Part 22 (1/2)

The part to which I had been reatest distance from the common track, was the recitative Mine was accented in a manner entirely new, and accompanied the utterance of the word The directors dared not suffer this horrid innovation to pass, lest it should shock the ears of persons who never judge for themselves

Another recitative was proposed by Francueil and Jelyotte, to which I consented; but refused at the sa to do with itwas ready and the day of perforo to Fontainebleau, that I ht at least be at the last rehearsal I ith Mademoiselle Fel, Gries to the court The rehearsal was tolerable: I was more satisfied with it than I expected to have been The orchestra was nu's band Jelyotte played Colin, Mademoiselle Fel, Colette, Cuvillier the Devin: the choruses were those of the opera I said but little; Jelyotte had prepared everything; I was unwilling either to approve of or censure what he had done; and notwithstanding I had assumed the air of an old Roman, I was, in the midst of so , the day of perforrand coreat nu, and the difficulty of getting into the theatre, were the subjects of conversation An officer present said he entered with the greatest ease, gave a long account of what had passed, described the author, and related what he had said and done; but what astonished iven with as much assurance as simplicity, was that it did not contain a syllable of truth

It was clear to me that he who spoke so positively of the rehearsal had not been at it, because, without knowing him, he had before his eyes that author whom he said he had seen and exaular still in this scene, was its effect uponof the appearance of a coxcomb; his features appeared to announce astanding He interestedhis impudence Whilst he uttered his lies, I blushed, looked down, and was upon thorns; I, for some ti hi lest some person should know me, and by this means confound hi a word, and, holding down ot out of the coffee-house as soon as possible, whilst the co their reiven I was no sooner in the street than I was in a perspiration, and had anybody known and named me before I left the roouilty person would have appeared infrom what I felt the poor man would have had to have suffered had his lie been discovered

I come to one of the criticalmore than to relate, because it is almost impossible that even narrative should not carry with it the y I will, however, endeavor to relate how and upon whateither approbation or censure

I was on that day in the sa badly coe, I entered the theatre wherein the king, queen, the royal family, and the whole court were to enter immediately after I was conducted to a box by M de Cury, and which belonged to hie and opposite to a lesser, butsat with Madam de Pompadour

As I was surrounded by women, and the onlybeen placed there purposely to be exposed to view

As soon as the theatre was lighted up, finding I was in the an to be less at my ease, and asked myself if I was in my place? whether or not I was properly dressed? After a few minutes of inquietude: ”Yes,” replied I, with an intrepidity which perhaps proceededthan the force of allto see my own piece performed, to which I have been invited, for which reason only I aht than I have to reap the fruit of my labor and talents; I am dressed as usual, neither better nor worse; and if I once begin to subject myself to public opinion, I shall shortly beco To be always consistent withdressed in a manner suitable to the state I have chosen My exterior appearance is simple, but neither dirty nor slovenly; nor is a beard either of these in itself, because it is given us by nature, and according to time, place and custom, is sometimes an ornament People think I anifies this to ht to kno to bear censure and ridicule, provided I do not deserve them” After this little soliloquy I became so firm that, had it been necessary, I could have been intrepid But whether it was the effect of the presence of his majesty, or the natural disposition of those aboutin the curiosity of which I was the object This so an to be uneasy forI should efface the favorable prejudices which seeainst raillery; but, so far overco treatment I had not expected, that I treun

I had soon sufficient reason to be encouraged The piece was very ill played with respect to the actors, but thethe first scene, which was really of a delightful simplicity, I heard in the boxes a murmur of surprise and applause, which, relative to pieces of the same kind, had never yet happened The ferree as to be perceptible through the whole audience, and of which, to speak--after the ood little folks, this effect was co; therefore everything was heard, which was advantageous to the author and the piece I heard about els They said to each other in a low voice: ”This is char: There is not a sound which does not go to the heart” The pleasure of giving this emotion to so many amiable persons moved me to tears; and these I could not contain in the first duo, when I remarked that I was not the only person ept I collectedthe concert of M de Treitorens This reminiscence had the effect of the slave who held the crown over the head of the general who triumphed, but my reflection was short, and I soon abandonedmy success However, I am certain the voluptuousness of the sex was more predominant than the vanity of the author, and had none but men been present, I certainly should not have had the incessant desire I felt of catching on my lips the delicious tears I had caused to flow I have known pieces excite htful, and affecting an intoxication of the senses reign, during a whole representation, especially at court, and at a first performance They who saw this must recollect it, for it has never yet been equalled

The sa the Duke d' Aumont sent to desire me to be at the palace the next day at eleven o'clock, when he would present e, added that he thought a pension was intended, and that his majesty wished to announce it to ht of so brilliant a day was for uish and perplexity? My first idea, after that of being presented, was that ofto retire; this had ht torallery, or in the king's apart of his majesty My infir in polite co the conversation of the fair The idea alone of the situation in which this want ree as to make me faint away, or to recur to means to which, in my opinion, death was much preferable None but persons who are acquainted with this situation can judge of the horror which being exposed to the risk of it inspires

I then supposed ned to stop and speak to me In this situation, justness of expression and presence of

Would er whatever, have been shaken off in presence of the King of France; or would it have suffered me instantly to make choice of proper expressions?

I wished, without laying aside the austere manner I had adopted, to show reat a iureat and useful truth

I could not prepare a suitable ansithout exactly knohat his majesty was to say to me; and had this been the case, I was certain that, in his presence, I should not recollect a word of what I had previously meditated ”What,” said I, ”will become of me in this moment, and before the whole court, if, in my confusion, any of er alarree that at all events I was determined not to expose myself to it

I lost, it is true, the pension which in some measure was offered me; but I at the same time exempted myself from the yoke it would have ie! How should I afterwards have dared to speak of disinterestedness and independence? Had I received the pension I must either have become a flatterer or remained silent; and, moreover, ould have insured to me the payment of it! What steps should I have been under the necessity of taking! How many people must I have solicited! I should have hadwithout it Therefore, I thought I acted according toappearances to reality I coainst it To others I alleged

My departure enerally condemned My reasons could not be known to everybody, it was therefore easy to accuse me of foolish pride, and thus not irritate the jealousy of such as felt they would not have acted as I had done The next day Jelyotte wrote me a note, in which he stated the success of”All day long,” said he, ”his dom: 'J'ai perdu mon serviteur: J'ai perdu tout ht the Devin was to be performed a second time; which confirmed in the eyes of the public the complete success of the first

Two days afterwards, about nine o'clock in the evening, as I was going to sup with Madam D'Epinay, I perceived a hackney-coach pass by the door

Soot into it, and found the person to be Diderot He spoke of the pension with more warmth than, upon such a subject, I should have expected fro to be presented to the king, but severely reproached me with h on ht not to be so on that of Madahter; that it wasfor their subsistence; and that as, after all, it could not be said I had refused the pension, he rant it to me, to solicit and obtain it by one ed to hiood wishes, I could not relish his maxims, which produced a warm dispute, the first I ever had with hi tomyself because I was of a different opinion

It was late e parted I would have taken hio; and, notwithstanding all the efforts which at different ti those I love induced me toher to his door which he kept shut against us, he constantly refused to do it, and never spoke of her but with the utmost contempt It was not until after I had quarrelled with both that they becaan to speak honorably of her

From this time Diderot and Griovernesses, by giving them to understand that if they were not in easy circumstances the fault was my own, and that they never would be so withthe salt, a snuff shop, and I know not what other advantages by means of the influence of Madaain over Duclos and d'Holback, but the former constantly refused their proposals I had at the ti forward, but I was not fully acquainted with the whole until long afterwards; and I frequently had reason to lament the effects of the blind and indiscreet zeal ofto reduce ined, to render me happy by the means which, of all others, were the most proper tothe conclusion of the year 1753, the Devin was performed at Paris, and in this interval I had sufficient time to compose the overture and divertisseraved, was to be in action fro to the end, and in a continued subject, which in reeable representations But when I proposed this idea at the opera-house, nobody would so ether music and dances in the usual h full of char ideas which do not dily I suppressed the recitative of Jelyotte, and substituted raved; and this recitative a little after the French manner, I confess, drawled out, instead of pronounced by the actors, far fro the ears of any person, equally succeeded with the airs, and seement of the public to possess as much iven it his protection, and declared it should be my only dedication I have, however, with his consent, written a second; but he ht himself more honored by the exception, than if I had not written a dedication to any person

I could relate reater i into a detail of them at present I shall perhaps resume the subject in a supplement There is however one which I cannot oreater part of what is to follow I one day exa looked overme a collection of pieces for the harpsichord: ”These were composed for me; they are full of taste and harht to make a selection fro in my head more subjects of airs and symphonies than I could make use of, I was not the least anxious to have any of his

However, he pressed me so much, that, froed and converted into a trio, for the entry of the companions of Colette Some months afterwards, and whilst the Devin still continued to be perfor into Grimms I found several people about his harpsichord, whence he hastily rose on my arrival As I accidently looked toward his music stand, I there saw the same collection of the Baron d'Holback, opened precisely at the piece he had prevailed upono out of his hands Soain saw the collection open on the harpischord of M d'Papinay, one day when he gave a little concert Neither Grimm, nor anybody else, ever spoke toit here is that some time afterwards, a rumor was spread that I was not the author of Devin

As I never ress in the practical part, I am persuaded that had it not been for my dictionary of music, it would in the end have been said I did not understand coe' was performed, a company of Italian Bouffons had arrived at Paris, and were ordered to perform at the opera-house, without the effect they would produce there being foreseen

Although they were detestable, and the orchestra, at that tiave, they did the French opera an injury that will never be repaired The co in the same theatre, opened the ears of the French; nobody could endure their languid music after the marked and lively accents of Italian composition; and the ers were obliged to change the order of representation, and let the perfor could bear the coe' was the only piece that did it, and this was still relished after 'la Serva Padroma' When I composed avethey would one day be passed in review by the side of s would have been manifest, and what care would have been taken to point the of the kind All atte was found in my music which led to the recollection of that of any other person; and inal, was found to be as new as the musical characters I had invented Had Mondonville or Raone the same ordeal, they would have lost much of their substance

The Bouffons acquired for Italian music very warm partisans All Paris was divided into two parties, the violence of which was greater than if an affair of state or religion had been in question One of thereat, of men of fortune, and the ladies, supported French hty, and fuller of enthusiasm, was coenius This little group asse to the queen The other party filled up the rest of the pit and the theatre; but the heads were mostly assembled under the box of his majesty Hence the party na's corner,--Queen's corner]--then in great celebrity

The dispute, as it beca's corner aihed at by the 'Petit Prophete' It attempted to reason; the 'Lettre sur la Musique Francoise'

refuted its reasoning These two little productions, the former of which was by Grimm, the latter by myself, are the only ones which have outlived the quarrel; all the rest are long since forgotten