It is there, and _there alone_, that we shall
find melodic craft, rhythmic cadences, and a harmonic magnificence
that is really new--if our modern spirit can only learn how to
absorb their nutritious essence. And so I prescribe for all pupils
in the School the careful study of classic forms, because _they
alone_ are able to give the elements of a new life to our music,
which will be founded on principles that are sane, solid, and
trustworthy."[230]
[Footnote 230: _Tribune de Saint-Gervais_, November, 1900.]
This fine and intelligent eclecticism was likely to develop a critical
spirit, but was rather less adapted to form original personalities. In
any case, however, it was excellent discipline in the formation of
musical taste; and, in truth, the _Ecole Superieure de musique_ of the
Rue Saint-Jacques became a new Conservatoire, both more modern and more
learned than the old Conservatoire, and freer, and yet less free,
because more self-satisfied. The school developed very quickly. From
having twenty-one pupils in 1896, it had three hundred and twenty in
1908. Eminent musicians and professors learned in the history and
science of music taught there, and M.
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