stand off and take an impartial view, to appreciate the good
points inallschools. A detailed account of d’Indy’s life and
works will not be necessary, for the subject has been admirably
and comprehensively treated by D.G. Mason in his set ofEssays
on Contemporary Composersand in the article by E.B. Hill in
theArt of Music, Vol. 3.
[Footnote 284: This school may be said to contain two groups:
one, the pupils of César Franck—d’Indy, Chausson, Duparc,
Rousseau, Augusta Holmès and Ropartz, the chief feature in
whose style is a modernization of classic practice; a second con-
sisting of Debussy, Ravel, Dukas and Florent Schmitt, whose
works manifest more extreme individualistic tendencies.]
[Footnote 285: The well-known German scholar and editor Max
Friedländer, who visited this country in 1910, acknowledged—in
a conversation with the writer—that he had never even heard
of Chabrier!]
D’Indy’s compositions, as in the case of Franck, are not numer-
ous, but finely wrought and of distinct and varied individuality.
His chief instrumental[286] works comprise aWallenstein Trilogy
(three symphonic poems based on Schiller’s drama) notable for
descriptive power and orchestral effect; a Symphony for orches-
tra and pianoforte on a mountain air[287]—one of his best works,
because the folk-song basis furnishes a melodic warmth which
elsewhere is sometimes lacking; a set of Symphonic Variations
on the Assyrian legend of Istar; a remarkable Sonata for violin
and pianoforte; a String-Quartet, all the movements of which
are based on a motto of four notes, and lastly the Symphony
in B-flat major—considered his masterpiece—in which the same
process of development from generative motives is followed as in
César Franck. All these works contain certain salient character-
istics proceeding directly from d’Indy’s imagination and intel-
lect. There is always an ideal and noble purpose, a stoutly knit
musical fabric and melodies—d’Indy’s own melodies, sincerely
felt and beautifully presented. Whether they have abounding
power to move the heart of the listener is, indeed, the point
at issue. Since d’Indy is on record as saying, “There is in art,
truly, nothing but the heart that can produce beauty,” it is ev-
ident that he believes in the emotional element in music. That
there is a difference of opinion however, as to what makes emo-
tional power is shown by his estimate of Brahms (set forth in
hisCours de Composition Musicale, pp. 415-416) in the state-