On principle I condemn it
absolutely. But, in this case, it is Hobson's choice. _Primum vivere,
deinde philosophari_. If our contemporary musicians really wished the
people to sing, they would have written songs for them; but they seem to
have no desire to achieve honour that way. So there is nothing else to
be done but to have recourse to the musicians of other days; and even
there the choice is very limited. For France formerly, like the France
of to-day, had very few musicians who had any understanding of a great
popular art. Berlioz came nearest to understanding the meaning of it;
and he is not yet public property, so his airs cannot be used. It is
curious, and rather sad, that out of eighty pieces chosen by M. Buchor
only nine of them are French; and this is reckoning the Italians, Lully
and Cherubini, as Frenchmen. M. Buchor has had to go to German classical
musicians almost entirely, and, generally speaking, his choice has been
a happy one. With a sure instinct he has given the preference to popular
geniuses like Haendel and Beethoven. We may ask why he did not keep their
words; but we must remember that at any rate they had to be translated;
and though it may seem rash to change the subject of a musical
masterpiece, it is certain that M.
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