South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-04-13

orchestra 10 play IL VI course she
consented. He then took the
requiem home and rewrote Il. lie
afterwards used all his influence 10
get the cure Of the Church of St.
Roch 20 have IL played on Good Fri
day in his church. and after having
received the latter's promise TO do
so. he took his young friend 70 hear
h.. and thus procured for her the
last JOY she was 10 know on earth,
for she died few days later The
same requiem mass was played for
the second time on the occasion Of
her funeral. after which Debussy
took the score back and never would
allow ii 10 be performed again.
Dcbussy and Wagner.
There are any quantity of stories
Of the same sort concerning the ar
fist who died recently. and the
knowledge that ne was constantly
doing some kind action or other
contributed "a good deal 20 his popu-
larity. which otherwise would un-
doubleday have suffered from the
fits of impotence and Of bad tenn
per 10 which ne used 10 give way so
often and which were so bitterly
reproached by his detractors.
He has been compared more than
once 10 Wagner. which did not
please him i'm the least. because he
would never admit that he had
tried to seek Inspirations in any one
else's music And yet il is impos-
sible 10 deny that at least at the be-
ginning of his musical career he
was under the influence Of tho COM
poser Of "Lohengrin," and Of The
Ring Of the Niebelungen" There
are certain weird sounds in his mel
Odies which are distinctly Wagner
| ian. and il is quite certain that he
believed in German music more
/ than he ought 20 have done. con-
sidering his own great talent, and
the fact that he might have sought
his Inspirations in the works OF so
many French composers who can
quite stand competition with the
/ German artist.
| In sOcietv Debussy was extremely
| pleasant ard agreeable, whenever he
cared TO give himself the trouble to
be so. Unfortunately. this was not
always the case, and especially
when he suspected ne had been
] asked anywhere with the intention
of being asked to play. ne became
/ simply unbearable. l remem Der
/ one evening at the house of one of
| those exclusive French hostesses
whose receptions before the war
were a feature of the Paris season.
when he was SO unpleasant TO ev-
! erybody. that at last it was felt
something ought to be done to stop
! the flow of disagreeable words
/ which he kept pouring on all the
assistants. A very witty lady who
I had guessed what was the matter,
/ suddenly went TO the piano and be-
gan singing the Ave Maria" OF
Gounod. which Debussy simply
| hated. She had a wonderful voice,
but this did not impress the COM
/ poser in the very least, who went up
10 the instrument and in a most
impolite tone of voice. DO stop
that noise he exclaimed, II have
not been asked here To listen TO such
rubbish"
"Bearding the Lion"
DO stop your nasty remarks,
Monsieur Debussy," said the lady.
I'VE all want to hear some music
here, and you know that Ia plus
belle file du monde ne peut donner
que &c qu'elle a. she added quot
ing the famous French proverb.
(The most beautiful girl in the
world is able to give only what she
has,
Debussy looked at her for a mo-
ment, then burst out laughing. and,
pushing her away from the piano.
began playing some of his best COM
positions to the general delight OF
all the assistants.
And now he is gone at a moment
when his disappearance. which
would have constituted a Partisan
| event had il occurred at another
time. has probably passed more or
less unnoticed. in presence of the
| events going on elsewhere. The
only volleys which Will be fired over
his grave Will be those of the guns
defending his fatherland against the
invader Poor Debussy, he was
never lucky either in his life or in
his death.