Stravinsky and the 'NRF' (1920-29) Author(s): David Bancroft Source: Music & Letters, Vol. 55, No.

3 (Jul., 1974), pp. 261-271 Published by: Oxford University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/734223 . Accessed: 07/04/2014 13:42
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Oxford University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Music &Letters.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 64.134.41.127 on Mon, 7 Apr 2014 13:42:05 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

AJUSIC and
JULY
VOLUME LV

Letters
No. 3

1974

MUSIC AND LETTERS was foundedin 1920 by the late A. H. Fox Strangways.It was continued by the late Richard Capell and is now the propertyof Music and LettersLimited, a Company Limited by guarantee and comprisingrepresentativesfrom the Royal Musical Association and Oxford UniversityPress and others. BusnESS & ADVERTIING ADDRESS: 44 Conduit Street,London, WiR oDE. EDrroRiAL ADDRESS: 'Maycroft', Hurland Lane, Headley, Bordon,Hants., GU33 8NQ.

STRAVINSKY AND THE 'NRF'

BY DAVID BANCROFT
THE

(1920-29)

fortunes in France during the I920's as reflected of Stravinsky in the Nouvelle RevueFranfaise were largely in the hands of Boris de Schloezer,who had by I922 become permanent music critic of the NRF. Through his many 'Chroniques Musicales' and other articles we are offeredan intriguingarray of reportages the conreflecting stantlychanging panorama of musical happenings in France. From them emerges the feeling-perhaps unintentional and no doubt chauvinisticallyunacceptable to the critic responsible for it-that without Stravinsky the French musical scene during the I920'S would have been disastrously unenterprisingand uninteresting. De Schloezer, anxious to uphold those traditional patriotic criteria that have in general made French criticismwhat it is-or at any rate what it has been-("c'est l'ecole francaise qui est aujourd'hui a la tete du mouvementmusical europeen", I924, vol. 22, p. 509)1 is neverthelesscompelled to acknowledge in the same breath that the true leaders of contemporarymusic are Schonberg and Stravinsky.By implication,upon a number of occasions, it is also quite clear that in de Schlcezer's opinion without Stravinsky there would have been no 'French School' of composers in the I920'S, thereby intimatingthat Jacques Riviere's urgent plea addressed in I9I3 to all French artistshad been answered, at least partially.2 De Schlcezer's contributionto the /RF representsnot merely an interesting piece of contemporary documentationforthe musical historian but also a valuable source of contemporary attitudes
1 All references to the Nouvelle Revue in the text give year of publication, Franfaise numberof bound volume and page. 2 See 'Stravinsky and the "NRF" (1910-1920)', Music & Letters, liii (1972), pp. 27483.

26I

This content downloaded from 64.134.41.127 on Mon, 7 Apr 2014 13:42:05 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

towards aestheticexperience in France during the I920'S, and in role in the developmentof these attitudes. particular of Stravinsky's The NRF is not a journal of musical scholarship; it is addressed particularlyto thosewho wish to consider to men ofletters, primarily literature within the wider frameworkof cultural experience in general. Thus, although de Schlczer writesfromthe point of view of a musicologist-unlike Riviere, who wrote at all times as a litterateur-hedoes not write (in the NRF, that is) for the professionalmusician but for the man interestedin the arts generally. Strongin his opinion that to writeabout music the criticmust have a formal musical training (and he acknowledges, and accepts, Riviere as the exception to prove the rule), de Schloezer communicates to the reader of the NVRFan understandingof contemporary musical experience,inevitablysubjective, but none the less valid in any study of the asthetic relationshipsbetween the arts in France during this period. The restrictedamount of technical musical to Stravinskythat appears in de Schlezer's analysis with reference articleswas developed at much greaterlengthin a book ofsignificant scholarship, entitled simply 'Stravinsky' (published by Claude Aveline), which appeared in i929, and of which Gabriel Marcel wrote: "Voici un des livres les plus courageux, les plus significatifs, que j'aie lu depuis longtemps" (I929 vol. 33, et ... les plus irritants p. 427). But Marcel never accorded to Stravinskythose heights of genius which de Schloezer and many othershave found in him. At the same time, however, Marcel did acknowledge that nobody in France during these years had a more profound knowledge of, or And in de Schlkzer's for,the work of Stravinsky. greaterenthusiasm to and devotion to Stravinsky'smusic, and in his constantreference eagerness to integrate it into the picture of contemporaryartistic expressionin France, lies somethingof the key to the extraordinary as an artistupon his contemporariesmagnetic hold of Stravinsky a hold that was devoid of any dictatorialintentionon the part ofthe composer himself. In a brief referencein I920 to Stravinsky's'Pulcinella' in the as though commenton his work afterthe war it seemed at first first in the NRF reflected in the towards writing Stravinsky the attitude est ennui "Notre had empeche Riviere changed abruptly. ofJacques par l'outrance", wrote Yvonne Rihouet (I920, vol. I4, p. 326). It Jacques Riviere, now directorof was her only article on Stravinsky. the NRF, made de Schlcezer the principal musical contributorto the journal, but it was not until I922 that he devoted an article to the music of Stravinsky. In commenting on the importance of Stravinsky'srole in contemporarymusic, in general, yet unable to conceal his disappointmentat 'Mavra' in particular, de Schlcezer bears witnessin thisarticleto the curious ambivalence of his attitude at all times towards Stravinsky.Convinced, as he sincerelywas, of musical genius as one of the major artisticforcesof our Stravinsky's
262

This content downloaded from 64.134.41.127 on Mon, 7 Apr 2014 13:42:05 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

time, he was franklyperplexed when he reacted negativelyto one of the composer's works. Not that he wished for a perpetual regurgitationof the grand compositionsin the styleof 'The Firebird' and 'The Rite of Spring'-on the contrary, 'Apollon Musagete' was, in his opinion,one of Stravinsky's trulygreatworks(and indeed, afterhearingAnsermetconduct a performance in I929 of 'Le Chant du Rossignol', he comments on how "perim6e" that sort of music had now become for him). But in the case of 'Mavra' there was a serious decalagebetween Stravinsky's intention, as de Schloezer interpreted it, and the musical result. He blames the subject, referring to it as "trop mince, trop fragile" to allow the successful blending of two styles-"italo-russe et negro-americain". Gabriel Marcel would have no doubt seen in this desire to blend the two stylesfurther proofthat by embarkingupon such projectsStravinsky felta need to "masquer le plus ingenieusementdu monde l'epuisement de la seve musicale elle-meme" (I925, vol. 33, p. 429). Even de Schleczer, admitting to feelingsof lassitude, though 'Mavra' is relatively short, is unable to withhold entirelythe accusations of pastiche, even thoughhe statesStravinsky's intentionwas otherwise: "Il s'agit d'infuserun sang nouveau a d'anciennes formes,il s'agit probablementde renoverces formes, de creer ainsi un nouveau style d'opera-comique" (I 922, vol. I 9, p. i i 8). Whereas 'Renard' in his opinion did not work esthetically as a ballet, because the music was too self-sufficient and the dance merely an illustrativesuperfluity, 'Mavra' did not work musically. There is quite evidentlya link in de Schlcezer's mind-although he does not make this explicit-between the general decline, both aesthetically and technically,of the Ballets Russes, and his reaction to 'Mavra'. 'Mavra' resultedin an impression ofpastiche while at the same time Diaghilev manifested "dans son action une sorte de timidite,d'eclectisme" (ibid.,p. i i8). And yet Diaghilev had played an importantrole in conditioningour asthetic responses earlier in the century-"lui qui, auparavant, par ses coups d'audace et son esprit de risque, nous imposait ses conceptions" (ibid.). Ignoring popular taste and public demand before the war, it seemed that Diaghilev had lost sight of this earlier dedication, eager now only to "satisfairenos inclinations". It was this same fearlessness, lack of pastiche and eclecticism,ruthlessdisregard for tradition and convention that de Schlcezer praised in the pre-'Mavra' Stravinsky. His great contribution to artistic expression, "c'est qu'il ne se repete jamais, c'est qu'il ne developpe meme pas, qu'il n'exploite pas les richesses qu'il d6couvre ... Chacune de ses creations est une invention nouvelle, inattendue" (ibid.). His works are such that they "exigent imm6diatementde notre part une attitude et une adaptation nouvelle" (ibid.). From a musical point of view, each of the worksfrom'Le Sacre' to 'Renard' represents "un coup d'essai; mais ce sont aussi des coups de maitre" (ibid.). Each involves a listener 263

This content downloaded from 64.134.41.127 on Mon, 7 Apr 2014 13:42:05 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

response of surprise,anxiety and then conviction. In 'Mavra' this final element of convictionis lacking. But in spite of this,fromthe zesthetic point of view, the moral lesson forany artistis clear-forge uncompromisinglynew paths of creative expression, so that the individual work is created in absolute freedom, and possesses a completelyautonomous existence.The exploitationof the discovery is not for the artist of genius but for those who follow, be they It was thisthat had linked togetherDiaghilev disciples or pasticheurs. and which had made such a profound in I9I3, and Stravinsky impressionon Jean Cocteau in that now-celebratedride throughthe Bois de Boulogne afterthe premiere of 'The Rite of Spring'. a The followingyear de Schlcezer's confidencein Stravinskywas completely restored,and with only a few minor exceptions Stravinsky'sstar in the NRF was now to remain as brightas at any time during the Riviere articles. Indeed more so, for convinced finally that Stravinskywas still the leader of musical creation in France, de Schlcezer became incapable-undoubtedly with considerable justification-of sustaining a general enthusiasm for the works being produced by the truly French composers of the period, without constantlydrawing parallels between their work and that of Stravinsky-indeed he appears frequently to underline the inescapable influence of Stravinskyupon these other composers. It was firsta performanceof the 'Symphonies for Wind Instruments' followed by 'Les Noces', that led to an immediate change of tone towards Stravinskyin the NRF in I923. The 'Symphonies' revealed to de Schlcezerall thosequalities thathe detectedas forming the very basis of Stravinsky'sartisticgenius: "son puissant dynamisme, sa logique rigoureuse,sa complexite rythmique,toute cette beaute purementformelle" (I923, vol. 2I, p. 241). Yet in spite of logical beauty, the reaction upon the this purely formal,rigorously for the symphony "nous a emotion, one of profound listener is le fairenul cri de passion" a n'aurait comme pu nous troubles, emus, (ibid.). It is in such a remark as this that the critic touches for a moment on the secret powers of Stravinskyas an artist,which can explain the lastingimpact of his music upon thosewho, like Riviere, need no recourse to technical musical experience to be conscious of that power. Formalism and rigorouslogic combine with a dynamic and harmonic forceto grip almost physicallythe asthetic rhythmic responsesof the listener,to hold him with a strengthanalogous to art yet with a pleasure more usually associated that of expressionist with a work of pure classicism. (A modern parallel suggestsitselfin the impact of Resnais' film'L'Annee derniere a Marienbad', whose structure,deliberatelybased upon musical principles,is rigorously, almost mathematically formal, and yet whose visual impactvision being to the film as sound is to musical expression,in the
3 See especially, J. Cocteau, 'Le Coq et l'Arlequin' in 'Le Rappel a l'ordre' (cEuvres Completes,vol. ix, Marguerat, 1950), p. 48.

264

This content downloaded from 64.134.41.127 on Mon, 7 Apr 2014 13:42:05 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

initial responsesat any rate-envelops the spectator in a profound emotional experience.) It is in these termsthat de Schlcezer reacted in particular to 'Les Noces', "l'ceuvre la plus parfaitede Stravinsky"(ibid., p. 246), and stressedthe importance of analysing the overall musical experience in the face of which "ses procedes dont il change d'ailleurs constamment c'est chose secondaire" (ibid., p. 247). There is no definable intentionon the part of Stravinskyto 'express' anythingmusically, but that is not to deny the presence of very powerful emotional reactions on the part of the listeneror the spectator, which come, even more than in the case of the 'Symphonies', fromthe fusionof pure formalism with rich musical sonority.(One draws an inevitable parallel between 'Les Noces' and Eisenstein's film 'Potemkin', dating fromthe same period. No one will dispute the extraordinary emotional impact of the film, which was excessivelyformalistin structure,edited according to a systemof conflicting shots visually conceived in geometric terms, and which rendered the intrinsic pathos of the shots into even greaterand starkertragedy.) It is essentiallythis same power, communicated perhaps more blatantlyfor the firsttime in 'The Rite of Spring', and restored,if more subtly and less emphatically in 'Les Noces', 'Oedipus' and 'Apollon', that really explains what de Schlcezer is attemptingto communicate when he speaks of the "splendeur" of Stravinsky's music. Not the "splendeur" of 'The Firebird',nor even, one suspects, of 'The Rite ofSpring', but thatwhich comes froma perfect marriage between an absolute formal structure and a purity of musical sonoritywhich has itselfno psychological raisond'etre,as far as the composer is concerned, but which is neverthelesscapable of spontaneously evoking deep emotional responses. It is in this context that parallels between Stravinsky, Bach and Mozart become increasinglylegitimate and relevant, and it is perhaps not without significance that de Schloezer sought to define his reaction to 'Apollon Musagete' in 1928 in termsof an almost identical reaction to 'The Magic Flute'. In resolving,in non-musical terms,this fundamentalcontradiction inherentin any work by Stravinsky of this period between the composer's purely formal musical intentionand the listener's deep emotional involvementwith the music, de Schloezer comes close to definingStravinsky'strue genius as an artist: Nulle intention expressive donc dans cettemusique,nulle ideologie; ce ne sontque des sons agences en systeme selon une logique specifique.Mais c'estjustement a cause de cela que leur richesse d'6motion, leur puissance d'expression sont inepuisables.Si Nocesest la creationla plus emouvante, la plus pathetiquede Stravinsky, si elle nous touchejusqu'au frisson, jusqu'aux larmes,c'est qu'elle est son aeuvrela plus rigoureusement construite, la plus pure de style, celle qui se resoutentierement, et si loin que soit pousse l'analyse-en &16ments formels' (1923, vol. 21, p. 247). 265

This content downloaded from 64.134.41.127 on Mon, 7 Apr 2014 13:42:05 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

output continuing at Stravinsky's his delight sustained De Schlcezer he Although thepiano concerto. yearwhenreviewing thefollowing theseno longerupset detectedechoesof Bach, Liszt and ragtime, quite rightly, accepts, himas in thecase of'Mavra', and he readily musical by Stravinsky's have been transmuted thattheseelements into a workat once personaland original.This whole personality recallsJean Cocteau's and influence attitudetowardsborrowing ne peut pas original in 'Le Coq et l'Arlequin':"Un artiste remark As in the case copier.II n'a donc qu'a copierpour etreoriginal".4 betrays de Schlcezer of 'Les Noces', so too forthe piano concerto, for a work that appears "froid", "scolastique", his fascination les plus and yet whichis "une des ceuvres "logique", "formelle", vol. 23, p. (1924, chargee'sde vie qu'ait jamais 6critesStravinsky" and theconviction moodofexhilaration, It was in thisgeneral i22). had notlanguished, had againproved thathisgenius thatStravinsky comments at de Schlcezer's to look verybriefly thatit is interesting in Franceat thetimeand to whose on someoftheothercomposers is everyso. Stravinsky not blindly though musiche was dedicated, tribute in What greater his commentaries. wherepresent musical than to see him as a sortof could be made by criticto composer influence? universal pages speaksof"ces puissantes ofMilhaud,de Schlcezer Writing vol. 21, p. 240). (I923, de Bach,et ausside Stravinsky" qui tiennent on the "musiquepure" of Milhaud, "depouilleede He comments exand having "une existence toute signification psychologique" sonore" (ibid.). These are more than echoes of his clusivement On reflection. are a mirrored attitudetowardsStravinsky-they a Auric'ssonatinaforpiano he drawsthisparallel: "Nous assistons comme simpleet naifo'us'allient d'un style m6lodique, la recherche ou qui pretendent l'etre, neo-classiques dans la plupartdes ceuvres et les maltresdu XVIIIc" (ibid.,p. 241). And Igor Stravinsky as "selon le modele 'Marchandd'oiseaux' is described Tailleferre's some time en son Pulcinella" (ibid.).Writing donn6par Stravinsky later of the musical evolutionof Manuel de Falla, de Schlcezer of "son presentinfluence detectsyet again an ever-increasingly to 'L'Amoursorcier'(I 928, vol. 30, 'Le Tricorne' 6mule russe"from of Poulenc's'Les Biches'thereis a similar p. 835). When he writes parallelism:"des m6lodiesd'abord, a foison-toutesne sont pas de Mozart,de l'empreinte c'est-a-dire qu'on y reconnalt originales vol. 23, p. I I6), whileAuric's'Les de Stravinsky" (I924, Pergolese, Facheux', produced at the same time, receivesthis comment: "Mais ce qui fait 'a mon avis la nouveauteet la valeur de cette musique, c'est son admirable dynamismeobjectif (proche du de Stravinsky)" p. I I 7). (ibid., realisme that cause the to Stravinsky It is not merelythe references of esthetic similarity the extraordinary readerto pause, but rather
' See Cocteau, op.cit.,p. 37.

266

This content downloaded from 64.134.41.127 on Mon, 7 Apr 2014 13:42:05 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

intention and musicalexpression discerned between by de Schleezer thework ofStravinsky and that oftheother contemporary composers. Indeed he makesa deliberate asthetic Poulencand parallelbetween drawsStravinsky: Auric,intowhichhe consciously "C'est qu'il y a parentespirituelle jusqu' un certainpoint,entreleurssensibilites, leursconceptions de la musique et cellede cesepoques,parente qu'ils sontobligesd'invoquer le courant et introduire pourremonter dans le presentun klement de changement. Le cas est le meme pour Stravinsky" (ibid.,p. i i8). Stravinsky may not have been of the French school,but theFrenchschoolwas certainly ofStravinsky, in the same way that the tcole de Paris was of Picasso. precisely "L'influence[de Stravinsky] sur la jeune generation apparait de jour enjour plusprofonde" (1923, vol. 2 1, p. 241 ). It wouldbe naive a considerable to denyin thisstatement element oftruth. 'Les Noces' had markeda momentof triumph not only for but also forDiaghilev, Stravinsky whoseartistic valuesand integrity appeared to have been restored. But thismood of confidence with regard to Diaghilevwas nottolast,and by 1925 de Schlcezer's mood the growing reflects popular concernat the declineof the Ballets Russes.At first it was merely a questionof trying not to see the "grande epoque" of Diaghilev beforethe war through rose-tinted and of stressing the futility of drawingconstantcomspectacles, parisonsbetweenthoseearlierworksand the present endeavours. And yet a mood of growing personaldisappointment cannot be denied,and earlyin 1926 he gave voice to his pessimism: "Je crois bienque nousassistons a la finde la lutte;lesBalletsRussespourront encoredurerlongtemps; maisce qui faisait leurraisond'etre,ce qui les caracterisait,-cet esprit d'invention, cettefantaisie, ce gouit du risqueet de l'aventure, ce continuel renoncement,-tout cela n'est plus" (I926, vol. 27, p. I12). Their arthad becomecommercialized and popular, "un art uniquement plaisant". Diaghilev could no longerbe seen as thesymbol of the 'phoenix',forinstance, as Jean Cocteauhad seenhim.Even the 1926 production of'Petrushka' was a travesty of the original masterpiece.Some membersof the audience even foundthe work amusing."Les Ballets Russes ont perdutoutcontact avec l'art de Stravinsky" (ibid., p. i i6). And yet it mustnotbe forgotten thata theatrical production can onlybe as good as thepotential ofthescript allows,and underlying de Schloezer's criticism ofthecompany is a morefundamental-and in many waysjustified-accusation, thatthenew works beingcomposedfor the Diaghilevcompanylacked any depthof inspiration. From the I870's to the first world war Paris had been the true centreof Western art; and although artists of all kindsof non-French origin had added their lustre to theParisscene,theFrench artists (Monet, Debussy, Rodin, M6lies, Braque and many others) had been pioneersof trulygreat staturededicated to the evolutionof the modernestheticwhich embracesall the major art of the past 267

This content downloaded from 64.134.41.127 on Mon, 7 Apr 2014 13:42:05 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

hundred years, by penetrating,as Baudelaire had advocated in the last line of the 'Les Fleurs du mal', "au fond de l'Inconnu pour trouver du nouveau".Not even the most ardent francophilecould argue that French music, notwithstandingthe achievements of Messiaen and Boulez, had attained in modern times the intuitively recognized eternal heightsof artisticsupremacy scaled by Debussy and Stravinsky. as a creative The qualities that de Schlcezerfound in Stravinsky artist (not merelyas a musician) and the asthetic values that he saw in the earlier Diaghilev were common to both: the struggle,invention, risk,challenge, individualism, the refusalto compromise,the search forsomethingnew, the continual probing into the unknown. They were those qualities which to Apollinaire were essentialin the trueartist, forwhom the act ofcreationwas a prometheanendeavour, and whom he saw as driven by that desire to become 'inhuman'. Without this there would have been no "esprit nouveau", as interpreted by Apollinaire, as the guiding asthetic principle of most modern art. De Schlcezer's pessimismis not merely the result of contemplating the decline in the accomplishmentsof the Ballets of a more widespread Russes as such, but is rathera foreshadowing with the role played by the French arts in the wider disillusionment in general. Indeed forthoseleftuntouched fieldofcreativeexpression of the existentialliteratureor the intellectual by the self-centredness of the "nouveau roman", France has remained in the gimmickry hollow of the creativewave, to rise perhaps to occasional heightson the crestof the 'new wave' cinema. This prevailing attitude towards the impoverished nature of French musical expression during the I920'S certainlycontributed to de Schlcezer's enthusiasmfor Stravinsky'slast two compositions written for the Ballets Russes before Diaghilev's death in I929, 'Oedipus Rex' and 'Apollon Musagete'. When one considers the of some of the contemporary mediocre offerings uncompromisingly works (and the poor quality of some of the revivals) one is led to sympathize with de Schloezer's attitude. With such a gulf between it was perhaps the general level of musical output and Stravinsky's, inevitable that the latter came to be considered the only composer worthyof undivided attentionin Paris at the time. As de Schlcezer remarksat the end of his article on 'Oedipus Rex', "apres Oedipus Rex, je me sens quelque peu gene pour parler d'autre chose: tout parait insignifiant"(I927, vol. 29, p. 246). De Schloezer's assessmentof 'Oedipus Rex' would undoubtedly have found credit with Apollinaire. "Voici enfin une 'chose' achevee, dense, lourde... une chose reelle, qui veut durer et qui resistera,une de ces aeuvres humaines oiu l'on a la sensation nette et qu'il a reussiveritableque l'homme s'est depasse en s'affirmant, ment a 'creer'." (ibid., p. 244). Fascinated and initiallyperplexed by the apparent amalgam of Handel-type vocal ensemblesand solo 268

This content downloaded from 64.134.41.127 on Mon, 7 Apr 2014 13:42:05 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

lines that appeared to have been drawn from Italian and Russian airs, the critic argued that the cadre alone bears a relationshipto the opera-oratorio of Handel (which needs no more justification than the modernpoet who chooses to writein sonnetform),while the whole musical ensemble becomes exclusively Stravinsky by the very nature of the rhythms and harmonies. The sense of dramatic solemnity,grandeur and sheer force of the work, give it a truly monumental stature, that is both "neuve" and "revolutionnaire" ("parce que la m6thode et le principe qu'y met en jeu Stravinsky sont completement nouveaux pour notre epoque et radicalement opposes aux diff6rentestendances modernes") (ibid., p. 246). There is a moral lesson to be drawn fromthe experienceof 'Oedipus Rex', however, which explains both the integrity of the composer as an artist,and his uniqueness: "Stravinskyest le seul compositeur qui poursuive son but en pleine conscience et avec une rigueur systematiquequi, pour tout autre que lui, finirait par etre extremement dangereuse" (ibid.). It is above all the moral lesson to be learned from Stravinsky that characterizes de Schlcezer's commentson 'Apollon Musagete' in I928 in a short article which to my mind illustrates,even more than Riviere's lengthy eulogy of 'Le Sacre du Printemps' some fifteenyears previously, the role that Stravinsky had played in France since his arrival there in I909, and the contributionhe had made as an artist,not merelyas a musician. Accepting the factthat 'Apollon' mustinevitablyhave responded initially to some inner need on the part of Stravinskyto resolve a particular problem of musical style, and for which perhaps both Lully and Delibes had been a source of inspiration(it most certainly is not pastiche), de Schlcezerargues that such mattersare anyway of secondary importance. What is crucial to 'Apollon' is that for the first time in any composition by Stravinskythe listener (or the spectator of the ballet) is engulfed in new sensations of "paix et tendresse". It is in the light of this unexpected new experience, of the revelation of new depths to his personality,that Stravinsky's music must now be re-evaluated, for 'Apollon' "nous revele le secret de son auteur, sa soif de renoncement,son besoin de purete et de serenite" (I928, vol. 3I, p. io6). This is not a "serenite olympienne"-which one could attribute to Beethoven, where the composer's strengthis to hold for a moment in absolute order the tremendous tensions created by internal conflicts-but rather a 'serenite elyseenne" -a spontaneous, light-filled, joyous serenity that is only fullyappreciated when seen in the contextof so many precedingworksthat are filledwith a sortof "dynamisme exacerbe". Stravinskyhas achieved, with 'Apollon', "ce prodige d'etre libre et spontane et lumineux sans nul effort apparent" (ibid.). It contains that same puritywhich de Schlcezer findsso evident in 'The Magic Flute'-a music so pure that thereis no trace of the 'picturesque' or
269

This content downloaded from 64.134.41.127 on Mon, 7 Apr 2014 13:42:05 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

'psychological' element, to such a degree in fact that the airs and ensembles appear completelyinterchangeablefroma musical point of view: attachesavec la realite; elle n'en La musiquea rompuses dernieres l'auditeur capable de bouleverser demeurepas moins 6mouvante, jusqu'aux larmes; mais cette Emotionest quelque chose de tres particulier,d'absolument pur, d'irreductiblea notre experience qu'elle soit. Et ou raffin6e si profonde quotidienne, psychologique oii il n'entre la qualit6 de la musiqued'Apollon telleest precisement pas une once de reel! (ibid.,p. 107). But the purityof the musical experience offeredby 'Apollon' is not to be confused with the vacuity of "la musique pure" which seemed to be so much the fashionin Paris, where "le moindre eleve du conservatoirepretend aujourd'hui ne faire que de la musique pure" (ibid., p. io6), and which is no more than an excuse for the lack of talent and asthetic sense among what he calls "tous les impuissantset les indigents". This attitude also supportsour earlier assessmentof de Schloezer's feelingtowards contemporarymusic in general. These lesser musicians are like the painters who with infantileeagernessimitate the coloured swirlsof the expressionists, the patternsof the abstract the child-likedrawingsof the surrealists, painters,without realizing that behind the painter of genius lies a wealth of craftsmanshipand a long, painful process of constant searching and self-examination.Stravinsky,who possesses all the "richesse, la puissance, cette dangereuse surabondance de biens" that are unknown to most of his lesser contemporaries,but which have been a permanent part of his musical palette, has renounced them all in the compositionof this tender, beautiful,pure work of human warmthwhich, by virtue of being a symbol of renunciation with respect to Stravinsky himself,"seule confere a l'ascetisme sa vraie couleur" (ibid.). It is fromthispoint ofview that the fascination as a musician mergeswith a sortof cult of Stravinsky forStravinsky as an artist: "A ce point de vue Apolloncontientnon seulement la mais aussi une leson esthetiqueque nous propose tout chef-d'oeuvre, De Schloezer predicleson morale,je dirai meme: religieuse" (ibid.). next major workwould be a Mass, so convinced ted that Stravinsky's was he that the moral fibreof the man and the artisticfibreof the and artist had now inextricablyfused together. From the efforts the of into of 20 Stravinsky 'unknown', probing struggles nearly years had emerged with a work whose 'serenity'and 'purity' could find a parallel only in religiousexperience. It was, as de Schloezersaid, the worksin which the devil had had no role to play. of Stravinsky's first It would be easy to adopt Gabriel Marcel's somewhat cynical since I9g9, namely that the attitudetowardsthe worksof Stravinsky composer had recourseto certain archetypalmusical formsin order to conceal his own lack of musical inspiration, and that what remains is either "directement Pergolese" or "un certain Bach", 270

This content downloaded from 64.134.41.127 on Mon, 7 Apr 2014 13:42:05 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

over which are technically superimposed "certaines particularites stravinskiennes"(Dec. 1929, vol. 33, pp. 427-3I). Marcel will not permitde Schloezer's explanations of Stravinsky's constantreference to earlier types of musical structureand expression,declaring that the whole problem of style in Stravinsky"est elude avec une sorte de cynismedans la virtuositedont il ne faudrait pourtant pas etre dupe". Refusing to class him with the "grands genies" such as Mozart, Bach and Debussy, Gabriel Marcel obviously regarded Stravinskyin much the same way as many of his contemporaries branded Jean Cocteau as an eclectic, poseur and pasticheur, for he saw in Stravinsky"une sorte de gratuite desesperee de la pensee". It is equally apparent, however,that Stravinsky does not correspond to Marcel's notionof the musician ofgenius,just as de Schlcezerdoes not fulfilthe role of critic as Marcel interpretsit. Nor does the philosopherin him see evidence of more than a mere ingeniousness in Stravinsky'sreligious development. But the attitude of Marcel, who prefersto interpretthe phenomenon of Stravinskyas a fact, not as a being ("ce n'est pas un etre,c'est unfait"), with no greater relevance to human creative endeavour than those "gros nuages cernes qui s'immobilisentvers l'heure du crepuscule au fond des ciels d'ete"', does not reflectthe general tone adopted by the NRF, firstby Gheon and Riviere, and then by de Schlorzer, that has lasted some 20 years, and was as fervent in I929 (Marcel excepted) at the momentof the demise of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, as it had been in I9IO when Stravinsky first collaborated with Diaghilev. Although de Schlorzer and Riviere approached Stravinsky's music in very different ways-Riviere from a literary and more general cultural point of view, de Schlchzer from a more strictly musical point of view-both were convinced that there was an element of the "superhumain" in his music from which it was impossible that the contemporaryworld of art could escape. If one remains, like de Schloezer, "emerveille de l'intuition de Jacques Riviere" (I925, vol. 24, p. 627) with regard to Stravinsky, one must neverthelesspay tributeto de Schloezer himself,who, in the years following Riviere's death early in I925, had continued with a similar conviction to claim that Stravinskywas one of the major artistic forces of the modern word. Stravinsky'spresence in the JVouvelle Revue Franfaise is both logical and coherent,forthejournal, in its own way, even though its specificreference was to literature, was playing, and had played since its inception (curiouslycoinciding in I909 with the foundingof the Ballets Russes), its own importantrole in the evolution of the arts in general.

271

This content downloaded from 64.134.41.127 on Mon, 7 Apr 2014 13:42:05 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions