Master of his trade as few have ever been, alive to all its difficulties, possessing the most subtle secrets of its technique, he despised the contortions and exaggerations which simple minds confound with the science of music.

He followed out the course he had set for himself without any concern for what they might say about him.

He was able to adopt within reason the novelties from abroad and he was clever in assimilating them perfectly, yet he presented the spectacle of a thoroughly French artist whom neither the Lorelei of the Rhine nor the sirens of the Mediterranean could lead astray.

He was a _virtuoso_ of the orchestra, yet he never sacrificed the voices for the instruments, nor did he sacrifice orchestral color for the voices.

Finally, he had the greatest gift of all, that of life, a gift which cannot be defined, but which the public always recognizes and which assures the success of works far inferior to his.
Much has been said about the friendship between us--a notion based solely on the demonstrations he showered on me in public--and in public alone.