D'INDY

d'indy, paul-marie-theodore-vincent (1851- ), french musical composer, was born in paris, on the 27th of march 1851. he studied composition and the organ at the paris conservatoire under cesar franck, and obtained the grand prize offered by the city of paris in 1885 with _le chant de la cloche_, a dramatic legend after schiller. his principal works, beside the above, are the symphonic trilogy _wallenstein_, the symphonic works entitled _saugefleurie_, _la foret enchantee_, _istar_, _symphonie sur un air montagnard francais_; overture to _anthony and cleopatra_; _ste marie magdeleine_, a cantata; _attendez-moi sous l'orme_, a one-act opera; _fervaal_, a musical drama in three acts. vincent d'indy is perhaps the most prominent among the disciples of cesar franck. imbued with very high aims, he was always guided by a lofty ideal, and few musicians have attained so complete a mastery over the art of instrumentation. his music, however, lacks simplicity, and can never become popular in the widest sense. his opera _fervaal_, which is styled "action musicale", is constructed upon the system of _leit-motifs_. its legendary subject recalls both _parsifal_ and _tristan_, and the music is also suggestive of wagnerian influence. d'indy can scarcely be considered so typical a representative of modern french music as his juniors alfred bruneau, the composer of _le reve_, _l'attaque du moulin_, _messidor_, or gustave charpentier, the author of _louise_, who chose subjects of modern life for their operatic works.