erence is sometimes gained by a single dominating note about
which everything is grouped, as, in the _Soiree dans Grenade_, the
C-sharp and in the _Reflets dans l'eau_, an F. Most of Debussy's
compositions imply the principles, albeit freely used, of Two- and
Three-part form and the fundamental laws of key-relationship and of
artistic contrast.

[Footnote 297: The best books yet written on Debussy and his style are
those by Mrs. Liebich and Louis Laloy. Consult also the comprehensive
essay by E.B. Hill in Vol. III of the _Art of Music_.]

In considering the value of Debussy's message, _i.e._, the content of
his music, the animus and predilection of the hearer have to be taken
into account. For his music is so intensely subjective and intimate
that you like it or not, as the case may be. Many persons, however,
become very fond of it, when they have accustomed themselves to its
peculiar idiom. The charge that there is in Debussy no melody of a
purely musical nature, as some critics have asserted,[298] seems to
the writer too sweeping and not supported by the inner evidence. It
may be granted that Debussy's melodic line is very fluid and elastic,
like Wagner's "continuous melody," not definitely sectionalized by
balanced phrases or set cadences. But it surely has its own right to
existence--music being pre-eminently the art of freedom--and let us
remember that Nature herself has melting outlines, shadowy vistas and
subtle rhythms. Debussy, in fact, is the poet of the "indefinite" and
the "suggestive" and his music has had a great influence in freeing
expression from scholastic bonds. Even from the standpoint of the
popular conception of "tune" it is difficult to see what objection can
be made to the following melodies:

[Music: _L'isle joyeuse_]

[Music: _Poissons d'or_]

[Music: _Cortege_]

[Footnote 298: See the 2d volume of _Great Composers_ by D.G. Mason
and also the essay on Debussy in _Contemporary Composers_ by the same
author.]

It cannot be denied that such an individual style as Debussy's is
liable to manneristic treatment, though whether he should be called
"the prince of mannerists"[299] is decidedly open to debate. Some
critics feel that he has over-used the whole-tone scale and it must be
confessed, he has a rather affected fondness for a formula of
block-like chords, _e.g._

[Music: _Danse sacree_]

[Footnote 299: According to Ernest Newman in a well-known article in
the Musical Times (London).]