Page:Rolland - A musical tour through the land of the past.djvu/106

94 pioneer of the new style declares, in his Autobiography (1729):

"As for my styles in music (he does not say my style), these are well-known. First there was the Polish style, then the French style, and above all the Italian style, in which I have written most profusely."

I cannot, in these hasty notes, which are merely the outlines of a series of lectures, lay especial stress upon certain influences, more particularly on that of Polish music, which has been taken too little into account, though its style furnished many inspirations to the German masters of that period. But what I wish to make clear just now is that the leaders of the new German school, though imbued with a very profound sense of nationality, were steeped in foreign influences which had crossed all parts of the German frontier—Czech, Polish, French, and Italian. This was not an accident; it was a necessity. German music, despite its power, had always had a sluggish circulation. The music of other countries—ours, for example—has chiefly