It is natural that here and there we
should see the mark of the hammer, the imprint of his determination; but
it is only by his determination that he welded the work into a solid
whole.
Perhaps it is determination that brings unity now and then into M.
d'Indy's spirit. With reference to this, I will dwell upon one point
only, since it is curious, and seems to me to be of general artistic
interest. M. d'Indy writes his own poems for his "_actions
musicales_"--Wagner's example, it seems, has been catching. We have seen
how the harmony of a work may suffer through the dual gifts of its
author; though he may have thought to perfect his composition by writing
both words and music. But an artist's poetical and musical gifts are not
necessarily of the same order. A man has not always the same kind of
talent in other arts that he has in the art which he has made his own--I
am speaking not only of his technical skill, but of his temperament as
well. Delacroix was of the Romantic school in painting, but in
literature his style was Classic. We have all known artists who were
revolutionaries in their own sphere, but conservative and behind the
times in their opinions about other branches of art.
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