[209] Its influence is shown, in varying degrees, in works such as M. Reyer's Sigurd (1884), Chabrier's Gwendoline (1886), and M. Vincent d'Indy's Le Chant de la Cloche (1886).
[210] One knows that the Conservatoire originated in L'École gratuite de musique de la garde nationale parisienne, founded in 1792 by Sarrette, and directed by Gossec. It was then a civic and military school, but, according to Chénier, was changed into the Institut national de musique on 8 November, 1793, and into the Conservatoire on 3 August, 1795. This Republican Conservatoire made it its business to keep in contact with the spirit of the country, and was directly opposed to the Opera, which was of monarchical origin. See M. Constant Pierre's work Le Conservatoire national de musique (1900), and M. Julien Tiersot's very interesting book Les Fêtes et les Chants de la Révolution française (1908).
[211] You must remember that I am speaking here of official action only; for there have always been masters among the Conservatoire teaching staff who have united a fine musical culture with a broad-minded and liberal spirit. But the influence of these independent minds is, generally speaking, small; for they have not the disposing of academic successes; and when, by exception, they have a wide influence, like that of César Franck, it is the result of personal work outside the Conservatoire—work that is, as often as not, opposed to Conservatoire principles.
[212] It is to be noted that since 1807 the Conservatoire pupils have made Beethoven's symphonies familiar to Parisians. The Symphony in C minor was performed by them in 1808; the Heroic in 1811. It was in connection with one of these performances that the Tablettes de Polymnie gave a curious appreciation of Beethoven, which is quoted by M. Constant Pierre: "This composer is often grotesque and uncouth, and sometimes flies majestically like an eagle and sometimes crawls along stony paths. It is as though one had shut up doves and crocodiles together."
[213] This is according to M. Rivet's report on the Beaux-Arts in 1906. The Opera employs 1370 people, and its expenses are about 3,988,000 francs. The annual grant of the State comes to about 800,000 francs.
[214] On the occasion of the revival of Don Juan in 1902, the Revue Musicale counted up the pages that had been added to the original score. They came to two hundred and twenty-eight.
[215] The facts which follow are taken from the archives of the Société Nationale de Musique, and have been given me by M. Pierre de Bréville, the Society's secretary.
[216] It must be remembered that the prices of the seats were much cheaper than they are to-day; the best were only three francs.
[217] There were about 340 performances of Saint-Saëns' works, 380 of Wagner's, 390 of Beethoven's, and 470 of Berlioz's. I owe these details to the kind information of M. Charles Malherbe and M. Léon Petitjean, the secretary of the Colonne concerts.
[218] The Damnation de Faust alone was given in its entirety a hundred and fifty times in thirty years.