But it is also a natural development in the evolution of
music. French music felt new vigour springing up within her, and was
astonished at it; her days of preparation were over, and she aspired to
fly alone; and, in accordance with the eternal rule of history, the
first use she made of her newly-acquired strength was to defy her
teachers. And this revolt against foreign influences was directed--one
had expected it--against the strongest of the influences--the influence
of German music as personified by Wagner. Two discussions in magazines,
in 1903 and 1904, brought this state of mind curiously to light: one was
an enquiry held by M. Jacques Morland in the _Mercure de France_
(January, 1903) as to _The Influence of German Music in France_; and the
other was that of M. Paul Landormy in the _Revue Bleue_ (March and
April, 1904) as to _The Present Condition of French Music_. The first
was like a shout of deliverance, and was not without exaggeration and a
good deal of ingratitude; for it represented French musicians and
critics throwing off Wagner's influence because it had had its day; the
second set forth the theories of the new French school, and declared the
independence of that school.
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