142 Lecture on Music
Debussy in the writing of his Jardins sous la pluie, while
a coincidence, even more striking, has been suggested in the
case of my Habanera; but comments of this sort I must
leave to others. It could very well be, however, that concep-
tions, apparently similar in character, should mature in the
consciousness of two different composers at almost the same
time without implying direct influence of either one upon
the other. In such case, the compositions may have numerous
external analogies, but we can feel the difference in indi-
viduality of the two composers, just as no two human be-
ings are ever altogether identical—considering of course at
the moment only those composers who have actually sought
and discovered their own personality. Again, if under ap-
parently similar outward expression we fail to find dis-
similar inner manifestations, it is likely that one of the two
composers is a plagiarist of the other.
But we have been wandering somewhat from the subject
of our lecture, and, perhaps, for no better reason than that
I am unable to say much more about my own compositions
and the methods by which they have been brought into
being. When the first stroke of a work has been written,
and the process of elimination begun, the severe effort to-
ward perfection proceeds by means almost intangible,
seemingly directed by currents of inner forces, so intimate
and intricate in character as to defy all analysis. Real art,
I repeat, is not to be recognized by definitions, or revealed
by analysis: we sense its manifestations and we feel its
presence : it is apprehended in no other way.
Before closing this short address I wish to say again how
very happy I am in visiting your country, and all the more
so because my journey is enabling me to become still more
conversant with those elements which are contributing to
the gradual formation of a veritable school of American