It is the
music of suggestion, of sudden kindlings, brief starts and lines, small
forms. It never insists. It only pricks. It instigates, begins, leaves
off, and then continues, rousing to action the hearer's innate need of
an aim and an order and meaning in things. Its subtle gestures, its
brief, sharp, delicate phrases, its quintessentiality, are like the
thrusting open of doors into the interiors of the conscience, the
opening of windows on long vistas, are like the breaking of light upon
obscured memories and buried emotions. They are like the unsealing of
springs long sealed, suffering them to flow again in the night. And for
a glowing instant, they transform the auditor from a passive receiver
into an artist.
And there is much besides that Ravel and Debussy have in common. They
have each been profoundly influenced by Russian music, "Daphnis et
Chloe" showing the influence of Borodin, "Pelleas et Melisande" that of
Moussorgsky. Both have made wide discoveries in the field of harmony.
Both have felt the power of outlying and exotic modes. Both have been
profoundly impressed by the artistic currents of the Paris about them.
Both, like so many other French musicians, have been kindled by the
bright colors of Spain, Ravel in his orchestral Rhapsody, in his one-act
opera "L'Heure espagnol" and in the piano-piece in the collection
"Miroirs" entitled "Alborada del Graciozo," Debussy in "Iberia" and in
some of his preludes.
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