in the works of Haydn and Mozart. It is
subtle and intimate, and restores to the auditor the great creative role
assigned to him by so much of the music before Beethoven. The music of
Haydn and Mozart defers to its hearer. It seeks deliberately to enlist
his activity. It relies for its significance largely upon his
contribution.
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