the lightness
of a bird, capriciousness, charm, and a perfect understanding of style
in general and of the style of this composer in particular are the
qualifications needed to perform this work. It is far too difficult for
most _virtuosi_, however talented they may be.

Among the women singers I shall only mention Madame Cahier from the
Viennese Opera. She is a great artist with a wonderful voice and her
interpretation of several _lieder_ made them wonderfully worth while.
Madame Cahier interpreted the part of Dalila at Vienna with Dalmores,
so it can easily be appreciated how much pleasure I took in hearing her.

A final word about the Dante Symphony. I have read somewhere that Liszt
used pages to produce an effect which Berlioz accomplished in the
apparition of Mephistopheles in _Faust_ with three notes. This
comparison is unjust. Berlioz's happy discovery is a work of genius and
he alone could have invented it. But the sudden appearance of the Devil
is one thing and the depiction of Hell quite another. Berlioz tried such
a depiction at the end of the Damnation, and in spite of the strange
vocabulary of the chorus, "Irimiru Karabrao, Sat raik Irkimour," and
other pretty tricks, he succeeded no better than Liszt. As a matter of
fact the opposite was the case.

CHAPTER XIII

BERLIOZ'S REQUIEM

The reading of the score of Berlioz's _Requiem_ makes it appear
singularly old-fashioned, but this is true of most of the romantic
dramas, which, like the _Requiem_, show up better in actual performance.
It is easy to rail at the vehemence of the Romanticists, but it is not
so easy to equal the effect of _Hernani_, _Lucrece Borgia_ and the
_Symphonie fantastique_ on the public. For with all their faults these
works had a marvellous success. The truth is that their vehemence was
sincere and not artificial. The Romanticists had faith in their works
and there is nothing like faith to produce lasting results.

Reicha and Leuseur were, as we know, Berlioz's instructors. Leuseur was
the author of numerous works and wrote a good deal of church music. Some
of his religious works were really beautiful, but he had strange
obsessions. Berlioz greatly admired his master and could not help
showing, especially in his earlier works, traces of this admiration.
That is the reason for the syncopated and jerky passages without rhyme
or reason and which can only be explained by his unconscious imitation
of Leuseur's faults. In imitati