]
[Footnote 256: _The Passion according to St. Matthew_ was given first of
all by two little choirs, consisting of from twelve to sixteen students,
including the soloists.]
Let us hope on and persevere. The main thing is that a start has been
made; the thing that remains is to have patience and--persistence.
THE PRESENT CONDITION OF FRENCH MUSIC
We have seen how the musical education of France is going on in
theatres, in concerts, in schools, by lectures and by books; and the
Parisian's rather restless desire for knowledge seems to be satisfied
for the moment. The mind of Paris has made a journey--a hasty journey,
it is true through the music of other countries and other times,[257]
and is now becoming introspective. After a mad enthusiasm over
discoveries in strange lands, music and musical criticism have regained
their self-possession and their jealous love of independence. A very
decided reaction against foreign music has been shown since the time of
the Universal Exhibition of 1900. This movement is not unconnected,
consciously or unconsciously, with the nationalist train of thought,
which was stirred up in France, and especially in Paris, somewhere about
the same time.
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