Page:The Spirit of French Music.djvu/158

 be the slave of scholastic or other prejudices to deny to this duet, so well placed too from the melodramatic point of view, its qualities of warmth and eloquence, its very powerful effect. But one would have to be a barbarian or an ignoramus not to notice that it is written in a blended and impure style, and that from one phrase to another there is a constant change of musical idiom and musical spirit.

There is no need for me to multiply my proofs. But it important that I have taken them only from the "best" passages. What would happen if I tackled what I have called Meyerbeer's rubbish heap—that rubbish heap which in the total weight of his work represents no small proportion of kilogrammes! Meyerbeer is appalling when the kindly Muse of Reflection does not come to his aid, or at least does not bring him sufficiently definite assistance. As types of these passages, rich in notes but empty of meaning, one may quote: in a falsely sentimental or elegant style, "Whiter than the ermine white," "For Bertha I sigh:" in a gravely dramatic style, the whole of the second act of the Africaine, except the phrase, "Daughter of Kings." Those to whom the troubadour and time-piece-picture style are still dear will also enjoy the air of Sleep. It is a curious thing that this Africaine which taken as a whole is the most insufferable of Meyerbeer's scores (the unique ineptitude of the "book" has something to do with that) is also the work in which occur the few really attractive pages that he wrote,—"Wonderful Land," and the first part of the manchineal scene. I do not include the famous prelude, which is absolutely hollow and owes its well-known effect merely to a certain illusory charm of instrumentation.

What is most offensive in Meyerbeer is the rhythms,