Indeed, not
only "Le Coq d'or," but most of his work reveals his dry, real sense of
humor. And how often does he not point the direction in which Russian
music has subsequently advanced! His latter style, with its mottled
chromatic and Oriental modes, its curious and bewildering intervals, is
the veritable link between the music of the older Russian group to which
he, roughly, belongs and that of the younger, newer men, of Strawinsky
in particular. Indeed, the works of Strawinsky reveal incessantly how
much the master taught the pupil.
But if they reveal Rimsky's keenness, they reveal his limitations as
well. They bring into sharpest relief the difference between poetic and
superficial expressiveness. For Strawinsky has in many instances
successfully handled materials which Rimsky not quite satisfactorily
employed. The former's early works, in particular "L'Oiseau de feu," and
the first act of the opera "Le Rossignol," related to Rimsky's in style
as they are, have yet a faery and wonder and flittergold that the master
never succeeded in attaining. The music of "L'Oiseau de feu" is really a
fantastic dream-bird. "Petrouchka" has a brilliance and vivacity and
madness that makes Rimsky's scenes from popular life, his utilizations
of vulgar tunes and dances scarcely comparable to it.
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