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diff --git a/old/fkchc10.txt b/old/fkchc10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..51d1e67 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/fkchc10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,30496 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician +by Frederick Niecks +#3 in our series by Frederick Niecks + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician + +Author: Frederick Niecks + +Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4973] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 8, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREDERICK CHOPIN *** + + + + +Produced by John Mamoun <mamounjo@umdnj.edu>, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + +Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician + +Frederick Niecks + +Third Edition (1902) + + + + +VOLUME I. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION (1888) + PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION (1890) + PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION (1902) + PROEM: POLAND AND THE POLES + CHAPTERS I-XIX + + + +PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION + + + +While the novelist has absolute freedom to follow his artistic +instinct and intelligence, the biographer is fettered by the +subject-matter with which he proposes to deal. The former may +hopefully pursue an ideal, the latter must rest satisfied with a +compromise between the desirable and the necessary. No doubt, it +is possible to thoroughly digest all the requisite material, and +then present it in a perfect, beautiful form. But this can only +be done at a terrible loss, at a sacrifice of truth and +trustworthiness. My guiding principle has been to place before +the reader the facts collected by me as well as the conclusions +at which I arrived. This will enable him to see the subject in +all its bearings, with all its pros and cons, and to draw his own +conclusions, should mine not obtain his approval. Unless an +author proceeds in this way, the reader never knows how far he +may trust him, how far the evidence justifies his judgment. For-- +not to speak of cheats and fools--the best informed are apt to +make assertions unsupported or insufficiently supported by facts, +and the wisest cannot help seeing things through the coloured +spectacles of their individuality. The foregoing remarks are +intended to explain my method, not to excuse carelessness of +literary workmanship. Whatever the defects of the present volumes +may be--and, no doubt, they are both great and many--I have +laboured to the full extent of my humble abilities to group and +present my material perspicuously, and to avoid diffuseness and +rhapsody, those besetting sins of writers on music. + +The first work of some length having Chopin for its subject was +Liszt's "Frederic Chopin," which, after appearing in 1851 in the +Paris journal "La France musicale," came out in book-form, still +in French, in 1852 (Leipzig: Breitkopf and Hartel.--Translated +into English by M. W. Cook, and published by William Reeves, +London, 1877). George Sand describes it as "un peu exuberant de +style, mais rempli de bonnes choses et de tres-belles pages." +These words, however, do in no way justice to the book: for, on +the one hand, the style is excessively, and not merely a little, +exuberant; and, on the other hand, the "good things" and +"beautiful pages" amount to a psychological study of Chopin, and +an aesthetical study of his works, which it is impossible to over- +estimate. Still, the book is no biography. It records few dates +and events, and these few are for the most part incorrect. When, +in 1878, the second edition of F. Chopin was passing through the +press, Liszt remarked to me:-- + +"I have been told that there are wrong dates and other mistakes +in my book, and that the dates and facts are correctly given in +Karasowski's biography of Chopin [which had in the meantime been +published]. But, though I often thought of reading it, I have not +yet done so. I got my information from Paris friends on whom I +believed I might depend. The Princess Wittgenstein [who then +lived in Rome, but in 1850 at Weimar, and is said to have had a +share in the production of the book] wished me to make some +alterations in the new edition. I tried to please her, but, when +she was still dissatisfied, I told her to add and alter whatever +she liked." + +From this statement it is clear that Liszt had not the stuff of a +biographer in him. And, whatever value we may put on the Princess +Wittgenstein's additions and alterations, they did not touch the +vital faults of the work, which, as a French critic remarked, was +a symphonie funebre rather than a biography. The next book we +have to notice, M. A. Szulc's Polish Fryderyk Chopin i Utwory +jego Muzyczne (Posen, 1873), is little more than a chaotic, +unsifted collection of notices, criticisms, anecdotes, &c., from +Polish, German, and French books and magazines. In 1877 Moritz +Karasowski, a native of Warsaw, and since 1864 a member of the +Dresden orchestra, published his Friedrich Chopin: sein Leben, +seine Werke und seine Briefe (Dresden: F. Ries.--Translated into +English by E. Hill, under the title Frederick Chopin: His Life, +Letters, and Work," and published by William Reeves, London, in +1879). This was the first serious attempt at a biography of +Chopin. The author reproduced in the book what had been brought +to light in Polish magazines and other publications regarding +Chopin's life by various countrymen of the composer, among whom +he himself was not the least notable. But the most valuable +ingredients are, no doubt, the Chopin letters which the author +obtained from the composer's relatives, with whom he was +acquainted. While gratefully acknowledging his achievements, I +must not omit to indicate his shortcomings--his unchecked +partiality for, and boundless admiration of his hero; his +uncritical acceptance and fanciful embellishments of anecdotes +and hearsays; and the extreme paucity of his information +concerning the period of Chopin's life which begins with his +settlement in Paris. In 1878 appeared a second edition of the +work, distinguished from the first by a few additions and many +judicious omissions, the original two volumes being reduced to +one. But of more importance than the second German edition is the +first Polish edition, "Fryderyk Chopin: Zycie, Listy, Dziela, two +volumes (Warsaw: Gebethner and Wolff, 1882), which contains a +series of, till then, unpublished letters from Chopin to Fontana. +Of Madame A. Audley's short and readable "Frederic Chopin, sa vie +et ses oeuvres" (Paris: E. Plon et Cie., 1880), I need only say +that for the most part it follows Karasowski, and where it does +not is not always correct. Count Wodzinski's "Les trois Romans de +Frederic Chopin" (Paris: Calmann Levy, 1886)--according to the +title treating only of the composer's love for Constantia +Gladkowska, Maria Wodzinska, and George Sand, but in reality +having a wider scope--cannot be altogether ignored, though it is +more of the nature of a novel than of a biography. Mr, Joseph +Bennett, who based his "Frederic Chopin" (one of Novello's +Primers of Musical Biography) on Liszt's and Karasowski's works, +had in the parts dealing with Great Britain the advantage of +notes by Mr. A.J. Hipkins, who inspired also, to some extent at +least, Mr. Hueffer in his essay Chopin ("Fortnightly Review," +September, 1877; and reprinted in "Musical Studies"--Edinburgh: +A. & C. Black, 1880). This ends the list of biographies with any +claims to originality. There are, however, many interesting +contributions to a biography of Chopin to be found in works of +various kinds. These shall be mentioned in the course of my +narrative; here I will point out only the two most important +ones--namely, George Sand's "Histoire de ma Vie," first published +in the Paris newspaper "La Presse" (1854) and subsequently in +book-form; and her six volumes of "Correspondance," 1812-1876 +(Paris: Calmann Levy, 1882-1884). + +My researches had for their object the whole life of Chopin, and +his historical, political, artistical, social, and personal +surroundings, but they were chiefly directed to the least known +and most interesting period of his career--his life in France, +and his visits to Germany and Great Britain. My chief sources of +information are divisible into two classes--newspapers, +magazines, pamphlets, correspondences, and books; and +conversations I held with, and letters I received from, Chopin's +pupils, friends, and acquaintances. Of his pupils, my warmest +thanks are due to Madame Dubois (nee Camille O'Meara), Madame +Rubio (nee Vera de Kologrivof), Mdlle. Gavard, Madame Streicher +(nee Friederike Muller), Adolph Gutmann, M. Georges Mathias, +Brinley Richards, and Lindsay Sloper; of friends and +acquaintances, to Liszt, Ferdinand Hiller, Franchomme, Charles +Valentin Alkan, Stephen Heller, Edouard Wolff, Mr. Charles Halle, +Mr. G. A. Osborne, T. Kwiatkowski, Prof. A. Chodzko, M. Leonard +Niedzwiecki (gallice, Nedvetsky), Madame Jenny Lind-Goldschmidt, +Mr. A. J. Hipkins, and Dr. and Mrs. Lyschinski. I am likewise +greatly indebted to Messrs. Breitkopf and Hartel, Karl Gurckhaus +(the late proprietor of the firm of Friedrich Kistner), Julius +Schuberth, Friedrich Hofmeister, Edwin Ashdown, Richault & Cie, +and others, for information in connection with the publication of +Chopin's works. It is impossible to enumerate all my +obligations--many of my informants and many furtherers of my +labours will be mentioned in the body of the book; many, however, +and by no means the least helpful, will remain unnamed. To all of +them I offer the assurance of my deep-felt gratitude. Not a few +of my kind helpers, alas! are no longer among the living; more +than ten years have gone by since I began my researches, and +during that time Death has been reaping a rich harvest. + +The Chopin letters will, no doubt, be regarded as a special +feature of the present biography. They may, I think, be called +numerous, if we consider the master's dislike to letter-writing. +Ferdinand Hiller--whose almost unique collection of letters +addressed to him by his famous friends in art and literature is +now, and will be for years to come, under lock and key among the +municipal archives at Cologne--allowed me to copy two letters by +Chopin, one of them written conjointly with Liszt. Franchomme, +too, granted me the privilege of copying his friend's epistolary +communications. Besides a number of letters that have here and +there been published, I include, further, a translation of +Chopin's letters to Fontana, which in Karasowski's book (i.e., +the Polish edition) lose much of their value, owing to his +inability to assign approximately correct dates to them. + +The space which I give to George Sand is, I think, justified by +the part she plays in the life of Chopin. To meet the objections +of those who may regard my opinion of her as too harsh, I will +confess that I entered upon the study of her character with the +impression that she had suffered much undeserved abuse, and that +it would be incumbent upon a Chopin biographer to defend her +against his predecessors and the friends of the composer. How +entirely I changed my mind, the sequel will show. + +In conclusion, a few hints as to the pronunciation of Polish +words, which otherwise might puzzle the reader uninitiated in the +mysteries of that rarely-learned language. Aiming more at +simplicity than at accuracy, one may say that the vowels are +pronounced somewhat like this: a as in "arm," aL like the nasal +French "on," e as in "tell," e/ with an approach to the French +"e/" (or to the German "u [umlaut]" and "o [umlaut]"), eL like +the nasal French "in," i as in "pick," o as in "not," o/ with an +approach to the French "ou," u like the French ou, and y with an +approach to the German "i" and "u." The following consonants are +pronounced as in English: b, d, f, g (always hard), h, k, I, m, +n, p, s, t, and z. The following single and double consonants +differ from the English pronunciation: c like "ts," c/ softer +than c, j like "y," l/ like "ll" with the tongue pressed against +the upper row of teeth, n/ like "ny" (i.e., n softened by i), r +sharper than in English, w like "v," z/ softer than z, z. and rz +like the French "j," ch like the German guttural "ch" in "lachen" +(similar to "ch" in the Scotch "loch"), cz like "ch" in "cherry," +and sz like "sh" in "sharp." Mr. W. R. Morfill ("A Simplified +Grammar of the Polish Language") elucidates the combination szcz, +frequently to be met with, by the English expression "smasht +china," where the italicised letters give the pronunciation. +Lastly, family names terminating in take a instead of i when +applied to women. + +April, 1888. + + + +PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. + + + +The second edition differs from the first by little more than the +correction of some misprints and a few additions. These latter +are to be found among the Appendices. The principal addition +consists of interesting communications from Madame Peruzzi, a +friend of Chopin's still living at Florence. Next in importance +come Madame Schumann's diary notes bearing on Chopin's first +visit to Leipzig. The remaining additions concern early Polish +music, the first performances of Chopin's works at the Leipzig +Gewandhaus, his visit to Marienbad (remarks by Rebecca +Dirichlet), the tempo rubato, and his portraits. To the names of +Chopin's friends and acquaintances to whom I am indebted for +valuable assistance, those of Madame Peruzzi and Madame Schumann +have, therefore, to be added. My apologies as well as my thanks +are due to Mr. Felix Moscheles, who kindly permitted a fac-simile +to be made from a manuscript, in his possession, a kindness that +ought to have been acknowledged in the first edition. I am glad +that a second edition affords me an opportunity to repair this +much regretted omission. The manuscript in question is an "Etude" +which Chopin wrote for the "Methode des Methodes de Piano," by F. +J. Fetis and I. Moscheles, the father of Mr. Felix Moscheles. +This concludes what I have to say about the second edition, but I +cannot lay down the pen without expressing my gratitude to +critics and public for the exceedingly favourable reception they +have given to my book. + +October, 1890. + + + +PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. + + + +BESIDES minor corrections, the present edition contains the +correction of the day and year of Frederick Francis Chopin's +birth, which have been discovered since the publication of the +second edition of this work. According to the baptismal entry in +the register of the Brochow parish church, he who became the +great pianist and immortal composer was born on February 22, +1810. This date has been generally accepted in Poland, and is to +be found on the medal struck on the occasion of the semi- +centenary celebration of the master's death. Owing to a +misreading of musicus for magnificus in the published copy of the +document, its trustworthiness has been doubted elsewhere, but, I +believe, without sufficient cause. The strongest argument that +could be urged against the acceptance of the date would be the +long interval between birth and baptism, which did not take place +till late in April, and the consequent possibility of an error in +the registration. This, however, could only affect the day, and +perhaps the month, not the year. It is certainly a very curious +circumstance that Fontana, a friend of Chopin's in his youth and +manhood, Karasowski, at least an acquaintance, if not an intimate +friend, of the family (from whom he derived much information), +Fetis, a contemporary lexicographer, and apparently Chopin's +family, and even Chopin himself, did not know the date of the +latter's birth. + +Where the character of persons and works of art are concerned, +nothing is more natural than differences of opinion. Bias and +inequality of knowledge sufficiently account for them. For my +reading of the character of George Sand, I have been held up as a +monster of moral depravity; for my daring to question the +exactitude of Liszt's biographical facts, I have been severely +sermonised; for my inability to regard Chopin as one of the great +composers of songs, and continue uninterruptedly in a state of +ecstatic admiration, I have been told that the publication of my +biography of the master is a much to be deplored calamity. Of +course, the moral monster and author of the calamity cannot +pretend to be an unbiassed judge in the case; but it seems to him +that there may be some exaggeration and perhaps even some +misconception in these accusations. + +As to George Sand, I have not merely made assertions, but have +earnestly laboured to prove the conclusions at which I +reluctantly arrived. Are George Sand's pretentions to self- +sacrificing saintliness, and to purely maternal feelings for +Musset, Chopin, and others to be accepted in spite of the fairy- +tale nature of her "Histoire," and the misrepresentations of her +"Lettres d'un Voyageur" and her novels "Elle et lui" and +"Lucrezia Floriani"; in spite of the adverse indirect testimony +of some of her other novels, and the adverse direct testimony of +her "Correspondance"; and in spite of the experiences and firm +beliefs of her friends, Liszt included? Let us not overlook that +charitableness towards George Sand implies uncharitableness +towards Chopin, place. Need I say anything on the extraordinary +charge made against me--namely, that in some cases I have +preferred the testimony of less famous men to that of Liszt? Are +genius, greatness, and fame the measures of trustworthiness? + +As to Chopin, the composer of songs, the case is very simple. His +pianoforte pieces are original tone-poems of exquisite beauty; +his songs, though always acceptable, and sometimes charming, are +not. We should know nothing of them and the composer, if of his +works they alone had been published. In not publishing them +himself, Chopin gave us his own opinion, an opinion confirmed by +the singers in rarely performing them and by the public in little +caring for them. In short, Chopin's songs add nothing to his +fame. To mention them in one breath with those of Schubert and +Schumann, or even with those of Robert Franz and Adolf Jensen, is +the act of an hero-worshipping enthusiast, not of a +discriminating critic. + +On two points, often commented upon by critics, I feel regret, +although not repentance--namely, on any "anecdotic iconoclasm" +where fact refuted fancy, and on my abstention from pronouncing +judgments where the evidence was inconclusive. But how can a +conscientious biographer help this ungraciousness and +inaccommodativeness? Is it not his duty to tell the truth, and +nothing but the truth, in order that his subject may stand out +unobstructed and shine forth unclouded? + +In conclusion, two instances of careless reading. One critic, +after attributing a remark of Chopin's to me, exclaims: "The +author is fond of such violent jumps to conclusions." And an +author, most benevolently inclined towards me, enjoyed the humour +of my first "literally ratting" George Sand, and then saying that +I "abstained from pronouncing judgment because the complete +evidence did not warrant my doing so." The former (in vol. i.) +had to do with George Sand's character; the latter (in vol. ii.) +with the moral aspect of her connection with Chopin. + +An enumeration of the more notable books dealing with Chopin, +published after the issue of the earlier editions of the present +book will form an appropriate coda to this preface--"Frederic +Francois Chopin," by Charles Willeby; "Chopin, and Other Musical +Essays," by Henry T. Finck; "Studies in Modern Music" (containing +an essay on Chopin), by W. H. Hadow; "Chopin's Greater Works," by +Jean Kleczynski, translated by Natalie Janotha; and "Chopin: the +Man and his Music," by James Huneker. + +Edinburgh, February, 1902. + + + +PROEM. + + + +POLAND AND THE POLES. + + + +THE works of no composer of equal importance bear so striking a +national impress as those of Chopin. It would, however, be an +error to attribute this simply and solely to the superior force +of the Polish musician's patriotism. The same force of patriotism +in an Italian, Frenchman, German, or Englishman would not have +produced a similar result. Characteristics such as distinguish +Chopin's music presuppose a nation as peculiarly endowed, +constituted, situated, and conditioned, as the Polish--a nation +with a history as brilliant and dark, as fair and hideous, as +romantic and tragic. The peculiarities of the peoples of western +Europe have been considerably modified, if not entirely levelled, +by centuries of international intercourse; the peoples of the +eastern part of the Continent, on the other hand, have, until +recent times, kept theirs almost intact, foreign influences +penetrating to no depth, affecting indeed no more than the +aristocratic few, and them only superficially. At any rate, the +Slavonic races have not been moulded by the Germanic and Romanic +races as these latter have moulded each other: east and west +remain still apart--strangers, if not enemies. Seeing how deeply +rooted Chopin's music is in the national soil, and considering +how little is generally known about Poland and the Poles, the +necessity of paying in this case more attention to the land of +the artist's birth and the people to which he belongs than is +usually done in biographies of artists, will be admitted by all +who wish to understand fully and appreciate rightly the poet- +musician and his works. But while taking note of what is of +national origin in Chopin's music, we must be careful not to +ascribe to this origin too much. Indeed, the fact that the +personal individuality of Chopin is as markedly differentiated, +as exclusively self-contained, as the national individuality of +Poland, is oftener overlooked than the master's national descent +and its significance with regard to his artistic production. And +now, having made the reader acquainted with the raison d'etre of +this proem, I shall plunge without further preliminaries in +medias res. + +The palmy days of Poland came to an end soon after the extinction +of the dynasty of the Jagellons in 1572. So early as 1661 King +John Casimir warned the nobles, whose insubordination and want of +solidity, whose love of outside glitter and tumult, he deplored, +that, unless they remedied the existing evils, reformed their +pretended free elections, and renounced their personal +privileges, the noble kingdom would become the prey of other +nations. Nor was this the first warning. The Jesuit Peter Skarga +(1536--1612), an indefatigable denunciator of the vices of the +ruling classes, told them in 1605 that their dissensions would +bring them under the yoke of those who hated them, deprive them +of king and country, drive them into exile, and make them +despised by those who formerly feared and respected them. But +these warnings remained unheeded, and the prophecies were +fulfilled to the letter. Elective kingship, pacta conventa, +[Footnote: Terms which a candidate for the throne had to +subscribe on his election. They were of course dictated by the +electors--i.e., by the selfish interest of one class, the +szlachta (nobility), or rather the most powerful of them.] +liberum veto, [Footnote: The right of any member to stop the +proceedings of the Diet by pronouncing the words "Nie pozwalam" +(I do not permit), or others of the same import.] degradation of +the burgher class, enslavement of the peasantry, and other +devices of an ever-encroaching nobility, transformed the once +powerful and flourishing commonwealth into one "lying as if +broken-backed on the public highway; a nation anarchic every +fibre of it, and under the feet and hoofs of travelling +neighbours." [Footnote: Thomas Carlyle, Frederick the Great, vol. +viii., p. 105.] In the rottenness of the social organism, +venality, unprincipled ambition, and religious intolerance found +a congenial soil; and favoured by and favouring foreign intrigues +and interferences, they bore deadly fruit--confederations, civil +wars, Russian occupation of the country and dominion over king, +council, and diet, and the beginning of the end, the first +partition (1772) by which Poland lost a third of her territory +with five millions of inhabitants. Even worse, however, was to +come. For the partitioning powers--Russia, Prussia, and Austria-- +knew how by bribes and threats to induce the Diet not only to +sanction the spoliation, but also so to alter the constitution as +to enable them to have a permanent influence over the internal +affairs of the Republic. + +The Pole Francis Grzymala remarks truly that if instead of some +thousand individuals swaying the destinies of Poland, the whole +nation had enjoyed equal rights, and, instead of being plunged in +darkness and ignorance, the people had been free and consequently +capable of feeling and thinking, the national cause, imperilled +by the indolence and perversity of one part of the citizens, +would have been saved by those who now looked on without giving a +sign of life. The "some thousands" here spoken of are of course +the nobles, who had grasped all the political power and almost +all the wealth of the nation, and, imitating the proud language +of Louis XIV, could, without exaggeration, have said: "L'etat +c'est nous." As for the king and the commonalty, the one had been +deprived of almost all his prerogatives, and the other had become +a rightless rabble of wretched peasants, impoverished burghers, +and chaffering Jews. Rousseau, in his Considerations sur le +gouvernement de Pologne, says pithily that the three orders of +which the Republic of Poland was composed were not, as had been +so often and illogically stated, the equestrian order, the +senate, and the king, but the nobles who were everything, the +burghers who were nothing, and the peasants who were less than +nothing. The nobility of Poland differed from that of Other +countries not only in its supreme political and social position, +but also in its numerousness, character, and internal +constitution. + +[Footnote: The statistics concerning old Poland are provokingly +contradictory. One authority calculates that the nobility +comprised 120,000 families, or one fourteenth of the population +(which, before the first partition, is variously estimated at +from fifteen to twenty millions); another counts only 100,000 +families; and a third states that between 1788 and 1792 (i.e., +after the first partition) there were 38,314 families of nobles.] + +All nobles were equal in rank, and as every French soldier was +said to carry a marshal's staff in his knapsack, so every Polish +noble was born a candidate for the throne. This equality, +however, was rather de jure than de facto; legal decrees could +not fill the chasm which separated families distinguished by +wealth and fame--such as the Sapiehas, Radziwills, Czartoryskis, +Zamoyskis, Potockis, and Branickis--from obscure noblemen whose +possessions amount to no more than "a few acres of land, a sword, +and a pair of moustaches that extend from one ear to the other," +or perhaps amounted only to the last two items. With some +insignificant exceptions, the land not belonging to the state or +the church was in the hands of the nobles, a few of whom had +estates of the extent of principalities. Many of the poorer +amongst the nobility attached themselves to their better-situated +brethren, becoming their dependents and willing tools. The +relation of the nobility to the peasantry is well characterised +in a passage of Mickiewicz's epic poem Pan Tadeusz, where a +peasant, on humbly suggesting that the nobility suffered less +from the measures of their foreign rulers than his own class, is +told by one of his betters that this is a silly remark, seeing +that peasants, like eels, are accustomed to being skinned, +whereas the well-born are accustomed to live in liberty. + +Nothing illustrates so well the condition of a people as the way +in which justice is administered. In Poland a nobleman was on his +estate prosecutor as well as judge, and could be arrested only +after conviction, or, in the case of high-treason, murder, and +robbery, if taken in the act. And whilst the nobleman enjoyed +these high privileges, the peasant had, as the law terms it, no +facultatem standi in judicio, and his testimony went for nothing +in the courts of justice. More than a hundred laws in the +statutes of Poland are said to have been unfavourable to these +poor wretches. In short, the peasant was quite at the mercy of +the privileged class, and his master could do with him pretty +much as he liked, whipping and selling not excepted, nor did +killing cost more than a fine of a few shillings. The peasants on +the state domains and of the clergy were, however, somewhat +better off; and the burghers, too, enjoyed some shreds of their +old privileges with more or less security. If we look for a true +and striking description of the comparative position of the +principal classes of the population of Poland, we find it in +these words of a writer of the eighteenth century: "Polonia +coelum nobilium, paradisus clericorum, infernus rusticorum." + +The vast plain of Poland, although in many places boggy and +sandy, is on the whole fertile, especially in the flat river +valleys, and in the east at the sources of the Dnieper; indeed, +it is so much so that it has been called the granary of Europe. +But as the pleasure-loving gentlemen had nobler pursuits to +attend to, and the miserable peasants, with whom it was a saying +that only what they spent in drink was their own, were not very +anxious to work more and better than they could help, agriculture +was in a very neglected condition. With manufacture and commerce +it stood not a whit better. What little there was, was in the +hands of the Jews and foreigners, the nobles not being allowed to +meddle with such base matters, and the degraded descendants of +the industrious and enterprising ancient burghers having neither +the means nor the spirit to undertake anything of the sort. Hence +the strong contrast of wealth and poverty, luxury and distress, +that in every part of Poland, in town and country, struck so +forcibly and painfully all foreign travellers. Of the Polish +provinces that in 1773 came under Prussian rule we read that-- + + the country people hardly knew such a thing as bread, many + had never in their life tasted such a delicacy; few villages + had an oven. A weaving-loom was rare; the spinning-wheel + unknown. The main article of furniture, in this bare scene of + squalor, was the crucifix and vessel of holy-water under + it....It was a desolate land without discipline, without law, + without a master. On 9,000 English square miles lived 500,000 + souls: not 55 to the square mile. [Footnote: Carlyle. + Frederick the Great, vol. x., p. 40.] + +And this poverty and squalor were not to be found only in one +part of Poland, they seem to have been general. Abbe de Mably +when seeing, in 1771, the misery of the country (campagne) and +the bad condition of the roads, imagined himself in Tartary. +William Coxe, the English historian and writer of travels, who +visited Poland after the first partition, relates, in speaking of +the district called Podlachia, that he visited between Bjelsk and +Woyszki villages in which there was nothing but the bare walls, +and he was told at the table of the ------ that knives, forks, and +spoons were conveniences unknown to the peasants. He says he +never saw-- + + a road so barren of interesting scenes as that from Cracow to + Warsaw--for the most part level, with little variation of + surface; chiefly overspread with tracts of thick forest; + where open, the distant horizon was always skirted with wood + (chiefly pines and firs, intermixed with beech, birch, and + small oaks). The occasional breaks presented some pasture- + ground, with here and there a few meagre crops of corn. The + natives were poorer, humbler, and more miserable than any + people we had yet observed in the course of our travels: + whenever we stopped they flocked around us in crowds; and, + asking for charity, used the most abject gestures....The + Polish peasants are cringing and servile in their expressions + of respect; they bowed down to the ground; took off their + hats or caps and held them in their hands till we were out of + sight; stopped their carts on the first glimpse of our + carriage; in short, their whole behaviour gave evident + symptoms of the abject servitude under which they groaned. + [FOOTNOTE: William Coxe, Travels in Poland, Russia, Sweden, + and Denmark (1784--90).] + +The Jews, to whom I have already more than once alluded, are too +important an element in the population of Poland not to be +particularly noticed. They are a people within a people, +differing in dress as well as in language, which is a jargon of +German-Hebrew. Their number before the first partition has been +variously estimated at from less than two millions to fully two +millions and a half in a population of from fifteen to twenty +millions, and in 1860 there were in Russian Poland 612,098 Jews +in a population of 4,867,124. + +[FOOTNOTE: According to Charles Forster (in Pologne, a volume of +the historical series entitled L'univers pittoresque, published +by Firmin Didot freres of Paris), who follows Stanislas Plater, +the population of Poland within the boundaries of 1772 amounted +to 20,220,000 inhabitants, and was composed of 6,770,000 Poles, +7,520,000 Russians (i.e., White and Red Russians), 2,110,000 +Jews, 1,900,000 Lithuanians, 1,640,000 Germans, 180,000 +Muscovites (i.e., Great Russians), and 100,000 Wallachians.] + + They monopolise [says Mr. Coxe] the commerce and trade of the + country, keep inns and taverns, are stewards to the nobility, + and seem to have so much influence that nothing can be bought + or sold without the intervention of a Jew. + +Our never-failing informant was particularly struck with the +number and usefulness of the Jews in Lithuania when he visited +that part of the Polish Republic in 1781-- + + If you ask for an interpreter, they bring you a Jew; if you + want post-horses, a Jew procures them and a Jew drives them; + if you wish to purchase, a Jew is your agent; and this + perhaps is the only country in Europe where Jews cultivate + the ground; in passing through Lithuania, we frequently saw + them engaged in sowing, reaping, mowing, and other works of + husbandry. + +Having considered the condition of the lower classes, we will now +turn our attention to that of the nobility. The very unequal +distribution of wealth among them has already been mentioned. +Some idea of their mode of life may be formed from the account of +the Starost Krasinski's court in the diary (year 1759) of his +daughter, Frances Krasinska. [FOOTNOTE: A starost (starosta) is +the possessor of a starosty (starostwo)--i.e., a castle and +domains conferred on a nobleman for life by the crown.] Her +description of the household seems to justify her belief that +there were not many houses in Poland that surpassed theirs in +magnificence. In introducing to the reader the various ornaments +and appendages of the magnate's court, I shall mention first, +giving precedence to the fair sex, that there lived under the +supervision of a French governess six young ladies of noble +families. The noblemen attached to the lord of the castle were +divided into three classes. In the first class were to be found +sons of wealthy, or, at least, well-to-do families who served for +honour, and came to the court to acquire good manners and as an +introduction to a civil or military career. The starost provided +the keep of their horses, and also paid weekly wages of two +florins to their grooms. Each of these noble-men had besides a +groom another servant who waited on his master at table, standing +behind his chair and dining on what he left on his plate. Those +of the second class were paid for their services and had fixed +duties to perform. Their pay amounted to from 300 to 1,000 +florins (a florin being about the value of sixpence), in addition +to which gratuities and presents were often given. Excepting the +chaplain, doctor, and secretary, they did not, like the preceding +class, have the honour of sitting with their master at table. +With regard to this privilege it is, however, worth noticing that +those courtiers who enjoyed it derived materially hardly any +advantage from it, for on week-days wine was served only to the +family and their guests, and the dishes of roast meat were +arranged pyramidally, so that fowl and venison went to those at +the head of the table, and those sitting farther down had to +content themselves with the coarser kinds of meat--with beef, +pork, &c. The duties of the third class of followers, a dozen +young men from fifteen to twenty years of age, consisted in +accompanying the family on foot or on horseback, and doing their +messages, such as carrying presents and letters of invitation. +The second and third classes were under the jurisdiction of the +house-steward, who, in the case of the young gentlemen, was not +sparing in the application of the cat. A strict injunction was +laid on all to appear in good clothes. As to the other servants +of the castle, the authoress thought she would find it difficult +to specify them; indeed, did not know even the number of their +musicians, cooks, Heyducs, Cossacks, and serving maids and men. +She knew, however, that every day five tables were served, and +that from morning to night two persons were occupied in +distributing the things necessary for the kitchen. More +impressive even than a circumstantial account like this are +briefly-stated facts such as the following: that the Palatine +Stanislas Jablonowski kept a retinue of 2,300 soldiers and 4,000 +courtiers, valets, armed attendants, huntsmen, falconers, +fishers, musicians, and actors; and that Janusz, Prince of +Ostrog, left at his death a majorat of eighty towns and boroughs, +and 2,760 villages, without counting the towns and villages of +his starosties. The magnates who distinguished themselves during +the reign of Stanislas Augustus (1764--1795) by the brilliance +and magnificence of their courts were the Princes Czartoryski and +Radziwill, Count Potocki, and Bishop Soltyk of Cracovia. Our +often-quoted English traveller informs us that the revenue of +Prince Czartoryski amounted to nearly 100,000 pounds per annum, +and that his style of living corresponded with this income. The +Prince kept an open table at which there rarely sat down less +than from twenty to thirty persons. [FOOTNOTE: Another authority +informs us that on great occasions the Czartoryskis received at +their table more than twenty thousand persons.] The same +informant has much to say about the elegance and luxury of the +Polish nobility in their houses and villas, in the decoration and +furniture of which he found the French and English styles happily +blended. He gives a glowing account of the fetes at which he was +present, and says that they were exquisitely refined and got up +regardless of expense. + +Whatever changes the national character of the Poles has +undergone in the course of time, certain traits of it have +remained unaltered, and among these stands forth predominantly +their chivalry. Polish bravery is so universally recognised and +admired that it is unnecessary to enlarge upon it. For who has +not heard at least of the victorious battle of Czotzim, of the +delivery of Vienna, of the no less glorious defeats of +Maciejowice and Ostrolenka, and of the brilliant deeds of +Napoleon's Polish Legion? And are not the names of Poland's most +popular heroes, Sobieski and Kosciuszko, household words all the +world over? Moreover, the Poles have proved their chivalry not +only by their valour on the battle-field, but also by their +devotion to the fair sex. At banquets in the good olden time it +was no uncommon occurrence to see a Pole kneel down before his +lady, take off one of her shoes, and drink out of it. But the +women of Poland seem to be endowed with a peculiar power. Their +beauty, grace, and bewitching manner inflame the heart and +imagination of all that set their eyes on them. How often have +they not conquered the conquerors of their country? [FOOTNOTE: +The Emperor Nicholas is credited with the saying: "Je pourrais en +finir des Polonais si je venais a bout des Polonaises."] They +remind Heine of the tenderest and loveliest flowers that grow on +the banks of the Ganges, and he calls for the brush of Raphael, +the melodies of Mozart, the language of Calderon, so that he may +conjure up before his readers an Aphrodite of the Vistula. Liszt, +bolder than Heine, makes the attempt to portray them, and writes +like an inspired poet. No Pole can speak on this subject without +being transported into a transcendental rapture that illumines +his countenance with a blissful radiance, and inspires him with a +glowing eloquence which, he thinks, is nevertheless beggared by +the matchless reality. + +The French of the North--for thus the Poles have been called--are +of a very excitable nature; easily moved to anger, and easily +appeased; soon warmed into boundless enthusiasm, and soon also +manifesting lack of perseverance. They feel happiest in the +turmoil of life and in the bustle of society. Retirement and the +study of books are little to their taste. Yet, knowing how to +make the most of their limited stock of knowledge, they acquit +themselves well in conversation. Indeed, they have a natural +aptitude for the social arts which insures their success in +society, where they move with ease and elegance. Their oriental +mellifluousness, hyperbolism, and obsequious politeness of speech +have, as well as the Asiatic appearance of their features and +dress, been noticed by all travellers in Poland. Love of show is +another very striking trait in the character of the Poles. It +struggles to manifest itself among the poor, causes the curious +mixture of splendour and shabbiness among the better-situated +people, and gives rise to the greatest extravagances among the +wealthy. If we may believe the chroniclers and poets, the +entertainments of the Polish magnates must have often vied with +the marvellous feasts of imperial Rome. Of the vastness of the +households with which these grands seigneurs surrounded +themselves, enough has already been said. Perhaps the chief +channel through which this love of show vented itself was the +decoration of man and horse. The entrance of Polish ambassadors +with their numerous suites has more than once astonished the +Parisians, who were certainly accustomed to exhibitions of this +kind. The mere description of some of them is enough to dazzle +one--the superb horses with their bridles and stirrups of massive +silver, and their caparisons and saddles embroidered with golden +flowers; and the not less superb men with their rich garments of +satin or gold cloth, adorned with rare furs, their bonnets +surmounted by bright plumes, and their weapons of artistic +workmanship, the silver scabbards inlaid with rubies. We hear +also of ambassadors riding through towns on horses loosely shod +with gold or silver, so that the horse-shoes lost on their +passage might testify to their wealth and grandeur. I shall quote +some lines from a Polish poem in which the author describes in +detail the costume of an eminent nobleman in the early part of +this century:-- + + He was clad in the uniform of the palatinate: a doublet + embroidered with gold, an overcoat of Tours silk ornamented + with fringes, a belt of brocade from which hung a sword with + a hilt of morocco. At his neck glittered a clasp with + diamonds. His square white cap was surmounted by a + magnificent plume, composed of tufts of herons' feathers. It + is only on festive occasions that such a rich bouquet, of + which each feather costs a ducat, is put on. + +The belt above mentioned was one of the most essential parts and +the chief ornament of the old Polish national dress, and those +manufactured at Sluck had especially a high reputation. A +description of a belt of Sluck, "with thick fringes like tufts," +glows on another page of the poem from which I took my last +quotation:-- + + On one side it is of gold with purple flowers; on the other + it is of black silk with silver checks. Such a belt can be + worn on either side: the part woven with gold for festive + days; the reverse for days of mourning. + +A vivid picture of the Polish character is to be found in +Mickiewicz's epic poem, Pan Tadeusz, from which the above +quotations are taken. + +[FOOTNOTE: I may mention here another interesting book +illustrative of Polish character and life, especially in the +second half of the eighteenth century, which has been of much use +to me--namely, Count Henry Rzewuski's Memoirs of Pan Severin +Soplica, translated into German, and furnished with an +instructive preface by Philipp Lubenstein.] + +He handles his pencil lovingly; proclaiming with just pride the +virtues of his countrymen, and revealing with a kindly smile +their weaknesses. In this truest, perhaps, of all the portraits +that have ever been drawn of the Poles, we see the gallantry and +devotion, the generosity and hospitality, the grace and +liveliness in social intercourse, but also the excitability and +changefulness, the quickly inflamed enthusiasm and sudden +depression, the restlessness and turbulence, the love of outward +show and of the pleasures of society, the pompous pride, +boastfulness, and other little vanities, in short, all the +qualities, good and bad, that distinguish his countrymen. +Heinrich Heine, not always a trustworthy witness, but in this +case so unusually serious that we will take advantage of his +acuteness and conciseness, characterises the Polish nobleman by +the following precious mosaic of adjectives: "hospitable, proud, +courageous, supple, false (this little yellow stone must not be +lacking), irritable, enthusiastic, given to gambling, pleasure- +loving, generous, and overbearing." Whether Heine was not +mistaken as to the presence of the little yellow stone is a +question that may have to be discussed in another part of this +work. The observer who, in enumerating the most striking +qualities of the Polish character, added "MISTRUSTFULNESS and +SUSPICIOUSNESS engendered by many misfortunes and often- +disappointed hopes," came probably nearer the truth. And this +reminds me of a point which ought never to be left out of sight +when contemplating any one of these portraits--namely, the time +at which it was taken. This, of course, is always an important +consideration; but it is so in a higher degree in the case of a +nation whose character, like the Polish, has at different epochs +of its existence assumed such varied aspects. The first great +change came over the national character on the introduction of +elective kingship: it was, at least so far as the nobility was +concerned, a change for the worse--from simplicity, frugality, +and patriotism, to pride, luxury, and selfishness; the second +great change was owing to the disasters that befell the nation in +the latter half of the last century: it was on the whole a change +for the better, purifying and ennobling, calling forth qualities +that till then had lain dormant. At the time the events I have to +relate take us to Poland, the nation is just at this last turning- +point, but it has not yet rounded it. To what an extent the bad +qualities had overgrown the good ones, corrupting and deadening +them, may be gathered from contemporary witnesses. George +Forster, who was appointed professor of natural history at Wilna +in 1784, and remained in that position for several years, says +that he found in Poland "a medley of fanatical and almost New +Zealand barbarity and French super-refinement; a people wholly +ignorant and without taste, and nevertheless given to luxury, +gambling, fashion, and outward glitter." + +Frederick II describes the Poles in language still more harsh; in +his opinion they are vain in fortune, cringing in misfortune, +capable of anything for the sake of money, spendthrifts, +frivolous, without judgment, always ready to join or abandon a +party without cause. No doubt there is much exaggeration in these +statements; but that there is also much truth in them, is proved +by the accounts of many writers, native and foreign, who cannot +be accused of being prejudiced against Poland. Rulhiere, and +other more or less voluminous authorities, might be quoted; but, +not to try the patience of the reader too much, I shall confine +myself to transcribing a clenching remark of a Polish nobleman, +who told our old friend, the English traveller, that although the +name of Poland still remained, the nation no longer existed. "An +universal corruption and venality pervades all ranks of the +people. Many of the first nobility do not blush to receive +pensions from foreign courts: one professes himself publicly an +Austrian, a second a Prussian, a third a Frenchman, and a fourth +a Russian." + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + +FREDERICK CHOPIN'S ANCESTORS.--HIS FATHER NICHOLAS CHOPIN'S +BIRTH, YOUTH, ARRIVAL AND EARLY VICISSITUDES IN POLAND, AND +MARRIAGE.--BIRTH AND EARLY INFANCY OF FREDERICK CHOPIN.--HIS +PARENTS AND SISTERS. + + + +GOETHE playfully describes himself as indebted to his father for +his frame and steady guidance of life, to his mother for his +happy disposition and love of story-telling, to his grandfather +for his devotion to the fair sex, to his grandmother for his love +of finery. Schopenhauer reduces the law of heredity to the simple +formula that man has his moral nature, his character, his +inclinations, and his heart from his father, and the quality and +tendency of his intellect from his mother. Buckle, on the other +hand, questions hereditary transmission of mental qualities +altogether. Though little disposed to doubt with the English +historian, yet we may hesitate to assent to the proposition of +the German philosopher; the adoption of a more scientific +doctrine, one that recognises a process of compensation, +neutralisation, and accentuation, would probably bring us nearer +the truth. But whatever the complicated working of the law of +heredity may be, there can be no doubt that the tracing of a +remarkable man's pedigree is always an interesting and rarely an +entirely idle occupation. Pursuing such an inquiry with regard to +Frederick Chopin, we find ourselves, however, soon at the end of +our tether. This is the more annoying, as there are circumstances +that particularly incite our curiosity. The "Journal de Rouen" of +December 1, 1849, contains an article, probably by Amedee de +Mereaux, in which it is stated that Frederick Chopin was +descended from the French family Chopin d'Arnouville, of which +one member, a victim of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, +had taken refuge in Poland. [Footnote: In scanning the Moniteur +of 1835, I came across several prefects and sous-prefects of the +name of Choppin d'Arnouville. (There are two communes of the name +of Arnouville, both are in the departement of the Seine et Oise-- +the one in the arrondissement Mantes, the other in the +arrondissement Pontoise. This latter is called Arnouville-les- +Gonesse.) I noticed also a number of intimations concerning plain +Chopins and Choppins who served their country as maires and army +officers. Indeed, the name of Chopin is by no means uncommon in +France, and more than one individual of that name has illustrated +it by his achievements--to wit: The jurist Rene Chopin or Choppin +(1537--1606), the litterateur Chopin (born about 1800), and the +poet Charles-Auguste Chopin (1811--1844).] Although this +confidently-advanced statement is supported by the inscription on +the composer's tombstone in Pere Lachaise, which describes his +father as a French refugee, both the Catholicism of the latter +and contradictory accounts of his extraction caution us not to +put too much faith in its authenticity. M. A. Szulc, the author +of a Polish book on Chopin and his works, has been told that +Nicholas Chopin, the father of Frederick, was the natural son of +a Polish nobleman, who, having come with King Stanislas +Leszczynski to Lorraine, adopted there the name of Chopin. From +Karasowski we learn nothing of Nicholas Chopin's parentage. But +as he was a friend of the Chopin family, and from them got much +of his information, this silence might with equal force be +adduced for and against the correctness of Szulc's story, which +in itself is nowise improbable. The only point that could strike +one as strange is the change of name. But would not the death of +the Polish ruler and the consequent lapse of Lorraine to France +afford some inducement for the discarding of an unpronounceable +foreign name? It must, however, not be overlooked that this story +is but a hearsay, relegated to a modest foot-note, and put +forward without mention of the source whence it is derived. +[FOOTNOTE: Count Wodzinski, who leaves Nicholas Chopin's descent +an open question, mentions a variant of Szulc's story, saying +that some biographers pretended that Nicholas Chopin was +descended from one of the name of Szop, a soldier, valet, or +heyduc (reitre, valet, ou heiduque) in the service of Stanislas +Leszczinski, whom he followed to Lorraine.] Indeed, until we get +possession of indisputable proofs, it will be advisable to +disregard these more or less fabulous reports altogether, and +begin with the first well-ascertained fact--namely, Nicholas +Chopin's birth, which took place at Nancy, in Lorraine, on the +17th of August, 1770. Of his youth nothing is known except that, +like other young men of his country, he conceived a desire to +visit Poland. Polish descent would furnish a satisfactory +explanation of Nicholas' sentiments in regard to Poland at this +time and subsequently, but an equally satisfactory explanation +can be found without having recourse to such a hazardous +assumption. + +In 1735 Stanislas Leszczynski, who had been King of Poland from +1704 to 1709, became Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and reigned over +the Duchies till 1766, when an accident--some part of his dress +taking fire--put an end to his existence. As Stanislas was a +wise, kind-hearted, and benevolent prince, his subjects not only +loved him as long as he lived, but also cherished his memory +after his death, when their country had been united to France. +The young, we may be sure, would often hear their elders speak of +the good times of Duke Stanislas, of the Duke (the philosophe +bienfaisant) himself, and of the strange land and people he came +from. But Stanislas, besides being an excellent prince, was also +an amiable, generous gentleman, who, whilst paying due attention +to the well-being of his new subjects, remained to the end of his +days a true Pole. From this circumstance it may be easily +inferred that the Court of Stanislas proved a great attraction to +his countrymen, and that Nancy became a chief halting-place of +Polish travellers on their way to and from Paris. Of course, not +all the Poles that had settled in the Duchies during the Duke's +reign left the country after his demise, nor did their friends +from the fatherland altogether cease to visit them in their new +home. Thus a connection between the two countries was kept up, +and the interest taken by the people of the west in the fortunes +of the people in the east was not allowed to die. Moreover, were +not the Academie de Stanislas founded by the Duke, the monument +erected to his memory, and the square named after him, perpetual +reminders to the inhabitants of Nancy and the visitors to that +town? + +Nicholas Chopin came to Warsaw in or about the year 1787. +Karasowski relates in the first and the second German edition of +his biography of Frederick Chopin that the Staroscina [FOOTNOTE: +The wife of a starosta (vide p. 7.)] Laczynska made the +acquaintance of the latter's father, and engaged him as tutor to +her children; but in the later Polish edition he abandons this +account in favour of one given by Count Frederick Skarbek in his +Pamietniki (Memoirs). According to this most trustworthy of +procurable witnesses (why he is the most trustworthy will be seen +presently), Nicholas Chopin's migration to Poland came about in +this way. A Frenchman had established in Warsaw a manufactory of +tobacco, which, as the taking of snuff was then becoming more and +more the fashion, began to flourish in so high a degree that he +felt the need of assistance. He proposed, therefore, to his +countryman, Nicholas Chopin, to come to him and take in hand the +book-keeping, a proposal which was readily accepted. + +The first impression of the young Lorrainer on entering the land +of his dreams cannot have been altogether of a pleasant nature. +For in the summer of 1812, when, we are told, the condition of +the people had been infinitely ameliorated by the Prussian and +Russian governments, M. de Pradt, Napoleon's ambassador, found +the nation in a state of semi-barbarity, agriculture in its +infancy, the soil parched like a desert, the animals stunted, the +people, although of good stature, in a state of extreme poverty, +the towns built of wood, the houses filled with vermin, and the +food revolting. This picture will not escape the suspicion of +being overdrawn. But J.G. Seume, who was by no means over- +squeamish, and whom experience had taught the meaning of "to +rough it," asserts, in speaking of Poland in 1805, that, Warsaw +and a few other places excepted, the dunghill was in most houses +literally and without exaggeration the cleanest spot, and the +only one where one could stand without loathing. But if the +general aspect of things left much to be desired from a +utilitarian point of view, its strangeness and picturesqueness +would not fail to compensate an imaginative youth for the want of +order and comfort. The strong contrast of wealth and poverty, of +luxury and distress, that gave to the whole country so melancholy +an appearance, was, as it were, focussed in its capital. Mr. +Coxe, who visited Warsaw not long before Nicholas Chopin's +arrival there, says:-- + + The streets are spacious, but ill-paved; the churches and + public buildings large and magnificent, the palaces of the + nobility are numerous and splendid; but the greatest part of + the houses, especially the suburbs, are mean and ill- + constructed wooden hovels. + +What, however, struck a stranger most, was the throngs of +humanity that enlivened the streets and squares of Warsaw, the +capital of a nation composed of a medley of Poles, Lithuanians, +Red and White Russians, Germans, Muscovites, Jews, and +Wallachians, and the residence of a numerous temporary and +permanent foreign population. How our friend from quiet Nancy-- +which long ago had been deserted by royalty and its train, and +where literary luminaries, such as Voltaire, Madame du Chatelet, +Saint Lambert, &c., had ceased to make their fitful appearances-- +must have opened his eyes when this varied spectacle unfolded +itself before him. + + The streets of stately breadth, formed of palaces in the + finest Italian taste and wooden huts which at every moment + threatened to tumble down on the heads of the inmates; in + these buildings Asiatic pomp and Greenland dirtin strange + union, an ever-bustling population, forming, like a + masked procession, the most striking contrasts. Long-bearded + Jews, and monks in all kinds of habits; nuns of the strictest + discipline, entirely veiled and wrapped in meditation; and in + the large squares troops of young Polesses in light-coloured + silk mantles engaged in conversation; venerable old Polish + gentlemen with moustaches, caftan, girdle, sword, and yellow + and red boots; and the new generation in the most incroyable + Parisian fashion. Turks, Greeks, Russians, Italians, and + French in an ever-changing throng; moreover, an exceedingly + tolerant police that interfered nowise with the popular + amusements, so that in squares and streets there moved about + incessantly Pulchinella theatres, dancing bears, camels, and + monkeys, before which the most elegant carriages as well as + porters stopped and stood gaping. + +Thus pictures J. E. Hitzig, the biographer of E. Th. A. Hoffmann, +and himself a sojourner in Warsaw, the life of the Polish capital +in 1807. When Nicholas Chopin saw it first the spectacle in the +streets was even more stirring, varied, and brilliant; for then +Warsaw was still the capital of an independent state, and the +pending and impending political affairs brought to it magnates +from all the principal courts of Europe, who vied with each other +in the splendour of their carriages and horses, and in the number +and equipment of their attendants. + +In the introductory part of this work I have spoken of the +misfortunes that befel Poland and culminated in the first +partition. But the buoyancy of the Polish character helped the +nation to recover sooner from this severe blow than could have +been expected. Before long patriots began to hope that the +national disaster might be turned into a blessing. Many +circumstances favoured the realisation of these hopes. Prussia, +on discovering that her interests no longer coincided with those +of her partners of 1772, changed sides, and by-and-by even went +the length of concluding a defensive and offensive alliance with +the Polish Republic. She, with England and other governments, +backed Poland against Russia and Austria. Russia, moreover, had +to turn her attention elsewhere. At the time of Nicholas Chopin's +arrival, Poland was dreaming of a renascence of her former +greatness, and everyone was looking forward with impatience to +the assembly of the Diet which was to meet the following year. +Predisposed by sympathy, he was soon drawn into the current of +excitement and enthusiasm that was surging around him. Indeed, +what young soul possessed of any nobleness could look with +indifference on a nation struggling for liberty and independence. +As he took a great interest in the debates and transactions of +the Diet, he became more and more acquainted with the history, +character, condition, and needs of the country, and this +stimulated him to apply himself assiduously to the study of the +national language, in order to increase, by means of this +faithful mirror and interpreter of a people's heart and mind, his +knowledge of these things. And now I must ask the reader to bear +patiently the infliction of a brief historical summary, which I +would most willingly spare him, were I not prevented by two +strong reasons. In the first place, the vicissitudes of Nicholas +Chopin's early life in Poland are so closely bound up with, or +rather so much influenced by, the political events, that an +intelligible account of the former cannot be given without +referring to the latter; and in the second place, those same +political events are such important factors in the moulding of +the national character, that, if we wish to understand it, they +ought not to be overlooked. + +The Diet which assembled at the end of 1788, in order to prevent +the use or rather abuse of the liberum veto, soon formed itself +into a confederation, abolished in 1789 the obnoxious Permanent +Council, and decreed in 1791, after much patriotic oratory and +unpatriotic obstruction, the famous constitution of the 3rd of +May, regarded by the Poles up to this day with loving pride, and +admired and praised at the time by sovereigns and statesmen, Fox +and Burke among them. Although confirming most of the privileges +of the nobles, the constitution nevertheless bore in it seeds of +good promise. Thus, for instance, the crown was to pass after the +death of the reigning king to the Elector of Saxony, and become +thenceforth hereditary; greater power was given to the king and +ministers, confederations and the liberum veto were declared +illegal, the administration of justice was ameliorated, and some +attention was paid to the rights and wrongs of the third estate +and peasantry. But the patriots who already rejoiced in the +prospect of a renewal of Polish greatness and prosperity had +counted without the proud selfish aristocrats, without Russia, +always ready to sow and nurture discord. Hence new troubles--the +confederation of Targowica, Russian demands for the repeal of the +constitution and unconditional submission to the Empress +Catharine II, betrayal by Prussia, invasion, war, desertion of +the national cause by their own king and his joining the +conspirators of Targowica, and then the second partition of +Poland (October 14, 1793), implying a further loss of territory +and population. Now, indeed, the events were hastening towards +the end of the sad drama, the finis poloniae. After much +hypocritical verbiage and cruel coercion and oppression by Russia +and Prussia, more especially by the former, outraged Poland rose +to free itself from the galling yoke, and fought under the noble +Kosciuszko and other gallant generals with a bravery that will +for ever live in the memory of men. But however glorious the +attempt, it was vain. Having three such powers as Russia, +Prussia, and Austria against her, Poland, unsupported by allies +and otherwise hampered, was too weak to hold her own. Without +inquiring into the causes and the faults committed by her +commanders, without dwelling on or even enumerating the +vicissitudes of the struggle, I shall pass on to the terrible +closing scene of the drama--the siege and fall of Praga, the +suburb of Warsaw, and the subsequent massacre. The third +partition (October 24, 1795), in which each of the three powers +took her share, followed as a natural consequence, and Poland +ceased to exist as an independent state. Not, however, for ever; +for when in 1807 Napoleon, after crushing Prussia and defeating +Russia, recast at Tilsit to a great extent the political +conformation of Europe, bullying King Frederick William III and +flattering the Emperor Alexander, he created the Grand Duchy of +Warsaw, over which he placed as ruler the then King of Saxony. + +Now let us see how Nicholas Chopin fared while these whirlwinds +passed over Poland. The threatening political situation and the +consequent general insecurity made themselves at once felt in +trade, indeed soon paralysed it. What more particularly told on +the business in which the young Lorrainer was engaged was the +King's desertion of the national cause, which induced the great +and wealthy to leave Warsaw and betake themselves for shelter to +more retired and safer places. Indeed, so disastrous was the +effect of these occurrences on the Frenchman's tobacco +manufactory that it had to be closed. In these circumstances +Nicholas Chopin naturally thought of returning home, but sickness +detained him. When he had recovered his health, Poland was rising +under Kosciuszko. He then joined the national guard, in which he +was before long promoted to the rank of captain. On the 5th of +November, 1794, he was on duty at Praga, and had not his company +been relieved a few hours before the fall of the suburb, he would +certainly have met there his death. Seeing that all was lost he +again turned his thoughts homewards, when once more sickness +prevented him from executing his intention. For a time he tried +to make a living by teaching French, but ere long accepted an +engagement as tutor in the family--then living in the country--of +the Staroscina Laczynska, who meeting him by chance had been +favourably impressed by his manners and accomplishments. In +passing we may note that among his four pupils (two girls and two +boys) was one, Mary, who afterwards became notorious by her +connection with Napoleon I., and by the son that sprang from this +connection, Count Walewski, the minister of Napoleon III. At the +beginning of this century we find Nicholas Chopin at Zelazowa +Wola, near Sochaczew, in the house of the Countess Skarbek, as +tutor to her son Frederick. It was there that he made the +acquaintance of Justina Krzyzanowska, a young lady of noble but +poor family, whom he married in the year 1806, and who became the +mother of four children, three daughters and one son, the latter +being no other than Frederick Chopin, the subject of this +biography. The position of Nicholas Chopin in the house of the +Countess must have been a pleasant one, for ever after there +seems to have existed a friendly relation between the two +families. His pupil, Count Frederick Skarbek, who prosecuted his +studies at Warsaw and Paris, distinguished himself subsequently +as a poet, man of science, professor at the University of Warsaw, +state official, philanthropist, and many-sided author--more +especially as a politico--economical writer. When in his Memoirs +the Count looks back on his youth, he remembers gratefully and +with respect his tutor, speaking of him in highly appreciative +terms. In teaching, Nicholas Chopin's chief aim was to form his +pupils into useful, patriotic citizens; nothing was farther from +his mind than the desire or unconscious tendency to turn them +into Frenchmen. And now approaches the time when the principal +personage makes his appearance on the stage. + +Frederick Chopin, the only son and the third of the four children +of Nicholas and Justina Chopin, was born on February 22, 1810, + +[FOOTNOTE: See Preface, p. xii. In the earlier editions the date +given was March 1,1809, as in the biography by Karasowski, with +whom agree the earlier J. Fontana (Preface to Chopin's posthumous +works.--1855), C. Sowinski (Les musiciens polonais et slaves.-- +1857), and the writer of the Chopin article in Mendel's +Musikalisches Conversations-Lexikon (1872). According to M. A. +Szulc (Fryderyk Chopin.--1873) and the inscription on the +memorial (erected in 1880) in the Holy Cross Church at Warsaw, +the composer was born on March 2, 1809. The monument in Pere +Lachaise, at Paris, bears the date of Chopin's death, but not +that of his birth. Felis, in his Biographie universelle des +musiciens, differs widely from these authorities. The first +edition (1835--1844) has only the year--1810; the second edition +(1861--1865) adds month and day--February 8.] + +in a mean little house at Zelazowa Wola, a village about twenty- +eight English miles from Warsaw belonging to the Countess +Skarbek. + +[FOOTNOTE: Count Wodzinski, after indicating the general features +of Polish villages--the dwor (manor-house) surrounded by a +"bouquet of trees"; the barns and stables forming a square with a +well in the centre; the roads planted with poplars and bordered +with thatched huts; the rye, wheat, rape, and clover fields, &c.-- +describes the birthplace of Frederick Chopin as follows: "I have +seen there the same dwor embosomed in trees, the same outhouses, +the same huts, the same plains where here and there a wild pear- +tree throws its shadow. Some steps from the mansion I stopped +before a little cot with a slated roof, flanked by a little +wooden perron. Nothing has been changed for nearly a hundred +years. A dark passage traverses it. On the left, in a room +illuminated by the reddish flame of slowly-consumed logs, or by +the uncertain light of two candles placed at each extremity of +the long table, the maid-servants spin as in olden times, and +relate to each other a thousand marvellous legends. On the right, +in a lodging of three rooms, so low that one can touch the +ceiling, a man of some thirty years, brown, with vivacious eyes, +the face closely shaven." This man was of course Nicholas Chopin. +I need hardly say that Count Wodzinski's description is +novelistically tricked out. His accuracy may be judged by the +fact that a few pages after the above passage he speaks of the +discoloured tiles of the roof which he told his readers before +was of slate.] + +The son of the latter, Count Frederick Skarbek, Nicholas Chopin's +pupil, a young man of seventeen, stood godfather and gave his +name to the new-born offspring of his tutor. Little Frederick's +residence at the village cannot have been of long duration. + +The establishment of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw in 1807 had +ushered in a time big with chances for a capable man, and we may +be sure that a young husband and father, no doubt already on the +look-out for some more lucrative and independent employment, was +determined not to miss them. Few peaceful revolutions, if any, +can compare in thoroughness with the one that then took place in +Poland; a new sovereign ascended the throne, two differently- +constituted representative bodies superseded the old Senate and +Diet, the French code of laws was introduced, the army and civil +service underwent a complete re-organisation, public instruction +obtained a long-needed attention, and so forth. To give an idea +of the extent of the improvement effected in matters of +education, it is enough to mention that the number of schools +rose from 140 to 634, and that a commission was formed for the +publication of suitable books of instruction in the Polish +language. Nicholas Chopin's hopes were not frustrated; for on +October 1, 1810, he was appointed professor of the French +language at the newly-founded Lyceum in Warsaw, and a little more +than a year after, on January 1, 1812, to a similar post at the +School of Artillery and Engineering. + +The exact date when Nicholas Chopin and his family settled in +Warsaw is not known, nor is it of any consequence. We may, +however, safely assume that about this time little Frederick was +an inhabitant of the Polish metropolis. During the first years of +his life the parents may have lived in somewhat straitened +circumstances. The salary of the professorship, even if regularly +paid, would hardly suffice for a family to live comfortably, and +the time was unfavourable for gaining much by private tuition. M. +de Pradt, describing Poland in 1812, says:-- + + Nothing could exceed the misery of all classes. The army was + not paid, the officers were in rags, the best houses were in + ruins, the greatest lords were compelled to leave Warsaw from + want of money to provide for their tables. No pleasures, no + society, no invitations as in Paris and in London. I even saw + princesses quit Warsaw from the most extreme distress. The + Princess Radziwill had brought two women from England and + France, she wished to send them back, but had to keep them + because she was unable to pay their salaries and travelling + expenses. I saw in Warsaw two French physicians who informed + me that they could not procure their fees even from the + greatest lords. + +But whatever straits the parents may have been put to, the weak, +helpless infant would lack none of the necessaries of life, and +enjoy all the reasonable comforts of his age. + +When in 1815 peace was restored and a period of quiet followed, +the family must have lived in easy circumstances; for besides +holding appointments as professor at some public schools (under +the Russian government he became also one of the staff of +teachers at the Military Preparatory School), Nicholas Chopin +kept for a number of years a boarding-school, which was +patronised by the best families of the country. The supposed +poverty of Chopin's parents has given rise to all sorts of +misconceptions and misstatements. A writer in Larousse's "Grand +dictionnaire universel du XIXe siecle" even builds on it a theory +explanatory of the character of Chopin and his music: "Sa famille +d'origine francaise," he writes, "jouissait d'une mediocre +fortune; de la, peut-etre, certains froissements dans +l'organisation nerveuse et la vive sensibilite de l'enfant, +sentiments qui devaient plus tard se refleter dans ses oeuvres, +empreintes generalement d'une profonde melancolie." If the writer +of the article in question had gone a little farther back, he +might have found a sounder basis for his theory in the extremely +delicate physical organisation of the man, whose sensitiveness +was so acute that in early infancy he could not hear music +without crying, and resisted almost all attempts at appeasing +him. + +The last-mentioned fact, curious and really noteworthy in itself, +acquires a certain preciousness by its being the only one +transmitted to us of that period of Chopin's existence. But this +scantiness of information need not cause us much regret. During +the first years of a man's life biography is chiefly concerned +with his surroundings, with the agencies that train his faculties +and mould his character. A man's acts and opinions are +interesting in proportion to the degree of consolidation attained +by his individuality. Fortunately our material is abundant enough +to enable us to reconstruct in some measure the milieu into which +Chopin was born and in which he grew up. We will begin with that +first circle which surrounds the child--his family. The negative +advantages which our Frederick found there--the absence of the +privations and hardships of poverty, with their depressing and +often demoralising influence--have already been adverted to; now +I must say a few words about the positive advantages with which +he was favoured. And it may be at once stated that they cannot be +estimated too highly. Frederick enjoyed the greatest of blessings +that can be bestowed upon mortal man--viz., that of being born +into a virtuous and well-educated family united by the ties of +love. I call it the greatest of blessings, because neither +catechism and sermons nor schools and colleges can take the +place,, or compensate for the want, of this education that does +not stop at the outside, but by its subtle, continuous action +penetrates to the very heart's core and pervades the whole being. +The atmosphere in which Frederick lived was not only moral and +social, but also distinctly intellectual. + +The father, Nicholas Chopin, seems to have been a man of worth +and culture, honest of purpose, charitable in judgment, attentive +to duty, and endowed with a good share of prudence and +commonsense. In support of this characterisation may be advanced +that among his friends he counted many men of distinction in +literature, science, and art; that between him and the parents of +his pupils as well as the pupils themselves there existed a +friendly relation; that he was on intimate terms with several of +his colleagues; and that his children not only loved, but also +respected him. No one who reads his son's letters, which indeed +give us some striking glimpses of the man, can fail to notice +this last point. On one occasion, when confessing that he had +gone to a certain dinner two hours later than he had been asked, +Frederick foresees his father's anger at the disregard for what +is owing to others, and especially to one's elders; and on +another occasion he makes excuses for his indifference to non- +musical matters, which, he thinks, his father will blame. And +mark, these letters were written after Chopin had attained +manhood. What testifies to Nicholas Chopin's, abilities as a +teacher and steadiness as a man, is the unshaken confidence of +the government: he continued in his position at the Lyceumtill +after the revolution in 1831, when this institution, like many +others, was closed; he was then appointed a member of the board +for the examination of candidates for situations as +schoolmasters, and somewhat later he became professor of the +French language at the Academy of the Roman Catholic Clergy. + +It is more difficult, or rather it is impossible, to form +anything like a clear picture of his wife, Justina Chopin. None +of those of her son's letters that are preserved is addressed to +her, and in those addressed to the members of the family +conjointly, or to friends, nothing occurs that brings her nearer +to us, or gives a clue to her character. George Sand said that +she was Chopin's only passion. Karasowski describes her as +"particularly tender-hearted and rich in all the truly womanly +virtues.....For her quietness and homeliness were the greatest +happiness." K. W. Wojcicki, in "Cmentarz Powazkowski" (Powazki +Cemetery), expresses, himself in the same strain. A Scotch lady, +who had seen Justina Chopin in her old age, and conversed with +her in French, told me that she was then "a neat, quiet, +intelligent old lady, whose activeness contrasted strongly with +the languor of her son, who had not a shadow of energy in him." +With regard to the latter part of this account, we must not +overlook the fact that my informant knew Chopin only in the last +year of his life--i.e., when he was in a very suffering state of +mind and body. This is all the information I have been able to +collect regarding the character of Chopin's mother. Moreover, +Karasowski is not an altogether trustworthy informant; as a +friend of the Chopin family he sees in its members so many +paragons of intellectual and moral perfection. He proceeds on the +de mortuis nil nisi bonum principle, which I venture to suggest +is a very bad principle. Let us apply this loving tenderness to +our living neighbours, and judge the dead according to their +merits. Thus the living will be doubly benefited, and no harm be +done to the dead. Still, the evidence before us--including that +exclamation about his "best of mothers "in one of Chopin's +letters, written from Vienna, soon after the outbreak of the +Polish insurrection in 1830: "How glad my mamma will be that I +did not come back!"--justifies us, I think, in inferring that +Justina Chopin was a woman of the most lovable type, one in whom +the central principle of existence was the maternal instinct, +that bright ray of light which, dispersed in its action, displays +itself in the most varied and lovely colours. That this +principle, although often all-absorbing, is not incompatible with +the wider and higher social and intellectual interests is a +proposition that does not stand in need of proof. But who could +describe that wondrous blending of loving strength and lovable +weakness of a true woman's character? You feel its beauty and +sublimity, and if you attempt to give words to your feeling you +produce a caricature. + +The three sisters of Frederick all manifested more or less a +taste for literature. The two elder sisters, Louisa (who married +Professor Jedrzejewicz, and died in 1855) and Isabella (who +married Anton Barcinski--first inspector of schools, and +subsequently director of steam navigation on the Vistula--and +died in 1881), wrote together for the improvement of the working +classes. The former contributed now and then, also after her +marriage, articles to periodicals on the education of the young. +Emilia, the youngest sister, who died at the early age of +fourteen (in 1827), translated, conjointly with her sister +Isabella, the educational tales of the German author Salzmann, +and her poetical efforts held out much promise for the future. + + + +CHAPTER II + + + +FREDERICK'S FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUCTION AND MUSIC-MASTER, ADALBERT +ZYWNY.--HIS DEBUT AND SUCCESS AS A PIANIST.--HIS EARLY +INTRODUCTION INTO ARISTOCRATIC SOCIETY AND CONSTANT INTERCOURSE +WITH THE ARISTOCRACY.--HIS FIRST COMPOSITIONS.--HIS STUDIES AND +MASTER IN HARMONY, COUNTERPOINT, AND COMPOSITION, JOSEPH ELSNER. + + + +OUR little friend, who, as we have seen, at first took up a +hostile attitude towards music--for his passionate utterances, +albeit inarticulate, cannot well be interpreted as expressions of +satisfaction or approval--came before long under her mighty sway. +The pianoforte threw a spell over him, and, attracting him more +and more, inspired him with such a fondness as to induce his +parents to provide him, notwithstanding his tender age, with an +instructor. To lessen the awfulness of the proceeding, it was +arranged that one of the elder sisters should join him in his +lessons. The first and only pianoforte teacher of him who in the +course of time became one of the greatest and most original +masters of this instrument, deserves some attention from us. +Adalbert Zywny [FOOTNOTE: This is the usual spelling of the name, +which, as the reader will see further on, its possessor wrote +Ziwny. Liszt calls him Zywna.], a native of Bohemia, born in +1756, came to Poland, according to Albert Sowinski (Les musiciens +polonais et slaves), during the reign of Stanislas Augustus +Poniatowski (1764--1795), and after staying for some time as +pianist at the court of Prince Casimir Sapieha, settled in Warsaw +as a teacher of music, and soon got into good practice, "giving +his lessons at three florins (eighteen pence) per hour very +regularly, and making a fortune." And thus teaching and composing +(he is said to have composed much for the pianoforte, but he +never published anything), he lived a long and useful life, dying +in 1842 at the age of 86 (Karasowski says in 1840). The punctual +and, no doubt, also somewhat pedantic music-master who acquired +the esteem and goodwill of his patrons, the best families of +Warsaw, and a fortune at the same time, is a pleasant figure to +contemplate. The honest orderliness and dignified calmness of his +life, as I read it, are quite refreshing in this time of rush and +gush. Having seen a letter of his, I can imagine the heaps of +original MSS., clearly and neatly penned with a firm hand, lying +carefully packed up in spacious drawers, or piled up on well- +dusted shelves. Of the man Zywny and his relation to the Chopin +family we get some glimpses in Frederick's letters. In one of the +year 1828, addressed to his friend Titus Woyciechowski, he +writes: "With us things are as they used to be; the honest Zywny +is the soul of all our amusements." Sowinski informs us that +Zywny taught his pupil according to the classical German method-- +whatever that may mean--at that time in use in Poland. Liszt, who +calls him "an enthusiastic student of Bach," speaks likewise of +"les errements d'une ecole entierement classique." Now imagine my +astonishment when on asking the well-known pianoforte player and +composer Edouard Wolff, a native of Warsaw, [Fooynote: He died at +Paris on October 16, 1880.] what kind of pianist Zywny was, I +received the answer that he was a violinist and not a pianist. +That Wolff and Zywny knew each other is proved beyond doubt by +the above-mentioned letter of Zywny's, introducing the former to +Chopin, then resident in Paris. The solution of the riddle is +probably this. Zywny, whether violinist or not, was not a +pianoforte virtuoso--at least, was not heard in public in his old +age. The mention of a single name, that of Wenzel W. Wurfel, +certainly shows that he was not the best pianist in Warsaw. But +against any such depreciatory remarks we have to set Chopin's +high opinion of Zywny's teaching capability. Zywny's letter, +already twice alluded to, is worth quoting. It still further +illustrates the relation in which master and pupil stood to each +other, and by bringing us in close contact with the former makes +us better acquainted with his character. A particularly curious +fact about the letter--considering the nationality of the persons +concerned--is its being written in German. Only a fac-simile of +the original, with its clear, firm, though (owing to the writer's +old age) cramped penmanship, and its quaint spelling and +capricious use of capital and small initials, could fully reveal +the expressiveness of this document. However, even in the +translation there may be found some of the man's characteristic +old-fashioned formality, grave benevolence, and quiet homeliness. +The outside of the sheet on which the letter is written bears the +words, "From the old music-master Adalbert Ziwny [at least this I +take to be the meaning of the seven letters followed by dots], +kindly to be transmitted to my best friend, Mr. Frederick Chopin, +in Paris." The letter itself runs as follows:-- + + DEAREST MR. F. CHOPIN,--Wishing you perfect health I have the + honour to write to you through Mr. Eduard Wolf. [FOOTNOTE: + The language of the first sentence is neither logical nor + otherwise precise. I shall keep throughout as close as + possible to the original, and also retain the peculiar + spelling of proper names.] I recommend him to your esteemed + friendship. Your whole family and I had also the pleasure of + hearing at his concert the Adagio and Rondo from your + Concerto, which called up in our minds the most agreeable + remembrance of you. May God give you every prosperity! We are + all well, and wish so much to see you again. Meanwhile I send + you through Mr. Wolf my heartiest kiss, and recommending + myself to your esteemed friendship, I remain your faithful + friend, + + ADALBERT ZIWNY. + + Warsaw, the 12th of June, 1835. + + N.B.--Mr. Kirkow, the merchant, and his son George, who was + at Mr. Reinschmid's at your farewell party, recommend + themselves to you, and wish you good health. Adieu. + +Julius Fontana, the friend and companion of Frederick, after +stating (in his preface to Chopin's posthumous works) that Chopin +had never another pianoforte teacher than Zywny, observes that +the latter taught his pupil only the first principles. "The +progress of the child was so extraordinary that his parents and +his professor thought they could do no better than abandon him at +the age of 12 to his own instincts, and follow instead of +directing him." The progress of Frederick must indeed have been +considerable, for in Clementina Tanska-Hofmanowa's Pamiatka po +dobrej matce (Memorial of a good Mother) [FOOTNOTE: Published in +1819.] the writer relates that she was at a soiree at Gr----'s, +where she found a numerous party assembled, and heard in the +course of the evening young Chopin play the piano--"a child not +yet eight years old, who, in the opinion of the connoisseurs of +the art, promises to replace Mozart." Before the boy had +completed his ninth year his talents were already so favourably +known that he was invited to take part in a concert which was got +up by several persons of high rank for the benefit of the poor. +The bearer of the invitation was no less a person than Ursin +Niemcewicz, the publicist, poet, dramatist, and statesman, one of +the most remarkable and influential men of the Poland of that +day. At this concert, which took place on February 24, 1818, the +young virtuoso played a concerto by Adalbert Gyrowetz, a composer +once celebrated, but now ignominiously shelved--sic transit +gloria mundi--and one of Riehl's "divine Philistines." An +anecdote shows that at that time Frederick was neither an +intellectual prodigy nor a conceited puppy, but a naive, modest +child that played the pianoforte, as birds sing, with unconscious +art. When he came home after the concert, for which of course he +had been arrayed most splendidly and to his own great +satisfaction, his mother said to him: "Well, Fred, what did the +public like best?"--"Oh, mamma," replied the little innocent, +"everybody was looking at my collar." + +The debut was a complete success, and our Frederick--Chopinek +(diminutive of Chopin) they called him--became more than ever the +pet of the aristocracy of Warsaw. He was invited to the houses of +the Princes Czartoryski, Sapieha, Czetwertynski, Lubecki, +Radziwill, the Counts Skarbek, Wolicki, Pruszak, Hussarzewski, +Lempicki, and others. By the Princess Czetwertynska, who, says +Liszt, cultivated music with a true feeling of its beauties, and +whose salon was one of the most brilliant and select of Warsaw, +Frederick was introduced to the Princess Lowicka, the beautiful +Polish wife of the Grand Duke Constantine, who, as Countess +Johanna Antonia Grudzinska, had so charmed the latter that, in +order to obtain the Emperor's consent to his marriage with her, +he abdicated his right of succession to the throne. The way in +which she exerted her influence over her brutal, eccentric, if +not insane, husband, who at once loved and maltreated the Poles, +gained her the title of "guardian angel of Poland." In her salon +Frederick came of course also in contact with the dreaded Grand +Duke, the Napoleon of Belvedere (thus he was nicknamed by +Niemcewicz, from the palace where he resided in Warsaw), who on +one occasion when the boy was improvising with his eyes turned to +the ceiling, as was his wont, asked him why he looked in that +direction, if he saw notes up there. With the exalted occupants +of Belvedere Frederick had a good deal of intercourse, for little +Paul, a boy of his own age, a son or adopted son of the Grand +Duke, enjoyed his company, and sometimes came with his tutor, +Count de Moriolles, to his house to take him for a drive. On +these occasions the neighbours of the Chopin family wondered not +a little what business brought the Grand Duke's carriage, drawn +by four splendid horses, yoked in the Russian fashion--i.e., all +abreast--to their quarter. + +Chopin's early introduction into aristocratic society and +constant intercourse with the aristocracy is an item of his +education which must not be considered as of subordinate +importance. More than almost any other of his early disciplines, +it formed his tastes, or at least strongly assisted in developing +certain inborn traits of his nature, and in doing this influenced +his entire moral and artistic character. In the proem I mentioned +an English traveller's encomiums on the elegance in the houses, +and the exquisite refinement in the entertainments, of the +wealthy nobles in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. We +may be sure that in these respects the present century was not +eclipsed by its predecessors, at least not in the third decade, +when the salons of Warsaw shone at their brightest. The influence +of French thought and manners, for the importation and spreading +of which King Stanislas Leszczinski was so solicitous that he +sent at his own expense many young gentlemen to Paris for their +education, was subsequently strengthened by literary taste, +national sympathies, and the political connection during the +first Empire. But although foreign notions and customs caused +much of the old barbarous extravagance and also much of the old +homely simplicity to disappear, they did not annihilate the +national distinctiveness of the class that was affected by them. +Suffused with the Slavonic spirit and its tincture of +Orientalism, the importation assumed a character of its own. +Liszt, who did not speak merely from hearsay, emphasises, in +giving expression to his admiration of the elegant and refined +manners of the Polish aristocracy, the absence of formalism and +stiff artificiality:-- + + In these salons [he writes] the rigorously observed + proprieties were not a kind of ingeniously-constructed + corsets that served to hide deformed hearts; they only + necessitated the spiritualisation of all contacts, the + elevation of all rapports, the aristocratisation of all + impressions. + +But enough of this for the present. + +A surer proof of Frederick's ability than the applause and favour +of the aristocracy was the impression he made on the celebrated +Catalani, who, in January, 1820, gave four concerts in the town- +hall of Warsaw, the charge for admission to each of which was, as +we may note in passing, no less than thirty Polish florins +(fifteen shillings). Hearing much of the musically-gifted boy, +she expressed the wish to have him presented to her. On this +being done, she was so pleased with him and his playing that she +made him a present of a watch, on which were engraved the words: +"Donne par Madame Catalani a Frederic Chopin, age de dix ans." + +As yet I have said nothing of the boy's first attempts at +composition. Little Frederick began to compose soon after the +commencement of his pianoforte lessons and before he could handle +the pen. His master had to write down what the pupil played, +after which the youthful maestro, often dissatisfied with his +first conception, would set to work with the critical file, and +try to improve it. He composed mazurkas, polonaises, waltzes, &c. +At the age of ten he dedicated a march to the Grand Duke +Constantine, who had it scored for a military band and played on +parade (subsequently it was also published, but without the +composer's name), and these productions gave such evident proof +of talent that his father deemed it desirable to get his friend +Elsner to instruct him in harmony and counterpoint. At this time, +however, it was not as yet in contemplation that Frederick should +become a professional musician; on the contrary, he was made to +understand that his musical studies must not interfere with his +other studies, as he was then preparing for his entrance into the +Warsaw Lyceum. As we know that this event took place in 1824, we +know also the approximate time of the commencement of Elsner's +lessons. Fontana says that Chopin began these studies when he was +already remarkable as a pianist. Seeing how very little is known +concerning the nature and extent of Chopin's studies in +composition, it may be as well to exhaust the subject at once. +But before I do so I must make the reader acquainted with the +musician who, as Zyvny was Chopin's only pianoforte teacher, was +his only teacher of composition. + +Joseph Elsner, the son of a cabinet and musical instrument maker +at Grottkau, in Silesia, was born on June 1, 1769. As his father +intended him for the medical profession, he was sent in 1781 to +the Latin school at Breslau, and some years later to the +University at Vienna. Having already been encouraged by the +rector in Grottkau to cultivate his beautiful voice, he became in +Breslau a chorister in one of the churches, and after some time +was often employed as violinist and singer at the theatre. Here, +where he got, if not regular instruction, at least some hints +regarding harmony and kindred matters (the authorities are +hopelessly at variance on this and on many other points), he made +his first attempts at composition, writing dances, songs, duets, +trios, nay, venturing even on larger works for chorus and +orchestra. The musical studies commenced in Breslau were +continued in Vienna; preferring musical scores to medical books, +the conversations of musicians to the lectures of professors, he +first neglected and at last altogether abandoned the study of the +healing art. A. Boguslawski, who wrote a biography of Elsner, +tells the story differently and more poetically. When, after a +long illness during his sojourn in Breslau, thus runs his +version, Elsner went, on the day of the Holy Trinity in the year +1789, for the first time to church, he was so deeply moved by the +sounds of the organ that he fainted. On recovering he felt his +whole being filled with such ineffable comfort and happiness that +he thought he saw in this occurrence the hand of destiny. He, +therefore, set out for Vienna, in order that he might draw as it +were at the fountain-head the great principles of his art. Be +this as it may, in 1791 we hear of Elsner as violinist in Brunn, +in 1792 as musical conductor at a theatre in Lemberg--where he is +busy composing dramatic and other works--and near the end of the +last century as occupant of the same post at the National Theatre +in Warsaw, which town became his home for the rest of his life. +There was the principal field of his labours; there he died, +after a sojourn of sixty-two years in Poland, on April 18, 1854, +leaving behind him one of the most honoured names in the history +of his adopted country. Of the journeys he undertook, the longest +and most important was, no doubt, that to Paris in 1805. On the +occasion of this visit some of his compositions were performed, +and when Chopin arrived there twenty-five years afterwards, +Elsner was still remembered by Lesueur, who said: "Et que fait +notre bon Elsner? Racontez-moi de ses nouvelles." Elsner was a +very productive composer: besides symphonies, quartets, cantatas, +masses, an oratorio, &c., he composed twenty-seven Polish operas. +Many of these works were published, some in Warsaw, some in +various German towns, some even in Paris. But his activity as a +teacher, conductor, and organiser was perhaps even more +beneficial to the development of the musical art in Poland than +that as a composer. After founding and conducting several musical +societies, he became in 1821 director of the then opened +Conservatorium, at the head of which he continued to the end of +its existence in 1830. To complete the idea of the man, we must +not omit to mention his essay In how far is the Polish language +suitable for music? As few of his compositions have been heard +outside of Poland, and these few long ago, rarely, and in few +places, it is difficult to form a satisfactory opinion with +regard to his position as a composer. Most accounts, however, +agree in stating that he wrote in the style of the modern +Italians, that is to say, what were called the modern Italians in +the later part of the last and the earlier part of this century. +Elsner tried his strength and ability in all genres, from +oratorio, opera, and symphony, down to pianoforte variations, +rondos, and dances, and in none of them did he fail to be +pleasing and intelligible, not even where, as especially in his +sacred music, he made use--a sparing use--of contrapuntal +devices, imitations, and fugal treatment. The naturalness, +fluency, effectiveness, and practicableness which distinguish his +writing for voices and instruments show that he possessed a +thorough knowledge of their nature and capability. It was, +therefore, not an empty rhetorical phrase to speak of him +initiating his pupils "a la science du contre-point et aux effets +d'une savante instrumentation." + +[FOOTNOTE: "The productions of Elsner," says Fetis, "are in the +style of Paer and Mayer's music. In his church music there is a +little too much of modern and dramatic forms; one finds in them +facility and a natural manner of making the parts sing, but +little originality and variety in his ideas. Elsner writes with +sufficient purity, although he shows in his fugues that his +studies have not been severe."] + +For the pupils of the Conservatorium he wrote vocal pieces in +from one to ten parts, and he composed also a number of canons in +four and five parts, which fact seems to demonstrate that he had +no ill-will against the scholastic forms. And now I shall quote a +passage from an apparently well-informed writer [FOOTNOTE: The +writer of the article Elsner in Schilling's Universal-Lexikon der +Tonkunst] (to whom I am, moreover, otherwise indebted in this +sketch), wherein Elsner is blamed for certain shortcomings with +which Chopin has been often reproached in a less charitable +spirit. The italics, which are mine, will point out the words in +question:-- + + One forgives him readily [in consideration of the general + excellence of his style] THE OFFENCES AGAINST THE LAW OF + HARMONIC CONNECTION THAT OCCUR HERE AND THERE, AND THE + FACILITY WITH WHICH HE SOMETIMES DISREGARDS THE FIXED RULES + OF STRICT PART-WRITING, especially in the dramatic works, + where he makes effect apparently the ultimate aim of his + indefatigable endeavours. + +The wealth of melody and technical mastery displayed in "The +Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ" incline Karasowski to think +that it is the composer's best work. When the people at Breslau +praised Elsner's "Echo Variations" for orchestra, Chopin +exclaimed: "You must hear his Coronation Mass, then only can you +judge of him as a composer." To characterise Elsner in a few +words, he was a man of considerable musical aptitude and +capacity, full of nobleness of purpose, learning, industry, +perseverance, in short, possessing all qualities implied by +talent, but lacking those implied by genius. + +A musician travelling in 1841 in Poland sent at the time to the +Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik a series of "Reiseblatter" (Notes of +Travel), which contain so charming and vivid a description of +this interesting personality that I cannot resist the temptation +to translate and insert it here almost without any abridgment. +Two noteworthy opinions of the writer may be fitly prefixed to +this quotation--namely, that Elsner was a Pole with all his heart +and soul, indeed, a better one than thousands that are natives of +the country, and that, like Haydn, he possessed the quality of +writing better the older he grew:-- + + The first musical person of the town [Warsaw] is still the + old, youthful Joseph Elsner, a veteran master of our art, who + is as amiable as he is truly estimable. In our day one hardly + meets with a notable Polish musician who has not studied + composition under Pan [i.e., Mr.] Elsner; and he loves all + his pupils, and all speak of him with enthusiasm, and, + according to the Polish fashion, kiss the old master's + shoulder, whereupon he never forgets to kiss them heartily on + both cheeks. Even Charles Kurpinski, the pensioned + Capelhneister of the Polish National Theatre, whose hair is + already grey, is, if I am not very much misinformed, also a + pupil of Joseph Elsner's. One is often mistaken with regard + to the outward appearance of a celebrated man; I mean, one + forms often a false idea of him before one has seen him and + knows a portrait of him. I found Elsner almost exactly as I + had imagined him. Wisocki, the pianist, also a pupil of his, + took me to him. Pan Elsner lives in the Dom Pyarow [House of + Piarists]. One has to start early if one wishes to find him + at home; for soon after breakfast he goes out, and rarely + returns to his cell before evening. He inhabits, like a + genuine church composer, two cells of the old Piarist + Monastery in Jesuit Street, and in the dark passages which + lead to his rooms one sees here and there faded laid-aside + pictures of saints lying about, and old church banners + hanging down. The old gentleman was still in bed when we + arrived, and sent his servant to ask us to wait a little in + the anteroom, promising to be with us immediately. All the + walls of this room, or rather cell, were hung to the ceiling + with portraits of musicians, among them some very rare names + and faces. Mr. Elsner has continued this collection down to + the present time; also the portraits of Liszt, Thalberg, + Chopin, and Clara Wieck shine down from the old monastic + walls. I had scarcely looked about me in this large company + for a few minutes, when the door of the adjoining room + opened, and a man of medium height (not to say little), + somewhat stout, with a round, friendly countenance, grey + hair, but very lively eyes, enveloped in a warm fur dressing- + gown, stepped up to us, comfortably but quickly, and bade us + welcome. Wisocki kissed him, according to the Polish fashion, + as a token of respect, on the right shoulder, and introduced + me to him, whereupon the old friendly gentleman shook hands + with me and said some kindly words. + + This, then, was Pan Joseph Elsner, the ancestor of modern + Polish music, the teacher of Chopin, the fine connoisseur and + cautious guide of original talents. For he does not do as is + done only too often by other teachers in the arts, who insist + on screwing all pupils to the same turning-lathe on which + they themselves were formed, who always do their utmost to + ingraft their own I on the pupil, so that he may become as + excellent a man as they imagine themselves to be. Joseph + Elsner did not proceed thus. When all the people of Warsaw + thought Frederick Chopin was entering on a wrong path, that + his was not music at all, that he must keep to Himmel and + Hummel, otherwise he would never do anything decent--the + clever Pan Elsner had already very clearly perceived what a + poetic kernel there was in the pale young dreamer, had long + before felt very clearly that he had before him the founder + of a new epoch of pianoforte-playing, and was far from laying + upon him a cavesson, knowing well that such a noble + thoroughbred may indeed be cautiously led, but must not be + trained and fettered in the usual way if he is to conquer. + +Of Chopin's studies under this master we do not know much more +than of his studies under Zywny. Both Fontana and Sowinski say +that he went through a complete course of counterpoint and +composition. Elsner, in a letter written to Chopin in 1834, +speaks of himself as "your teacher of harmony and counterpoint, +of little merit, but fortunate." Liszt writes:-- + + Joseph Elsner taught Chopin those things that are most + difficult to learn and most rarely known: to he exacting to + one's self, and to value the advantages that are only + obtained by dint of patience and labour. + +What other accounts of the matter under discussion I have got +from books and conversations are as general and vague as the +foregoing. I therefore shall not weary the reader with them. What +Elsner's view of teaching was may be gathered from one of his +letters to his pupil. The gist of his remarks lies in this +sentence:-- + + That with which the artist (who learns continually from his + surroundings) astonishes his contemporaries, he can only + attain by himself and through himself. + +Elsner had insight and self-negation (a rare quality with +teachers) enough to act up to his theory, and give free play to +the natural tendencies of his pupil's powers. That this was +really the case is seen from his reply to one who blamed +Frederick's disregard of rules and custom:-- + + Leave him in peace [he said], his is an uncommon way because + his gifts are uncommon. He does not strictly adhere to the + customary method, but he has one of his own, and he will + reveal in his works an originality which in such a degree has + not been found in anyone. + +The letters of master and pupil testify to their unceasing mutual +esteem and love. Those of the master are full of fatherly +affection and advice, those of the pupil full of filial devotion +and reverence. Allusions to and messages for Elsner are very +frequent in Chopin's letters. He seems always anxious that his +old master should know how he fared, especially hear of his +success. His sentiments regarding Elsner reveal themselves +perhaps nowhere more strikingly than in an incidental remark +which escapes him when writing to his friend Woyciechowski. +Speaking of a new acquaintance he has made, he says, "He is a +great friend of Elsner's, which in my estimation means much." No +doubt Chopin looked up with more respect and thought himself more +indebted to Elsner than to Zywny; but that he had a good opinion +of both his masters is evident from his pithy reply to the +Viennese gentleman who told him that people were astonished at +his having learned all he knew at Warsaw: "From Messrs. Zywny and +Elsner even the greatest ass must learn something." + + + +CHAPTER III + + + +FREDERICK ENTERS THE WARSAW LYCEUM.--VARIOUS EDUCATIONAL +INFLUENCES.--HIS FATHER'S FRIENDS.--RISE OF ROMANTICISM IN POLISH +LITERATURE.--FREDERICK'S STAY AT SZAFARNIA DURING HIS FIRST +SCHOOL HOLIDAYS.--HIS TALENT FOR IMPROVISATION.--HIS DEVELOPMENT +AS A COMPOSER AND PIANIST.--HIS PUBLIC PERFORMANCES.--PUBLICATION +OF OP. I.--EARLY COMPOSITIONS.--HIS PIANOFORTE STYLE. + + + +FREDERICK, who up to the age of fifteen was taught at home along +with his father's boarders, became in 1824 a pupil of the Warsaw +Lyceum, a kind of high-school, the curriculum of which comprised +Latin, Greek, modern languages, mathematics, history, &c. His +education was so far advanced that he could at once enter the +fourth class, and the liveliness of his parts, combined with +application to work, enabled him to distinguish himself in the +following years as a student and to carry off twice a prize. +Polish history and literature are said to have been his favourite +studies. + +Liszt relates that Chopin was placed at an early age in one of +the first colleges of Warsaw, "thanks to the generous and +intelligent protection which Prince Anton Radziwill always +bestowed upon the arts and upon young men of talent." This +statement, however, has met with a direct denial on the part of +the Chopin family, and may, therefore, be considered as disposed +of. But even without such a denial the statement would appear +suspicious to all but those unacquainted with Nicholas Chopin's +position. Surely he must have been able to pay for his son's +schooling! Moreover, one would think that, as a professor at the +Lyceum, he might even have got it gratis. As to Frederick's +musical education in Warsaw, it cannot have cost much. And then, +how improbable that the Prince should have paid the comparatively +trifling school-fees and left the young man when he went abroad +dependent upon the support of his parents! The letters from +Vienna (1831) show unmistakably that Chopin applied to his father +repeatedly for money, and regretted being such a burden to him. +Further, Chopin's correspondence, which throws much light on his +relation to Prince Radziwili, contains nothing which would lead +one to infer any such indebtedness as Liszt mentions. But in +order that the reader may be in possession of the whole evidence +and able to judge for himself, I shall place before him Liszt's +curiously circumstantial account in its entirety:-- + + The Prince bestowed upon him the inappreciable gift of a good + education, no part of which remained neglected. His elevated + mind enabling him to understand the exigencies of an artist's + career, he, from the time of his protege's entering the + college to the entire completion of his studies, paid the + pension through the agency of a friend, M. Antoine + Korzuchowski, [FOOTNOTE: Liszt should have called this + gentleman Adam Kozuchowski.] who always maintained cordial + relations and a constant friendship with Chopin. + +Liszt's informant was no doubt Chopin's Paris friend Albert +Grzymala, [FOOTNOTE: M. Karasowski calls this Grzymala +erroneously Francis. More information about this gentleman will +be given in a subsequent chapter.] who seems to have had no +connection with the Chopin family in Poland. Karasowski thinks +that the only foundation of the story is a letter and present +from Prince Radziwill--acknowledgments of the dedication to him +of the Trio, Op. 8--which Adam Kozuchowski brought to Chopin in +1833. [FOOTNOTE: M. Karasowski, Fryderyk Chopin, vol. i., p. 65.] + +Frederick was much liked by his school-fellows, which, as his +manners and disposition were of a nature thoroughly appreciated +by boys, is not at all to be wondered at. One of the most +striking features in the character of young Chopin was his +sprightliness, a sparkling effervescence that manifested itself +by all sorts of fun and mischief. He was never weary of playing +pranks on his sisters, his comrades, and even on older people, +and indulged to the utmost his fondness for caricaturing by +pictorial and personal imitations. In the course of a lecture the +worthy rector of the Lyceum discovered the scapegrace making free +with the face and figure of no less a person than his own +rectorial self. Nevertheless the irreverent pupil got off easily, +for the master, with as much magnanimity as wisdom, abstained +from punishing the culprit, and, in a subscript which he added to +the caricature, even praised the execution of it. A German +Protestant pastor at Warsaw, who made always sad havoc of the +Polish language, in which he had every Sunday to preach one of +his sermons, was the prototype of one of the imitations with +which Frederick frequently amused his friends. Our hero's talent +for changing the expression of his face, of which George Sand, +Liszt, Balzac, Hiller, Moscheles, and other personal +acquaintances, speak with admiration, seems already at this time +to have been extraordinary. Of the theatricals which the young +folks were wont to get up at the paternal house, especially on +the name-days of their parents and friends, Frederick was the +soul and mainstay. With a good delivery he combined a presence of +mind that enabled him to be always ready with an improvisation +when another player forgot his part. A clever Polish actor, +Albert Piasecki, who was stage-manager on these occasions, gave +it as his opinion that the lad was born to be a great actor. In +after years two distinguished members of the profession in +France, M. Bocage and Mdme. Dorval, expressed similar opinions. +For their father's name-day in 1824, Frederick and his sister +Emilia wrote conjointly a one-act comedy in verse, entitled THE +MISTAKE; OR, THE PRETENDED ROGUE, which was acted by a juvenile +company. According to Karasowski, the play showed that the +authors had a not inconsiderable command of language, but in +other respects could not be called a very brilliant achievement. +Seeing that fine comedies are not often written at the ages of +fifteen and eleven, nobody will be in the least surprised at the +result. + +These domestic amusements naturally lead us to inquire who were +the visitors that frequented the house. Among them there was Dr. +Samuel Bogumil Linde, rector of the Lyceum and first librarian of +the National Library, a distinguished philologist, who, assisted +by the best Slavonic scholars, wrote a valuable and voluminous +"Dictionary of the Polish Language," and published many other +works on the Slavonic languages. After this oldest of Nicholas +Chopin's friends I shall mention Waclaw Alexander Maciejowski, +who, like Linde, received his university education in Germany, +taught then for a short time at the Lyceum, and became in 1819 a +professor at the University of Warsaw. His contributions to +various branches of Slavonic history (law, literature, &c.) are +very numerous. However, one of the most widely known of those who +were occasionally seen at Chopin's home was Casimir Brodzinski, +the poet, critic, and champion of romanticism, a prominent figure +in Polish literary history, who lived in Warsaw from about 1815 +to 1822, in which year he went as professor of literature to the +University of Cracow. Nicholas Chopin's pupil, Count Frederick +Skarbek, must not be forgotten; he had now become a man of note, +being professor of political economy at the university, and +author of several books that treat of that science. Besides +Elsner and Zywny, who have already been noticed at some length, a +third musician has to be numbered among friends of the Chopin +family--namely, Joseph Javurek, the esteemed composer and +professor at the Conservatorium; further, I must yet make mention +of Anton Barcinski, professor at the Polytechnic School, teacher +at Nicholas Chopin's institution, and by-and-by his son-in-law; +Dr. Jarocki, the zoologist; Julius Kolberg, the engineer; and +Brodowski, the painter. These and others, although to us only +names, or little more, are nevertheless not without their +significance. We may liken them to the supernumeraries on the +stage, who, dumb as they are, help to set off and show the +position of the principal figure or figures. + +The love of literature which we have noticed in the young +Chopins, more particularly in the sisters, implanted by an +excellent education and fostered by the taste, habits, and +encouragement of their father, cannot but have been greatly +influenced and strengthened by the characters and conversation of +such visitors. Arid let it not be overlooked that this was the +time of Poland's intellectual renascence--a time when the +influence of man over man is greater than at other times, he +being, as it were, charged with a kind of vivifying electricity. +The misfortunes that had passed over Poland had purified and +fortified the nation--breathed into it a new and healthier life. +The change which the country underwent from the middle of the +eighteenth to the earlier part of the nineteenth century was +indeed immense. Then Poland, to use Carlyle's drastic +phraseology, had ripened into a condition of "beautifully +phosphorescent rot-heap"; now, with an improved agriculture, +reviving commerce, and rising industry, it was more prosperous +than it had been for centuries. As regards intellectual matters, +the comparison with the past was even more favourable to the +present. The government that took the helm in 1815 followed the +direction taken by its predecessors, and schools and universities +flourished; but a most hopeful sign was this, that whilst the +epoch of Stanislas Augustus was, as Mickiewicz remarked (in Les +Slaves), little Slavonic and not even national, now the national +spirit pervaded the whole intellectual atmosphere, and incited +workers in all branches of science and art to unprecedented +efforts. To confine ourselves to one department, we find that the +study of the history and literature of Poland had received a +vigorous impulse, folk-songs were zealously collected, and a new +school of poetry, romanticism, rose victoriously over the fading +splendour of an effete classicism. The literature of the time of +Stanislas was a court and salon literature, and under the +influence of France and ancient Rome. The literature that began +to bud about 1815, and whose germs are to be sought for in the +preceding revolutionary time, was more of a people's literature, +and under the influence of Germany, England, and Russia. The one +was a hot-house plant, the other a garden flower, or even a wild +flower. The classics swore by the precepts of Horace and Boileau, +and held that among the works of Shakespeare there was not one +veritable tragedy. The romanticists, on the other hand, showed by +their criticisms and works that their sympathies were with +Schiller, Goethe, Burger, Byron, Shukovski, &c. Wilna was the +chief centre from which this movement issued, and Brodziriski one +of the foremost defenders of the new principles and the precursor +of Mickiewicz, the appearance of whose ballads, romances, +"Dziady" and "Grazyna" (1822), decided the war in favour of +romanticism. The names of Anton Malczewski, Bogdan Zaleski, +Severyn Goszczynski, and others, ought to be cited along with +that of the more illustrious Mickiewicz, but I will not weary the +reader either with a long disquisition or with a dry enumeration. +I have said above that Polish poetry had become more of a +people's poetry. This, however, must not be understood in the +sense of democratic poetry. + +The Polish poets [says C. Courriere, to whose "Histoire de la +litterature chez les Slaves" I am much indebted] ransacked with +avidity the past of their country, which appeared to them so much +the more brilliant because it presented a unique spectacle in the +history of nations. Instead of breaking with the historic +traditions they respected them, and gave them a new lustre, a new +life, by representing them under a more beautiful, more animated, +and more striking form. In short, if Polish romanticism was an +evolution of poetry in the national sense, it did not depart from +the tendencies of its elder sister, for it saw in the past only +the nobility; it was and remained, except in a few instances, +aristocratic. + +Now let us keep in mind that this contest of classicism and +romanticism, this turning away from a dead formalism to living +ideals, was taking place at that period of Frederick Chopin's +life when the human mind is most open to new impressions, and +most disposed to entertain bold and noble ideas. And, further, +let us not undervalue the circumstance that he must have come in +close contact with one of the chief actors in this unbloody +revolution. + +Frederick spent his first school holidays at Szafarnia, in +Mazovia, the property of the Dziewanowski family. In a letter +written on August 19, 1824, he gives his friend and school-fellow +William Kolberg, some account of his doings there--of his strolls +and runs in the garden, his walks and drives to the forest, and +above all of his horsemanship. He tells his dear Willie that he +manages to keep his seat, but would not like to be asked how. +Indeed, he confesses that, his equestrian accomplishments amount +to no more than to letting the horse go slowly where it lists, +and sitting on it, like a monkey, with fear. If he had not yet +met with an accident, it was because the horse had so far not +felt any inclination to throw him off. In connection with his +drives--in britzka and in coach--he does not forget to mention +that he is always honoured with a back-seat. Still, life at +Szafarnia was not unmixed happiness, although our hero bore the +ills with admirable stoicism:-- + + Very often [he writes] the flies sit on my prominent nose-- + this, however, is of no consequence, it is the habit of these + little animals. The mosquitoes bite me--this too, however, is + of no consequence, for they don't bite me in the nose. + +The reader sees from this specimen of epistolary writing that +Frederick is still a boy, and if I had given the letter in +extenso, the boyishness would have been even more apparent, in +the loose and careless style as well as in the frolicsome matter. + +His letters to his people at home took on this occasion the form +of a manuscript newspaper, called, in imitation of the "Kuryer +Warszawski" ("Warsaw Courier"), "Kuryer Szafarski" ("Szafarnia +Courier"), which the editor, in imitation of the then obtaining +press regulation, did not send off until it had been seen and +approved of by the censor, Miss Dziewanowska. One of the numbers +of the paper contains among other news the report of a musical +gathering of "some persons and demi-persons" at which, on July +15, 1824, Mr. Pichon (anagram of Chopin) played a Concerto of +Kalkbrenner's and a little song, the latter being received by the +youthful audience with more applause than the former. + +Two anecdotes that relate to this stay at Szafarnia further +exemplify what has already been said of Frederick's love of fun +and mischief. Having on one of his visits to the village of +Oberow met some Jews who had come to buy grain, he invited them +to his room, and there entertained them with music, playing to +them "Majufes." + +[FOOTNOTE: Karasowski describes "Majufes" as a kind of Jewish +wedding march. Ph. Lobenstein says that it means "the beautiful, +the pleasing one." With this word opened a Hebrew song which +dates from the time of the sojourn of the Jews in Spain, and +which the orthodox Polish Jews sing on Saturdays after dinner, +and whose often-heard melody the Poles imitate as a parody of +Jewish singing.] + +His guests were delighted--they began to dance, told him that he +played like a born Jew, and urged him to come to the next Jewish +wedding and play to them there. The other anecdote would be a +very ugly story were it not for the redeeming conclusion. Again +we meet with one of the numerous, but by no means well-loved, +class of Polish citizens. Frederick, having heard that a certain +Jew had bought grain from Mr. Romecki, the proprietor of Oberow, +sent this gentleman a letter purporting to be written by the +grain-dealer in question, in which he informed him that after +reconsidering the matter he would rather not take the grain. The +imitation of the jargon in use among the Polish Jews was so good, +and the spelling and writing so bad, that Mr. Romecki was taken +in. Indeed, he flew at once into such a passion that he sent for +the Jew with the intention of administering to him a sound +thrashing. Only Frederick's timely confession saved the poor +fellow from his undeserved punishment. But enough of Szafarnia, +where the young scapegrace paid so long a holiday visit (from his +letter to William Kolberg we learn that he would not see his +friend for four weeks more), and where, judging from what has +already been told, and also from a remark in the same letter, he +must have "enjoyed himself pretty well." And now we will return +to Warsaw, to Nicholas Chopin's boarding-school. + +To take away any bad impression that may be left by the last +anecdote, I shall tell another of a more pleasing character, +which, indeed, has had the honour of being made the subject of a +picture. It was often told, says Karasowski, by Casimir +Wodzinski, a boarder of Nicholas Chopin's. One day when the +latter was out, Barcinski, the assistant master, could not manage +the noisy boys. Seeing this, Frederick, who just then happened to +come into the room, said to them that he would improvise a pretty +story if they would sit down and be quiet. This quickly restored +silence. He thereupon had the lights extinguished, took his seat +at the piano, and began as follows:-- + + Robbers set out to plunder a house. They come nearer and + nearer. Then they halt, and put up the ladders they have + brought with them. But just when they are about to enter + through the windows, they hear a noise within. This gives + them a fright. They run away to the woods. There, amidst the + stillness and darkness of the night, they lie down and + before long fall fast asleep. + +When Frederick had got to this part of the story he began to play +softer and softer, and ever softer, till his auditors, like the +robbers, were fast asleep. Noticing this he stole out of the +room, called in the other inmates of the house, who came carrying +lights with them, and then with a tremendous, crashing chord +disturbed the sweet slumbers of the evil-doers. + +Here we have an instance of "la richesse de son improvisation," +by which, as Fontana tells us, Chopin, from his earliest youth, +astonished all who had the good fortune to hear him. Those who +think that there is no salvation outside the pale of absolute +music, will no doubt be horror-stricken at the heretical tendency +manifested on this occasion by an otherwise so promising +musician. Nay, even the less orthodox, those who do not +altogether deny the admissibility of programme-music if it +conforms to certain conditions and keeps within certain limits, +will shake their heads sadly. The duty of an enthusiastic +biographer, it would seem, is unmistakable; he ought to justify, +or, at least, excuse his hero--if nothing else availed, plead his +youth and inexperience. My leaving the poor suspected heretic in +the lurch under these circumstances will draw upon me the +reproach of remissness; but, as I have what I consider more +important business on hand, I must not be deterred from +proceeding to it by the fear of censure. + +The year 1825 was, in many respects, a memorable one in the life +of Chopin. On May 27 and June 10 Joseph Javurek, whom I mentioned +a few pages back among the friends of the Chopin family, gave two +concerts for charitable purposes in the large hall of the +Conservatorium. At one of these Frederick appeared again in +public. A Warsaw correspondent of the "Leipzig Allgemeine +musikalische Zeitung" says in the course of one of his letters:-- + + The Academist Chopin performed the first Allegro of + Moscheles' Pianoforte Concerto in F [G ?] minor, and an + improvisation on the aeolopantaleon. This instrument, + invented by the cabinet-maker Dlugosz, of this town, combines + the aeolomelodicon [FOOTNOTE: An instrument of the organ + species, invented by Professor Hoffmann, and constructed by + the mechanician Brunner, of Warsaw.] with the piano- + forte....Young Chopin distinguished himself in his + improvisation by wealth of musical ideas, and under his hands + this instrument, of which he is a thorough master, made a + great impression. + +Unfortunately we learn nothing of Chopin's rendering of the +movement from Moscheles' Concerto. Still, this meagre notice, +written by a contemporary--an ear-witness, who wrote down his +impressions soon after the performance--is very precious, indeed +more precious than the most complete and elaborate criticism +written fifty years after the occurrence would be. I cannot help +thinking that Karasowski somewhat exaggerates when he says that +Chopin's pianoforte playing transported the audience into a state +of enthusiasm, and that no concert had a brilliant success unless +he took part in it. The biographer seems either to trust too much +to the fancy-coloured recollections of his informants, or to +allow himself to be carried away by his zeal for the exaltation +of his hero. At any rate, the tenor of the above-quoted notice, +laudatory as it is, and the absence of Chopin's name from other +Warsaw letters, do not remove the doubts which such eulogistic +superlatives raise in the mind of an unbiassed inquirer. But that +Chopin, as a pianist and as a musician generally, had attained a +proficiency far beyond his years becomes evident if we examine +his compositions of that time, to which I shall presently advert. +And that he had risen into notoriety and saw his talents +appreciated cannot be doubted for a moment after what has been +said. Were further proof needed, we should find it in the fact +that he was selected to display the excellences of the +aeolomelodicon when the Emperor Alexander I, during his sojourn +in Warsaw in 1825, [FOOTNOTE: The Emperor Alexander opened the +Diet at Warsaw on May 13, 1825, and closed it on June 13.] +expressed the wish to hear this instrument. Chopin's performance +is said to have pleased the august auditor, who, at all events, +rewarded the young musician with a diamond ring. + +A greater event than either the concert or the performance before +the Emperor, in fact, THE event of the year 1825, was the +publication of Chopin's Opus 1. Only he who has experienced the +delicious sensation of seeing himself for the first time in print +can realise what our young author felt on this occasion. Before +we examine this work, we will give a passing glance at some less +important early compositions of the maestro which were published +posthumously. + +There is first of all a Polonaise in G sharp minor, said to be of +the year 1822, [FOOTNOTE: See No. 15 of the Posthumous Works in +the Breitkopf and Hartel edition.] but which, on account of the +savoir-faire and invention exhibited in it, I hold to be of a +considerably later time. Chopin's individuality, it is true, is +here still in a rudimentary state, chiefly manifested in the +light-winged figuration; the thoughts and the expression, +however, are natural and even graceful, bearing thus the divine +impress. The echoes of Weber should be noted. Of two mazurkas, in +G and B flat major, of the year 1825, the first is, especially in +its last part, rather commonplace; the second is more +interesting, because more suggestive of better things, which the +first is only to an inconsiderable extent. In No. 2 we meet +already with harmonic piquancies which charmed musicians and +lovers of music so much in the later mazurkas. Critics and +students will not overlook the octaves between, treble and bass +in the second bar of part two in No. 1. A. Polonaise in B flat +minor, superscribed "Farewell to William Kolberg," of the year +1826, has not less naturalness and grace than the Polonaise of +1822, but in addition to these qualities, it has also at least +one thought (part 1) which contains something of the sweet ring +of Chopinian melancholy. The trio of the Polonaise is headed by +the words: "Au revoir! after an aria from 'Gazza ladra'." Two +foot-notes accompany this composition in the Breitkopf and Hartel +edition (No. 16 of the Posthumous Works). The first says that the +Polonaise was composed "at Chopin's departure from [should be +'for'] Reinerz"; and the second, in connection with the trio, +that "some days before Chopin's departure the two friends had +been present at a performance of Rossini's opera." There is one +other early posthumously-published work of Chopin's, whose +status, however, differs from the above-mentioned ones in this, +that the composer seems to have intended to publish it. The +composition in question is the Variations sur un air national +allemand. + +Szulc says that Oskar Kolberg related that he had still in his +possession these Variations on the theme of Der Schweizerbub, +which Chopin composed between his twelfth and seventeenth years +at the house of General Sowinski's wife in the course of "a few +quarter-hours." The Variations sur un air national allemand were +published after the composer's death along with his Sonata, Op. +4, by Haslinger, of Vienna, in 1851. They are, no doubt, the +identical composition of which Chopin in a letter from Vienna +(December 1, 1830) writes: "Haslinger received me very kindly, +but nevertheless would publish neither the Sonata nor the Second +Variations." The First Variations were those on La ci darem, Op. +2, the first of his compositions that was published in Germany. +Without inquiring too curiously into the exact time of its +production and into the exact meaning of "a few quarter-hours," +also leaving it an open question whether the composer did or did +not revise his first conception of the Variations before sending +them to Vienna, I shall regard this unnumbered work--which, by +the way, in the Breitkopf and Hartel edition is dated 1824--on +account of its greater simplicity and inferior interest, as an +earlier composition than the Premier Rondeau (C minor), Op. 1, +dedicated to Mdme. de Linde (the wife of his father's friend and +colleague, the rector Dr. Linde), a lady with whom Frederick +often played duets. What strikes one at once in both of them is +the almost total absence of awkwardness and the presence of a +rarely-disturbed ease. They have a natural air which is alike +free from affected profundity and insipid childishness. And the +hand that wrote them betrays so little inexperience in the +treatment of the instrument that they can hold their ground +without difficulty and honourably among the better class of light +drawing-room pieces. Of course, there are weak points: the +introduction to the Variations with those interminable sequences +of dominant and tonic chords accompanying a stereotyped run, and +the want of cohesiveness in the Rondo, the different subjects of +which are too loosely strung together, may be instanced. But, +although these two compositions leave behind them a pleasurable +impression, they can lay only a small claim to originality. +Still, there are slight indications of it in the tempo di valse, +the concluding portion of the Variations, and more distinct ones +in the Rondo, in which it is possible to discover the embryos of +forms--chromatic and serpentining progressions, &c.--which +subequently develop most exuberantly. But if on the one hand we +must admit that the composer's individuality is as yet weak, on +the other hand we cannot accuse him of being the imitator of any +one master--such a dominant influence is not perceptible. + +[FOOTNOTE: Schumann, who in 1831 became acquainted with Chopin's +Op. 2, and conceived an enthusiastic admiration for the composer, +must have made inquiries after his Op. 1, and succeeded in +getting it. For on January 1832, he wrote to Frederick Wieck: +"Chopin's first work (I believe firmly that it is his tenth) is +in my hands: a lady would say that it was very pretty, very +piquant, almost Moschelesque. But I believe you will make Clara +[Wieck's daughter, afterwards Mdme. Schumann] study it; for there +is plenty of Geist in it and few difficulties. But I humbly +venture to assert that there are between this composition and Op. +2 two years and twenty works"] + +All this, however, is changed in another composition, the Rondeau +a la Mazur, Op. 5, dedicated to the Comtesse Alexandrine de +Moriolles (a daughter of the Comte de Moriolles mentioned in +Chapter II), which, like the Rondo, Op. 1, was first published in +Warsaw, and made its appearance in Germany some years later. I do +not know the exact time of its composition, but I presume it was +a year or two after that of the previously mentioned works. +Schumann, who reviewed it in 1836, thought it had perhaps been +written in the eighteenth year of the composer, but he found in +it, some confused passages excepted, no indications of the +author's youth. In this Rondeau a la Mazur the individuality of +Chopin and with it his nationality begin to reveal themselves +unmistakably. Who could fail to recognise him in the peculiar +sweet and persuasive flows of sound, and the serpent-like winding +of the melodic outline, the wide-spread chords, the chromatic +progressions, the dissolving of the harmonies and the linking of +their constituent parts! And, as I have said elsewhere in +speaking of this work: "The harmonies are often novel, and the +matter is more homogeneous and better welded into oneness." + +Chopin's pianoforte lessons, as has already been stated, came to +an end when he was twelve years old, and thenceforth he was left +to his own resources. + + The school of that time [remarks Fontana] could no longer + suffice him, he aimed higher, and felt himself impelled + towards an ideal which, at first vague, before long grew into + greater distinctness. It was then that, in trying his + strength, he acquired that touch and style, so different from + those of his predecessors, and that he succeeded in creating + at last that execution which since then has been the + admiration of the artistic world. + +The first stages of the development of his peculiar style may be +traced in the compositions we have just now discussed. In the +variations and first Rondo which Chopin wrote at or before the +age of fifteen, the treatment of the instrument not only proves +that he was already as much in his element on the pianoforte as a +fish in the water, but also shows that an as yet vaguely- +perceived ideal began to beckon him onward. Karasowski, informed +by witnesses of the boy's studies in pianoforte playing, relates +that Frederick, being struck with the fine effect of a chord in +extended harmony, and unable, on account of the smallness of his +hands, to strike the notes simultaneously, set about thinking how +this physical obstacle could be overcome. The result of his +cogitations was the invention of a contrivance which he put +between his fingers and kept there even during the night, by this +means endeavouring to increase the extensibility and flexibility +of his hands. Who, in reading of this incident in Chopin's life, +is not reminded of Schumann and his attempt to strengthen his +fingers, an attempt that ended so fatally for his prospects as a +virtuoso! And the question, an idle one I admit, suggests itself: +Had Chopin been less fortunate than he was, and lost, like +Schumann, the command of one of his hands before he had formed +his pianoforte style, would he, as a composer, have risen to a +higher position than we know him to have attained, or would he +have achieved less than he actually did? From the place and +wording of Karasowski's account it would appear that this +experiment of Chopin's took place at or near the age of ten. Of +course it does not matter much whether we know or do not know the +year or day of the adoption of the practice, what is really +interesting is the fact itself. I may, however, remark that +Chopin's love of wide-spread chords and skips, if marked at all, +is not strongly marked in the Variations on the German air and +the first Rondo. Let the curious examine with regard to this +matter the Tempo di Valse of the former work, and bars 38-43 of +the Piu lento of the latter. In the Rondeau a la Mazur, the next +work in chronological order, this peculiarity begins to show +itself distinctly, and it continues to grow in the works that +follow. It is not my intention to weaiy the reader with +microscopical criticism, but I thought the first manifestations +of Chopin's individuality ought not to be passed over in silence. +As to his style, it will be more fully discussed in a subsequent +chapter, where also the seeds from which it sprang will be +pointed out. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + +FREDERICK WORKS TOO HARD.--PASSES PART OF HIS HOLIDAYS (1826) IN +REINERZ.--STAYS ALSO AT STRZYZEWO, AND PAYS A VISIT TO PRINCE +RADZIWILL.--HE TERMINATES HIS STUDIES AT THE LYCEUM (1827). +ADOPTION OF MUSIC AS HIS PROFESSION.--EXCURSIONS.--FOLK-MUSIC AND +THE POLISH PEASANTRY.--SOME MORE COMPOSITIONS.--PROJECTED TRAVELS +FOR HIS IMPROVEMENT.--HIS OUTWARD APPEARANCE AND STATE OF HEALTH. + + + +THE art which had attracted the child took every day a stronger +hold of the youth. Frederick was not always in that sportive +humour in which we have seen him repeatedly. At times he would +wander about silent and solitary, wrapped in his musical +meditations. He would sit up late, busy with his beloved music, +and often, after lying down, rise from his bed in the middle of +the night in order, to strike a few chords or try a short phrase- +-to the horror of the servants, whose first thought was of +ghosts, the second that their dear young master was not quite +right in his mind. Indeed, what with his school-work and his +musical studies, our young friend exerted himself more than was +good for him. When, therefore, in the holidays of 1826 his +youngest sister, Emilia, was ordered by the physicians to go to +Reinerz, a watering-place in Prussian Silesia, the parents +thought it advisable that the too diligent Frederick should +accompany her, and drink whey for the benefit of his health. The +travelling party consisted of the mother, two sisters, and +himself. A letter which he wrote on August 28, 1826, to his +friend William Kolberg, furnishes some information about his +doings there. It contains, as letters from watering-places +usually do, criticisms of the society and accounts of +promenadings, excursions, regular meals, and early hours in going +to bed and in rising. As the greater part of the contents can be +of no interest to us, I shall confine myself to picking up what +seems to me worth preserving. He had been drinking whey and the +waters for a fortnight and found he was getting somewhat stouter +and at the same time lazy. People said he began to look better. +He enjoyed the sight of the valleys from the hills which surround +Reinerz, but the climbing fatigued him, and he had sometimes to +drag himself down on all-fours. One mountain, the rocky +Heuscheuer, he and other delicate persons were forbidden to +ascend, as the doctor was afraid that the sharp air at the top +would do his patients harm. Of course, Frederick tried to make +fun of everything and everyone--for instance, of the wretched +wind-band, which consisted of about a dozen "caricatures," among +whom a lean bassoon-player with a snuffy hook-nose was the most +notable. To the manners of the country, which in some respects +seem to have displeased him, he got gradually accustomed. + + At first I was astonished that in Silesia the women work + generally more than the men, but as I am doing nothing myself + just now I have no difficulty in falling in with this + arrangement. + +During his stay at Reinerz he gave also a concert on behalf of +two orphans who had come with their sick mother to this watering- +place, and at her death were left so poor as to be unable even to +pay the funeral expenses and to return home with the servant who +took care of them. + +From Reinerz Frederick went to Strzyzewo, the property of Madame +Wiesiolowska, his godmother, and sister of his godfather, Count +Frederick Skarbek. While he was spending here the rest of his +holidays, he took advantage of an invitation he had received from +Prince Radziwill (governor of the grand duchy of Posen, and, +through his wife, a daughter of Prince Ferdinand, related to the +royal family of Prussia) to visit him at his country-seat +Antonin, which was not very far from Strzyzewo. The Prince, who +had many relations in Poland, and paid frequent visits to that +country, must on these occasions have heard of and met with the +musical prodigy that was the pet of the aristocracy. Moreover, it +is on record that he was present at the concert at Warsaw in 1825 +at which Frederick played. We have already considered and +disposed of the question whether the Prince, as has been averred +by Liszt, paid for young Chopin's education. As a dilettante +Prince Radziwill occupied a no less exalted position in art and +science than as a citizen and functionary in the body politic. To +confine ourselves to music, he was not only a good singer and +violoncellist, but also a composer; and in composition he did not +confine himself to songs, duets, part-songs, and the like, but +undertook the ambitious and arduous task of writing music to the +first part of Goethe's Faust. By desire of the Court the Berlin +Singakademie used to bring this work to a hearing once every +year, and they gave a performance of it even as late as 1879. An +enthusiastic critic once pronounced it to be among modern works +one of those that evince most genius. The vox populi seems to +have repealed this judgment, or rather never to have taken +cognisance of the case, for outside Berlin the work has not often +been heard. Dr. Langhans wrote to me after the Berlin performance +in 1879:-- + + I heard yesterday Radziwill's Faust for the first time, and, + I may add, with much satisfaction; for the old-fashioned + things to be found in it (for instance, the utilisation of + Mozart's C minor Quartet fugue as overture, the strictly + polyphonous treatment of the choruses, &c.) are abundantly + compensated for by numerous traits of genius, and by the + thorough knowledge and the earnest intention with which the + work is conceived and executed. He dares incredible things in + the way of combining speech and song. That this combination + is an inartistic one, on that point we are no doubt at one, + but what he has effected by this means is nevertheless in the + highest degree remarkable.... + +By-and-by Chopin will pay the Prince a longer visit, and then we +shall learn what he thought of Faust, and how he enjoyed himself +at this nobleman's house. + +Chopin's studies at the Lyceum terminated in the year 1827. +Through his final examination, however, he did not pass so +brilliantly as through his previous ones; this time he carried +off no prize. The cause of this falling-off is not far to seek; +indeed, has already been hinted at. Frederick's inclination and +his successes as a pianist and composer, and the persuasions of +Elsner and other musical friends, could not but lessen and at +last altogether dispel any doubts and misgivings the parents may +at first have harboured. And whilst in consequence of this change +of attitude they became less exacting with their son in the +matter of school-work, the latter, feeling the slackening of the +reins, would more and more follow his natural bent. The final +examination was to him, no doubt, a kind of manumission which +freed him from the last remnant of an oppressive bondage. +Henceforth, then, Chopin could, unhindered by disagreeable tasks +or other obstacles, devote his whole time and strength to the +cultivation of his chosen art. First, however, he spent now, as +in the preceding year, some weeks with his friends in Strzyzewo, +and afterwards travelled to Danzig, where he visited +Superintendent von Linde, a brother of the rector of the Warsaw +Lyceum. + +Chopin was fond of listening to the singing and fiddling of the +country people; and everyone acquainted with the national music +of Poland as well as with the composer's works knows that he is +indebted to it for some of the most piquant rhythmic, melodic, +and even harmonic peculiarities of his style. These longer stays +in the country would offer him better opportunities for the +enjoyment and study of this land of music than the short +excursions which he occasionally made with his father into the +neighbourhood of Warsaw. His wonder always was who could have +composed the quaint and beautiful strains of those mazurkas, +polonaises, and krakowiaks, and who had taught these simple men +and women to play and sing so truly in tune. The conditions then +existing in Poland were very favourable to the study of folk-lore +of any kind. Art-music had not yet corrupted folk-music; indeed, +it could hardly be said that civilisation had affected the lower +strata of society at all. Notwithstanding the emancipation of the +peasants in 1807, and the confirmation of this law in 1815--a law +which seems to have remained for a long time and in a great +measure a dead letter--the writer of an anonymous book, published +at Boston in 1834, found that the freedom of the wretched serfs +in Russian Poland was much the same as that of their cattle, they +being brought up with as little of human cultivation; nay, that +the Polish peasant, poor in every part of the country, was of all +the living creatures he had met with in this world or seen +described in books, the most wretched. From another publication +we learn that the improvements in public instruction, however +much it may have benefited the upper classes, did not affect the +lowest ones: the parish schools were insufficient, and the +village schools not numerous enough. But the peasants, although +steeped in superstition and ignorance, and too much addicted to +brandy-drinking with its consequences--quarrelsomeness and +revengefulness--had not altogether lost the happier features of +their original character--hospitality, patriotism, good- +naturedness, and, above all, cheerfulness and love of song and +dance. It has been said that a simple Slavonic peasant can be +enticed by his national songs from one end of the world to the +other. The delight which the Slavonic nations take in dancing +seems to be equally great. No other nation, it has been asserted, +can compare with them in ardent devotion to this amusement. +Moreover, it is noteworthy that song and dance were in Poland--as +they were of course originally everywhere--intimately united. +Heine gives a pretty description of the character of the Polish +peasant:-- + + It cannot be denied [he writes] that the Polish peasant has + often more head and heart than the German peasant in some + districts. Not infrequently did I find in the meanest Pole + that original wit (not Gemuthswitz, humour) which on every + occasion bubbles forth with wonderful iridescence, and that + dreamy sentimental trait, that brilliant flashing of an + Ossianic feeling for nature whose sudden outbreaks on + passionate occasions are as involuntary as the rising of the + blood into the face. + +The student of human nature and its reflex in art will not call +these remarks a digression; at least, not one deserving of +censure. + +We may suppose that Chopin, after his return to Warsaw and during +the following winter, and the spring and summer of 1828, +continued his studies with undiminished and, had this been +possible, with redoubled ardour. Some of his compositions that +came into existence at this time were published after his death +by his friend Julius Fontana, who was a daily visitor at his +parents' house. We have a Polonaise (D minor) and a Nocturne (E +minor) of 1827, and another Polonaise (B flat) and the Rondo for +two pianos of 1828. The Sonata, Op. 4, and La ci darem la mano, +varie for pianoforte, with orchestral accompaniments, belong also +to this time. The Trio (Op. 8), although not finished till 1829, +was begun and considerably advanced in 1828. Several of the above +compositions are referred to in a letter written by him on +September 9, 1828, to one of his most intimate friends, Titus +Woyciechowski. The Rondo in C had originally a different form and +was recast by him for two pianos at Strzyzewo, where he passed +the whole summer of 1828. He tried it with Ernemann, a musician +living in Warsaw, at the warehouse of the pianoforte-manufacturer +Buchholtz, and was pretty well pleased with his work. + + We intend to play it some day at the Ressource. As to my new + compositions, I have nothing to show except the as yet + unfinished Trio (G minor), which I began after your + departure. The first Allegro I have already tried with + accompaniment. It appears to me that this trio will have the + same fate as my sonata and the variations. Both works are now + in Vienna; the first I have, as a pupil of Elsner's, + dedicated to him, and on the second I have placed (perhaps + too boldly) your name. I followed in this the impulse of my + heart and you will not take it unkindly. + +The opportunities which Warsaw offered being considered +insufficient for the completion of his artistic education, ways +and means were discussed as to how his wants could be best +provided for. The upshot of the discussions was the project of +excursions to Berlin and Vienna. As, however, this plan was not +realised till the autumn of 1828, and no noteworthy incidents or +interesting particulars concerning the intervening period of his +life have become known, I shall utilise this break in the +narrative by trying my hand at a slight sketch of that terra +incognita, the history of music in Poland, more particularly the +history of the musical life in Warsaw, shortly before and in +Chopin's time. I am induced to undertake this task by the +consideration that a knowledge of the means of culture within the +reach of Chopin during his residence in the Polish capital is +indispensable if we wish to form a clear and complete idea of the +artist's development, and that such a knowledge will at the same +time help us to understand better the contents of some of the +subsequent portions of this work. Before, however, I begin a new +chapter and with it the above-mentioned sketch, I should like to +advert to a few other matters. + +The reader may perhaps already have asked the question--What was +Chopin like in his outward appearance? As I have seen a +daguerreotype from a picture painted when he was seventeen, I can +give some sort of answer to this question. Chopin's face was +clearly and finely cut, especially the nose with its wide +nostrils; the forehead was high, the eyebrows delicate, the lips +thin, and the lower one somewhat protruding. For those who know +A. Bovy's medallion I may add that the early portrait is very +like it; only, in the latter, the line formed by the lower +jawbone that runs from the chin towards the ear is more rounded, +and the whole has a more youthful appearance. As to the +expression, it is not only meditative but even melancholy. This +last point leads me naturally to another question. The delicate +build of Chopin's body, his early death preceded by many years of +ill-health, and the character of his music, have led people into +the belief that from childhood he was always sickly in body, and +for the most part also melancholy in disposition. But as the +poverty and melancholy, so also disappears on closer +investigation the sickliness of the child and youth. To jump, +however, from this to the other extreme, and assert that he +enjoyed vigorous health, would be as great a mistake. Karasowski, +in his eagerness to controvert Liszt, although not going quite +this length, nevertheless overshoots the mark. Besides it is a +misrepresentation of Liszt not to say that the passage excerpted +from his book, and condemned as not being in accordance with the +facts of the case, is a quotation from G. Sand's novel Lucrezia +Floriani (of which more will be said by-and-by), in which the +authoress is supposed, although this was denied by her, to have +portrayed Chopin. Liszt is a poet, not a chronicler; he must be +read as such, and not be taken au pied de la lettre. However, +even Karasowski, in whom one notices a perhaps unconscious +anxiety to keep out of sight anything which might throw doubt on +the health and strength of his hero, is obliged to admit that +Chopin was "delicate," although he hastens to add, "but +nevertheless healthy and pretty strong." It seems to me that +Karasowski makes too much of the statement of a friend of +Chopin's--namely, that the latter was, up to manhood, only once +ill, and then with nothing worse than a cold. Indeed, in +Karasowski's narrative there are not wanting indications that the +health of Chopin cannot have been very vigorous; nor his strength +have amounted to much; for in one place we read that the youth +was no friend of long excursions on foot, and preferred to lie +down and dream under beautiful trees; in another place, that his +parents sent him to Reinerz and some years afterwards to Vienna, +because they thought his studies had affected his health, and +that rest and change of air and scene would restore his strength. +Further, we are told that his mother and sisters never tired of +recommending him to wrap up carefully in cold and wet weather, +and that, like a good son and brother, he followed their advice. +Lastly, he objected to smoking. Some of the items of this +evidence are very trivial, but taken collectively they have +considerable force. Of greater significance are the following +additional items. Chopin's sister Emilia was carried off at the +age of fourteen by pulmonary disease, and his father, as a +physician informed me, died of a heart and chest complaint. +Stephen Heller, who saw Chopin in 1830 in Warsaw, told me that +the latter was then in delicate health, thin and with sunken +cheeks, and that the people of Warsaw said that he could not live +long, but would, like so many geniuses, die young. The real state +of the matter seems to me to have been this. Although Chopin in +his youth was at no time troubled with any serious illness, he +enjoyed but fragile health, and if his frame did not alreadv +contain the seeds of the disease to which he later fell a prey, +it was a favourable soil for their reception. How easily was an +organisation so delicately framed over-excited and disarranged! +Indeed, being vivacious, active, and hard-working, as he was, he +lived on his capital. The fire of youth overcame much, not, +however, without a dangerous waste of strength, the lamentable +results of which we shall see before we have gone much farther. +This statement of the case we find, I think, confirmed by +Chopin's correspondence--the letter written at Reinerz is in this +respect noteworthy. + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + +MUSIC AND MUSICIANS IN POLAND BEFORE AND IN CHOPIN'S TIME. + + + +THE golden age of Polish music, which coincides with that of +Polish literature, is the sixteenth century, the century of the +Sigismonds. The most remarkable musician of that time, and +probably the greatest that Poland produced previous to the +present century, was Nicolas Gomolka, who studied music in Italy, +perhaps under Palestrina, in whose style he wrote. Born in or +about the beginning of the second half of the sixteenth century, +he died on March 5, 1609. During the reigns of the kings of the +house of Saxony (1697-1763) instrumental music is said to have +made much progress. Be this as it may, there was no lack of +opportunities to study good examples. Augustus the Strong (I. of +Saxony and II of Poland) established a special Polish band, +called, in contradistinction to the Grosse Kammermusik (Great +Chamber-band) in Dresden, Kleine Kammermusik (Little Chamber- +band), whose business it was to be in attendance when his majesty +went to Poland. These visits took place usually once a year, and +lasted from, August to December, but sometimes were more +frequent, and shorter or longer, just as occasion might call for. +Among the members of the Polish band--which consisted of a leader +(Premier), four violins, one oboe, two French horns, three +bassoons, and one double bass--we meet with such well-known men as +Johann Joachim Quanz and Franz Benda. Their conductor was Alberto +Ristori, who at the same time held the post of composer to the +Italian actors, a company that, besides plays, performed also +little operas, serenades, intermezzi, &c. The usual retinue of +the King on his visits to Poland included also a part of the +French ballet and comedy. These travels of the artistic forces +must have been rich in tragic, comic, and tragi-comic incidents, +and would furnish splendid material for the pen of a novelist. +But such a journey from the Saxon capital to Warsaw, which took +about eight days, and cost on an average from 3,000 to 3,500 +thalers (450 to 525 pounds), was a mere nothing compared with the +migration of a Parisian operatic company in May, 1700. The ninety- +three members of which it was composed set out in carriages and +drove by Strasburg to Ulm, there they embarked and sailed to +Cracow, whence the journey was continued on rafts. [FOOTNOTE: M. +Furstenau, Zur Geschichte der Music und des Theaters am Hofe zu +Dresden.] So much for artistic tours at the beginning of the +eighteenth century. Frederick Augustus (II of Saxony and III of +Poland, 1733-1763) dissolved the Polish band, and organised a +similar body which was destined solely for Poland, and was to be +resident there. It consisted in 1753 of an organist, two singers, +twenty instrumentalists (almost all Germans), and a band-servant, +their salary amounting to 5,383 thalers, 10 groschen (a little +more than 805 pounds). Notwithstanding this new arrangement, the +great Dresden band sometimes accompanied the King to Poland, and +when it did not, some of its members at least had to be in +attendance for the performance of the solos at the chamber +concerts and in the operas. Also such singers, male and female, +as were required for the operas proposed for representation had +to take to the road. Hasse and his wife Faustina came several +times to Poland. That the constellation of the Dresden musical +establishment, in its vocal as well as instrumental department, +was one of the most brilliant imaginable is sufficiently proved +by a glance at the names which we meet with in 1719: Lotti, +Heinichen, Veracini, Volumier, Senesino, Tesi, Santa Stella +Lotti, Durastanti, &c. Rousseau, writing in 1754, calls the +Dresden orchestra the first in Europe. And Burney says in 1772 +that the instrumental performers had been some time previously of +the first class. No wonder, then, if the visits of such artists +improved the instrumental music of Poland. + +From Sowinski's Les Musiciens Polonais we learn that on great +occasions the King's band was reinforced by those of Prince +Czartoryski and Count Wielhorski, thus forming a body of 100 +executants. This shows that outside the King's band good +musicians were to be found in Poland. Indeed, to keep in their +service private bands of native and foreign singers and players +was an ancient custom among the Polish magnates; it obtained for +a long time, and had not yet died out at the beginning of this +century. From this circumstance, however, we must not too rashly +conclude that these wealthy noblemen were all animated by +artistic enthusiasm. Ostentatiousness had, I am afraid, more to +do with it than love of art for art's sake. Music was simply one +of the indispensable departments of their establishments, in the +splendour and vastness of which they tried to outdo each other +and vie with sovereign rulers. The promiscuous enumeration of +musicians, cooks, footmen, &c., in the lady's description of a +nobleman's court which I referred to in the proem, is in this +respect very characteristic. Towards the middle of the last +century Prince Sanguszko, who lived at Dubno, in Volhynia, had in +his service no less than two bands, to which was sometimes joined +a third belonging to Prince Lubomirski. But, it will be asked, +what music did they play? An author of Memoirs of the reign of +Augustus III tells us that, according to the Polish fashion, they +had during meal-times to play national airs, polonaises, +mazurkas, &c., arranged for wind-instruments, with or without +violins. For special occasions the Prince got a new kind of +music, then much in favour--viz., a band of mountaineers playing +on flutes and drums. And while the guests were sitting at the +banquet, horns, trumpets, and fifes sounded fanfares. Besides the +ordinary and extraordinary bands, this exalted personage had +among his musical retainers a drummer who performed solos on his +instrument. One is glad to learn that when the Prince was alone +or had little company, he took delight in listening to trios for +two violins and bass, it being then the fashion to play such +ensemble pieces. Count Ilinski, the father of the composer John +Stanislas Ilinski, engaged for his private theatre two companies, +one from Germany and one from Italy. The persons employed in the +musical department of his household numbered 124. The principal +band, conducted by Dobrzyrnski pere, a good violinist and +conductor, consisted of four violins, one viola, one violoncello, +one double bass, one flute, one oboe, one clarinet, and one +bassoon. Villagers were trained by these players to assist them. +Then there was yet another band, one of wind instruments, under +the direction of Karelli, a pupil of the Russian composer +Bartnianski [Footnote: The Russian Palestrina, whose name is +oftener met with in the forms of Bortnianski and Bortniansky]. +The chorus was composed of twenty four voices, picked from the +young people on Count Ilinski's estates. However questionable the +taste of many of these noble art patrons may have been, there +were not wanting some who cultivated music with a purer spirit. +Some of the best bands were those of the Princes D. Radziwill, +Adam Czartoryski, F. Sulkowski, Michael Lubomirski, Counts +Ilinski, Oginski, and Wielhorski. Our inquiry into the +cultivation of music at the courts of the Polish magnates has +carried us beyond the point we had reached in our historical +survey. Let us now retrace our steps. + +The progress of music above spoken of was arrested by the anarchy +and the civil and other wars that began to rage in Poland with +such fury in the middle of the last century. King Stanislas +Poniatowski (1764-1795) is credited with having exercised great +influence on the music of Poland; at any rate, he patronised the +arts and sciences right royally. The Italian opera at Warsaw +cannot have been of mean standing, seeing that artists such as +the composers Paisiello and Cimarosa, and the great violinist, +composer, and conductor Pugnani, with his pupil Viotti (the +latter playing second violin in the orchestra), were members of +the company. And the King's band of foreign and native players +has been called one of the best in Europe. Still, all this was +but the hothouse bloom of exotics. To bring about a natural +harvest of home produce something else was wanted than royal +patronage, and this something sprang from the series of disasters +that befell the nation in the latter half of the last century, +and by shaking it to its very heart's core stirred up its nobler +self. As in literature, so in music, the national element came +now more and more into action and prominence. + +Up to 1778 there had been heard in Poland only Italian and French +operas; in this year, for the first time, a Polish opera was put +on the stage. It is true the beginning was very modest. The early +attempts contained few ensemble pieces, no choruses, and no +complex finales. But a new art does not rise from the mind of a +nation as Minerva is said to have risen from the head of Jupiter. +Nay, even the fact that the first three composers of Polish +operas (Kamienski, Weynert, and Kajetani) were not Poles, but +foreigners endeavouring to write in the Polish style, does not +destroy the significance of the movement. The following +statistics will, no doubt, take the reader by surprise:--From the +foundation of the national Polish opera in 1778 till April 20, +1859, 5,917 performances of 285 different operas with Polish +words took place in Poland. Of these 92 were national Polish +operas, the remaining 193 by Italian, French, and German +composers; 1,075 representations being given of the former, 4,842 +of the latter. The libretti of 41 of the 92 Polish operas were +originals, the other 51 were translations. And, lastly, the +majority of the 16 musicians who composed the 92 Polish operas +were not native Poles, but Czechs, Hungarians, and Germans +[FOOTNOTE: Ladislas von Trocki, Die Entwickelung der Oper in +Polen. (Leipzig, 1867.)] + +A step hardly less important than the foundation of a national +opera was the formation, in 1805, of a Musical Society, which had +for its object the improvement as well as the amusement of its +members. The idea, which originated in the head of one of the +Prussian officials then in Warsaw, finding approval, and the +pecuniary supplies flowing in abundantly, the Oginski Palace was +rented and fitted up, two masters were engaged for the teaching +of solo and choral singing, and a number of successful concerts +were given. The chief promoters seem to have been Count Krasinski +and the two Prussian officials Mosqua and E. Th. A. Hoffmann. In +the last named the reader will recognise the famous author of +fantastic tales and of no less fantastic musical criticisms, the +conductor and composer of operas and other works, &c. According +to his biographer, J. E. Hitzig, Hoffmann did not take much +interest in the proceedings of the Musical Ressource (that was +the name of the society) till it bought the Mniszech Palace, a +large building, which, having been damaged by fire, had to +undergo extensive repairs. Then, indeed, he set to work with a +will, planned the arrangement and fitting-up of the rooms, +designed and partly painted the decorations--not without freely +indulging his disposition for caricature--and when all was ready, +on August 3, 1806 (the King of Prussia's birthday), conducted the +first concert in the splendid new hall. The activity of the +society was great, and must have been beneficial; for we read +that they had every Sunday performances of quartets and other +kinds of chamber music, that ladies frequently came forward with +pianoforte sonatas, and that when the celebrated violinist Moser, +of Berlin, visited Warsaw, he made them acquainted with the +finest quartets of Mozart and Haydn. Still, I should not have +dwelt so long on the doings of the Musical Ressource were it not +that it was the germ of, or at least gave the impulse to, even +more influential associations and institutions that were +subsequently founded with a view to the wider diffusion and +better cultivation of the musical art in Poland. After the battle +of Jena the French were not long in making their appearance in +Warsaw, whereby an end was put to Prussia's rule there, and her +officials were sent about, or rather sent out of, their business. +Thus the Musical Ressource lost many of its members, Hoffmann and +Mosqua among others. Still, it survived, and was reconstructed +with more national elements. In Frederick Augustus of Saxony's +reign it is said to have been transformed into a school of +singing. + +The year 1815 brought into existence two musical institutions +that deserve to be noticed--society for the cultivation of church +music, which met at the College of the Pianists, and had at its +head Count Zabiello as president and Elsner as conductor; and an +association, organised by the last-named musician, and presided +over by the Princess Sophia Zamoyska, which aimed at the +advancement of the musical art in Poland, and provided for the +education of music teachers for schools, organists for churches, +and singers for the stage. Although I try to do my best with the +unsatisfactory and often contradictory newspaper reports and +dictionary articles from which I have to draw my data, I cannot +vouch for the literal correctness of my notes. In making use of +Sowinski's work I am constantly reminded of Voltaire's definition +of dictionaries: "Immenses archives de mensonges et d'un peu de +verite." Happy he who need not consult them! In 1816 Elsner was +entrusted by the minister Staszyc with the direction of a school +of dramatic singing and recitation; and in 1821, to crown all +previous efforts, a conservatorium was opened, the programme of +which might almost have satisfied a Berlioz. The department of +instrumental music not only comprised sections for the usual +keyed, stringed, and wind instruments, but also one for +instruments of percussion. Solo and choral singing were to be +taught with special regard to dramatic expression. Besides these +and the theoretical branches of music, the curriculum included +dancing, Polish literature, French, and Italian. After reading +the programme it is superfluous to be informed that the +institution was chiefly intended for the training of dramatic +artists. Elsner, who was appointed director, selected the +teaching staff, with one exception, however, that of the first +singing-master, for which post the Government engaged the +composer Carlo Evasio Soliva, a pupil of Asioli and Frederici. + +The musical taste and culture prevailing in Poland about 1819 is +pretty accurately described by a German resident at Cracow. So +far as music was concerned Poland had hitherto been ignored by +the rest of Europe, and indeed could lay no claim to universal +notice in this respect. But the improved culture and greater +insight which some had acquired in foreign lands were good seeds +that began to bear fruit. As yet, however, the greater part of +the public took little or no interest in the better class of +music, and was easily pleased and satisfied with polonaises, +mazurkas, and other trivial things. In fact, the music in Cracow, +notwithstanding the many professional musicians and amateurs +living there, was decidedly bad, and not comparable to the music +in many a small German town. In Warsaw, where the resources were +more plentiful, the state of music was of course also more +prosperous. Still, as late as 1815 we meet with the complaint +that what was chiefly aimed at in concerts was the display of +virtuosity, and that grand, serious works were neglected, and +complete symphonies rarely performed. To remedy this evil, +therefore, 150 amateurs combined and organised in 1818 a concert +institution. Their concerts took place once a week, and at every +meeting a new and entire symphony, an overture, a concerto, an +aria, and a finale, were performed. The names of Beethoven, +Haydn, Mozart, Cherubini, Spohr, Mehul, Romberg, &c., were to be +found on their programmes. Strange to say, there were no less +than seven conductors: Lessel, Lentz, Wurfel, Haase, Javurek, +Stolpe, and Peschke, all good musicians. The orchestra consisted +in part of amateurs, who were most numerous among the violins, +tenors, and violoncellos. The solo department seems to have been +well stocked. To confine ourselves to one instrument, they could +pride themselves on having four excellent lady pianists, one of +whom distinguished herself particularly by the wonderful +dexterity with which she played the most difficult compositions +of Beethoven, Field, Ries, and Dussek. Another good sign of the +improving taste was a series of twenty-four matinees given on +Sundays from twelve to two during the winter of 1818-1819 by Carl +Arnold, and much patronised by the highest nobility. The concert- +giver, a clever pianist and composer, who enjoyed in his day a +good reputation in Germany, Russia, and Poland, produced at every +matinee a new pianoforte concerto by one of the best composers-- +sometimes one of his own--and was assisted by the quartet party +of Bielawski, a good violinist, leader in the orchestra, and +professor at the Conservatorium. Although Arnold's stay was not +of long duration, his departure did not leave the town without +good pianists. Indeed, it is a mistake to suppose that Warsaw was +badly off with regard to musicians. This will be evident to the +reader as soon as I have named some of those living there in the +time of Chopin. Wenzel W. Wurfel, one of the professors at the +Conservatorium, who stayed in Warsaw from 1815 to 1824, and +afterwards went to Vienna, where he became conductor at the +Karnthnerthor Theater, was an esteemed pianist and composer, and +frequently gave concerts, at one of which he played Field's +Concerto in C. + +[FOOTNOTE: Wenzel Wilhelm Wurfel, in most dictionaries called +Wilhelm Wurfel (exceptions are: E. Bernsdorf's "Neues Universal- +Lexikon der Tonkunst", and Dr. Hugo Riemann's "Opern-Handbuch"). +A Warsaw correspondent of a German musical paper called him +Waclaw Wurfel. In Whistling's "Handbuch der musikalischen +Literatur" his Christian names are only indicated by initials--W. +W.] + +If we scan the list of professors at the Conservatorium we find +other musicians whose reputation was not confined to the narrow +limits of Warsaw or even Poland. There was, for instance, the +pianist and composer Franz Lessel, the favourite pupil of Haydn; +and, further, that interesting character Heinrich Gerhard Lentz, +who, born and educated at Cologne, went in 1784 to Paris, played +with success his first concerto at the Concert Spirituel, +published some of his compositions and taught in the best +families, arrived in London in 1791, lived in friendly +intercourse with Clementi and Haydn, and had compositions of his +performed at Solomon's concerts, returned to Germany in 1795, +stayed with Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia till Dussek +supplanted him, and so, wandering about, reached Warsaw, where he +gave lessons, founded a pianoforte manufactory, became professor +of the organ at the Conservatorium, married twice, and died in +1839. The only other professor at the Conservatorium about whom I +shall say a few words is C. E. Soliva, whose name and masters I +have already mentioned. Of his works the opera "La testa di +bronzo" is the best known. I should have said "was," for nobody +now knows anything of his. That loud, shallow talker Count +Stendhal, or, to give him his real name, Marie Henry Beyle, heard +it at Milan in 1816, when it was first produced. He had at first +some difficulty in deciding whether Soliva showed himself in that +opera a plagiarist of Mozart or a genius. Finally he came to the +conclusion that-- + + there is in it a warmth, a dramatic life, and a strength in + all its effects, which are decidedly not in the style of + Mozart. But Soliva, who is a young man and full of the + warmest admiration for Mozart, has imbibed certain tints of + his colouring. +The rest is too outrageously ridiculous to be quoted. Whatever +Beyle's purely literary merits and his achievements in fiction +may be, I quite agree with Berlioz, who remarks, a propos of this +gentleman's Vie de Rossini, that he writes "les plus irritantes +stupidites sur la musique, dont il croyait avoir le secret." To +which cutting dictum may be added a no less cutting one of M. +Lavoix fils, who, although calling Beyle an "ecrivain d'esprit," +applies to him the appellation of "fanfaron d'ignorance en +musique." I would go a step farther than either of these writers. +Beyle is an ignorant braggart, not only in music, but in art +generally, and such esprit as his art criticisms exhibit would be +even more common than it unfortunately now is, if he were oftener +equalled in conceit and arrogance. The pillorying of a humbug is +so laudable an object that the reader will excuse the digression, +which, moreover, may show what miserable instruments a poor +biographer has sometimes to make use of. Another informant, +unknown to fame, but apparently more trustworthy, furnishes us +with an account of Soliva in Warsaw. The writer in question +disapproves of the Italian master's drill-method in teaching +singing, and says that as a composer his power of invention was +inferior to his power of construction; and, further, that he was +acquainted with the scores of the best musicians of all times, +and an expert in accompanying on the pianoforte. As Elsner, +Zywny, and the pianist and composer Javurek have already been +introduced to the reader, I shall advert only to one other of the +older Warsaw musicians--namely, Charles Kurpinski, the most +talented and influential native composer then living in Poland. +To him and Elsner is chiefly due the progress which Polish music +made in the first thirty years of this century. Kurpinski came to +Warsaw in 1810, was appointed second conductor at the National +Opera-house, afterwards rose to the position of first conductor, +was nominated maitre de chapelle de la cour de Varsovie, was made +a Knight of the St. Stanislas Order, &c. He is said to have +learnt composition by diligently studying Mozart's scores, and in +1811 began to supply the theatre with dramatic works. Besides +masses, symphonies, &c., he composed twenty-four operas, and +published also some theoretical works and a sketch of the history +of the Polish opera. Kurpinski was by nature endowed with fine +musical qualities, uniting sensibility and energy with easy +productivity. Chopin did homage to his distinguished countryman +in introducing into his Grande Fantaisie sur des airs polonais, +Op. 13, a theme of Kurpinski's. Two younger men, both born in +1800, must yet be mentioned to compete the picture. One of them, +Moritz Ernemann, a pupil of Mendelssohn's pianoforte-master, L. +Berger, played with success in Poland and Germany, and has been +described by contemporaries as a finished and expressive, but not +brilliant, pianist. His pleasing compositions are of an +instructive and mildly-entertaining character. The other of the +two was Joseph Christoph Kessler, a musician of very different +mettle. After studying philosophy in Vienna, and composing at the +house of Count Potocki in Lemberg his celebrated Etudes, Op. 20 +(published at Vienna, reprinted at Paris, recommended by +Kalkbrenner in his Methode, quoted by Fetis and Moscheles in +their Methode des Methodes, and played in part by Liszt at his +concerts), he tried in 1829 his luck in Warsaw. Schumann thought +(in 1835) that Kessler had the stuff in him to do something +great, and always looked forward with expectation to what he +would yet accomplish. Kessler's studies might be dry, but he was +assuredly a "Mann von Geist und sogar poetischem Geist." He +dedicated his twenty-four Preludes, Op. 31, to Chopin, and Chopin +his twenty-four Preludes, Op. 28, to him--that is to say, the +German edition. + +By this time the reader must have found out that Warsaw was not +such a musical desert as he may at first have imagined. Perfect +renderings of great orchestral works, it is true, seem to have +been as yet unattainable, and the performances of operas failed +likewise to satisfy a pure and trained taste. Nay, in 1822 it was +even said that the opera was getting worse. But when the fruits +of the Conservatorium had had time to ripen and could be gathered +in, things would assume a more promising aspect. Church music, +which like other things had much deteriorated, received a share +of the attention which in this century was given to the art. The +best singing was in the Piarist and University churches. In the +former the bulk of the performers consisted of amateurs, who, +however, were assisted by members of the opera. They sang Haydn's +masses best and oftenest. In the other church the executants were +students and professors, Elsner being the conductor. Besides +these choirs there existed a number of musical associations in +connection with different churches in Warsaw. Indeed, it cannot +be doubted that great progress was made in the first thirty years +of this century, and had it not been for the unfortunate +insurrection of 1830, Poland would have succeeded in producing a +national art and taking up an honourable position among the great +musical powers of Europe, whereas now it can boast only of +individual artists of more or less skill and originality. The +musical events to which the death of the Emperor Alexander I. +gave occasion in 1826, show to some extent the musical +capabilities of Warsaw. On one day a Requiem by Kozlowski (a +Polish composer, then living in St. Petersburg; b. 1757, d. +1831), with interpolations of pieces by other composers, was +performed in the Cathedral by two hundred singers and players +under Soliva. On another day Mozart's Requiem, with additional +accompaniments by Kurpinski (piccolos, flutes, oboes, clarinets, +and horns to the Dies irae and Sanctus; harps to the Hostias and +Benedictus; and a military brass-band to the closing chorus!!!), +was given in the same place by two hundred and fifty executants +under the last-mentioned musician. And in the Lutheran church +took place a performance of Elsner's Requiem for male voices, +violoncellos, bassoons, horns, trumpets, trombones, and drums. + +Having made the reader acquainted with the musical sphere in +which Chopin moved, I shall take up the thread of the narrative +where I left it, and the reader may follow without fear of being +again detained by so long an interruption. + + + +CHAPTER VI + + + +Fourteen days in Berlin (From September 14 to 28, 1828).--Return +by Posen (Prince Radziwill) and Zullichau (anecdotes) to Warsaw.-- +Chopin's doings there in the following winter and spring.--his +home-life, companions, and preparations for a journey to Vienna. + + +Chopin, leaving his apprenticeship behind him, was now entering +on that period of his life which we may call his Wanderjahre +(years of travel). This change in his position and circumstances +demands a simultaneous change in the manner of the biographical +treatment. Hitherto we have been much occupied with the agencies +that made and moulded the man, henceforth we shall fix our main +attention on his experiences, actions, and utterances. The +materials at our disposal become now more abundant and more +trustworthy. Foremost in importance among them, up to Chopin's +arrival in Paris, are the letters he wrote at that time, the +publication of which we owe to Karasowski. As they are, however, +valuable only as chronicles of the writer's doings and feelings, +and not, like Mendelssohn's and Berlioz's, also as literary +productions, I shall, whilst fully availing myself of the +information they contain, confine my quotations from them to the +characteristic passages. + +Chopin's long-projected and much-desired visit to Berlin came +about in this way. In 1828 Frederick William III of Prussia +requested the Berlin University to invite the most eminent +natural philosophers to take part in a congress to be held in +that city under the presidency of Alexander von Humboldt. +Nicholas Chopin's friend Dr. Jarocki, the zoologist and professor +at the Warsaw University, who had studied and obtained his degree +at Berlin, was one of those who were honoured with an invitation. +The favourable opportunity which thus presented itself to the +young musician of visiting in good company one of the centres of +civilisation--for the professor intended to comply with the +invitation, and was willing to take his friend's son under his +wing--was not allowed to slip by, on the contrary, was seized +eagerly. With what feelings, with what an infinitude of youthful +hopes and expectations, Chopin looked forward to this journey may +be gathered from some expressions in a letter of his (September +9, 1828) addressed to Titus Woyciechowski, where he describes +himself as being at the time of writing "like a madman," and +accounts for his madness by the announcement: "For I am going to- +day to Berlin." To appear in public as a pianist or composer was +not one of the objects he had in view. His dearest wishes were to +make the acquaintance of the musical celebrities of Berlin, and +to hear some really good music. From a promised performance of +Spontini's Ferdinand Cortez he anticipated great things. + +Professor Jarocki and Chopin left Warsaw on the 9th of September, +1828, and after five days' posting arrived in Berlin, where they +put up at the Kronprinz. Among the conveniences of this hotel our +friend had the pleasant surprise of finding a good grand piano. +He played on it every day, and was rewarded for his pains not +only by the pleasure it gave him, but also by the admiration of +the landlord. Through his travelling companion's friend and +teacher, M. H. K. Lichtenstein, professor of zoology and director +of the Zoological Museum, who was a member of the Singakademie +and on good terms with Zelter, the conductor of that society, he +hoped to be made acquainted with the most distinguished musicians +of the Prussian capital, and looked to Prince Radziwill for an +introduction to the musical autocrat Spontini, with whom +Lichtenstein was not on a friendly footing. In these hopes, +however, Chopin was disappointed, and had to content himself with +looking at the stars from afar. Speaking of a performance of the +Singakademie at which he was present, he says:-- + + Spontini, Zelter, and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy were also + there; but I spoke to none of these gentlemen, as I did not + think it becoming to introduce myself. + +It is not difficult to discover the circumstances that in this +respect caused matters to turn out so little in accordance with +the young man's wishes. Prince Radziwill was not in Berlin when +Chopin arrived, and, although he was expected, perhaps never +came, or came too late to be of any use. As to Lichtenstein, his +time was too much taken up by his duties as secretary to the +congress. Had this not been so, the professor could not only have +brought the young artist in contact with many of the musical +celebrities in Berlin, but also have told him much about his +intimate friend Carl Maria von Weber, who had died little more +than two years before. Lichtenstein's connection with Weber was +probably the cause of his disagreement with Spontini, alluded to +by Chopin. The latter relates in an off-hand way that he was +introduced to and exchanged a few words with the editor of the +Berliner Musikzeitung, without mentioning that this was Marx. The +great theorist had of course then still to make his reputation. + +One cannot help wondering at the absence from Chopin's Berlin +letters of the name of Ludwig Berger, who, no doubt, like +Bernhard Klein, Rungenhagen, the brothers Ganz, and many another +composer and virtuoso in Berlin, was included in the collective +expression "distinguished musicians." But one would have thought +that the personality of the pupil of Clementi, the companion of +A. Klengel, the friend of Steibelt, Field, and Crotch, and the +teacher of Mendelssohn and Taubert, would have particularly +interested a young pianist. Berger's compositions cannot have +been unknown to Chopin, who, moreover, must have heard of him +from his Warsaw acquaintance Ernemann. However, be this as it +may, our friend was more fortunate as regards hearing good music, +which certainly was a more important business than interviewing +celebrities, often, alas, so refrigerating in its effect on +enthusiastic natures. Before his departure from Warsaw Chopin +wrote:--"It is much to hear a really good opera, were it only +once; it enables one to form an idea of what a perfect +performance is like." Although the most famous singers were on +leave of absence, he greatly enjoyed the performances of +Spontini's "Ferdinand Cortez", Cimarosa's "Die heimliche Eke" ("Il +Matrimonio segreto"), Onslow's "Der Hausirer" ("Le colporteur"), +and Winter's "Das unterbrochene Opferfest." Still, they gave rise +to some "buts," which he thought would be wholly silenced only in +Paris; nay, one of the two singers he liked best, Fraulein von +Schatzel (Signora Tibaldi was the other), reminded him by her +omissions of chromatic scales even of Warsaw. What, however, +affected him more than anything else was Handel's "Ode on St. +Cecilia's Day," which he heard at the Singakademie; it came +nearest, he said, to the ideal of sublime music which he +harboured in his soul. A propos of another musical event he +writes:-- + + To-morrow the "Freischutz" will be performed; this is the + fulfilment of my most ardent wish. When I hear it I shall be + able to make a comparison between the singers here and our + own. + +The "Freischutz" made its first appearance on the Warsaw stage in +1826, and therefore was known to Chopin; whereas the other operas +were either unknown to him or were not considered decisive tests. + +Music and things connected with music, such as music-shops and +pianoforte-manufactories, took up Chopin's attention almost +exclusively. He declines with thanks the offer of a ticket for +the meetings of the congress:-- + + I should gain little or nothing for my mind from these + discussions, because I am too little of a savant; and, + moreover, the professional gentlemen might perhaps look at + me, the layman, and think: "How comes Saul among the + prophets?" + +Of the Royal Library, to which he went with Professor Jarocki, he +has no more to say than that "it is very large, but contains few +musical works"; and when he visits the Zoological Museum, he +thinks all the time what a bore it is, and how he would rather be +at Schlesinger's, the best music-shop in the town, and an +enterprising publishing house. That he neglects many things which +educated men generally prize, he feels himself, and expresses the +fear that his father will reproach him with one-sidedness. In his +excuse he says:-- + + I have come to Berlin for my musical education, and the + library of Schlesinger, consisting of the most interesting + works of the composers of all countries and times, must + interest me more than any other collections. + +The words, he adds, add nothing to the strength of his argument. + + It is a comfort to think that I, too, shall yet come to + Schlesinger's, and that it is always good for a young man to + see much, as from everything something may be learnt. + +According to Karasowski, who reports, no doubt faithfully, what +he has heard, Chopin was so well versed in all the branches of +science, which he cultivated at the Lyceum, that all who knew him +were astonished at his attainments, and prognosticated for him a +brilliant future. I am afraid the only authorities for this +statement were the parents, the sisters, and other equally +indiscriminately-admiring connections, who often discover genius +where it is hidden from the cold, unfeeling world outside this +sympathetic circle. Not that I would blame an amiable weakness +without which love, friendship, in short, happiness were well- +nigh impossible. Only a biographer who wishes to represent a man +as he really was, and not as he appeared to be to one or more +individuals, has to be on his guard against it. Let us grant at +once that Chopin made a good figure at the Lyceum--indeed, a +quick-witted boy who found help and encouragement at home (the +secret of almost all successful education) could hardly do +otherwise. But from this to a master of all the arts, to an +admirable Crichton, is a great step. Where there is genius there +is inclination. Now, however well Chopin acquitted himself of his +school-tasks--and even therein you will remember a falling-off +was noticeable when outward pressure ceased--science and kindred +subjects were subsequently treated by him with indifference. The +thorough training which he received in general knowledge entirely +failed to implant in him the dispositions of a scholar or +thinker. His nature was perhaps a soil unfavourable to such +growths, and certainly already preoccupied by a vegetation the +luxuriance of which excluded, dwarfed, or crushed everything +else. The truth of these remarks is proved by Chopin's letters +and his friends' accounts of his tastes and conversation. In +connection with this I may quote a passage from a letter which +Chopin wrote immediately before starting on his Berlin trip. +Jedrzejewicz, a gentleman who by-and-by became Chopin's brother- +in-law, and was just then staying in Paris, made there the +acquaintance of the Polish musician Sowinski. The latter hearing +thus of his talented countryman in Warsaw, and being co-editor +with Fetis of the "Revue musicale" (so at least we read in the +letter in question, but it is more likely that Sowinski was +simply a contributor to the paper), applied to him for a +description of the state of music in Poland, and biographical +notes on the most celebrated executants and composers. Now let us +see what Chopin says in reference to this request. + + All these are things with which I have no intention to + meddle. I shall write to him from Berlin that this affair is + not in my line, and that, moreover, I cannot yet form a + judgment such as would be worthy of a Parisian journal, which + must contain only mature and competent opinions, &c. + +How much of this is self-knowledge, modesty, or disinclination, I +leave the reader to decide, who, no doubt, will smile at the +young man's innocence in imagining that Parisian, or, indeed, any +journals distinguish themselves generally by maturity and +competence of judgment. + +At the time of the Berlin visit Chopin was a lively, well- +educated, and well-mannered youth, who walked through life +pleased and amused with its motley garb, but as yet unconscious +of the deeper truths, and the immensities of joy and sadness, of +love and hate, that lie beneath. Although the extreme +youthfulness, nay boyishness, of the letters written by him at +that time, and for some time after, makes him appear younger than +he really was, the criticisms and witticisms on what is going on +around which they contain, show incontestably that he had more +than the usual share of clear and quick-sightedness. His power of +observation, however, was directed rather to dress, manners, and +the peculiarities and eccentricities of outward appearance +generally, than to the essentials which are not always indicated +and are often hidden by them. As to his wit, it had a decided +tendency towards satire and caricature. He notices the pleasing +orderliness and cleanliness of the otherwise not well-favoured +surroundings of Berlin as he approaches, considers the city +itself too much extended for the number of its inhabitants, of +whom it could hold twice as many, is favourably impressed by the +fine large palace, the spacious well-built streets, the +picturesque bridges, and congratulates himself that he and his +fellow-traveller did not take lodgings in the broad but rather +too quiet Franzosische Strasse. Yes, our friend is fond of life +and society. Whether he thought man the proper study of mankind +or not, as Pope held, he certainly found it the most attractive. +The passengers in the stage-coach were to him so many personages +of a comedy. There was an advocate who tried to shine with his +dull jokes, an agriculturist to whom travelling had given a +certain varnish of civilisation, and a German Sappho who poured +forth a stream of pretentious and at the same time ludicrous +complaints. The play unwittingly performed by these unpaid actors +was enjoyed by our friend with all the zest the feeling of +superiority can give. What a tragi-comical arrangement it is that +in this world of ours everybody is laughing at everybody else! +The scientists of the congress afforded Chopin an almost +unlimited scope for the exercise of his wit. Among them he found +so many curious and various specimens that he was induced not +only to draw but also to classify them. Having already previously +sent home some sketches, he concludes one of his letters with the +words "the number of caricatures is increasing." Indeed, there +seems to have been only one among these learned gentlemen who +impressed him with a feeling of respect and admiration--namely, +Alexander von Humboldt. As Chopin's remarks on him are the best +part of his three Berlin letters, I shall quote them in full. On +seeing Von Humboldt at Lichtenstein's he writes:-- + + He is not above middle height, and his countenance cannot be + called beautiful; but the somewhat protruding, broad, and + well-moulded forehead, and the deep inquiring eye, announce + the all-embracing mind which animates this humane as well as + much-travelled savant. Humboldt spoke French, and as well as + his mother-tongue. + +One of the chief events of Chopin's visit to Berlin was, +according to his own account, his second dinner with the natural +philosophers, which took place the day before the close of the +congress, and was very lively and entertaining:-- + +Many appropriate songs were sung in which every one joined with +more or less energy. Zelter conducted; he had standing before him +on a red pedestal as a sign of his exalted musical dignity a +large gilt goblet, which seemed to give him much pleasure. On +this day the food was much better than usual. People say the +natural philosophers had at their meetings been specially +occupied with the amelioration of roasts, sauces, soups, and the +like. + +"The Berliners are such an impertinent race," says Goethe, "that +to keep one's self above water one must have Haare auf den +Zahnen, and at times be rude." Such a judgment prepares one for +much, but not for what Chopin dares to say:-- + + Marylski [one of his Warsaw friends] has not the faintest + shadow of taste if he asserts that the ladies of Berlin dress + prettily. They deck themselves out, it is true; but it is a + pity for the fine stuffs which are cut up for such puppets! + +What blasphemy! + +After a fortnight's stay in the Prussian capital Professor +Jarocki and Chopin turned homeward on September 28, 1828. They +did not, however, go straight to Warsaw, but broke their journey +at Posen, where they remained two days "in gratiam of an +invitation from Archbishop Wolicki." A great part of the time he +was at Posen he spent at the house of Prince Radziwill, +improvising and playing sonatas of Mozart, Beethoven, and Hummel, +either alone or with Capellmeister Klingohr. On October 6 the +travellers arrived in Warsaw, which Chopin was so impatient to +reach that the professor was prevailed upon to take post-horses +from Lowicz. Before I have done with this trip to Berlin I must +relate an incident which occurred at a stage between Frankfort on +the Oder and Posen. + +On arriving at Zullichau our travellers were informed by the +postmaster that they would have to wait an hour for horses. This +announcement opened up an anything but pleasing prospect. The +professor and his companion did the best that could be done in +these distressing circumstances--namely, took a stroll through +the small town, although the latter had no amenities to boast of, +and the fact of a battle having been fought there between the +Russians and Prussians in 1759 would hardly fire their +enthusiasm. Matters, however, became desperate when on their +return there was still neither sign nor sound of horses. Dr. +Jarocki comforted himself with meat and drink, but Chopin began +to look uneasily about him for something to while away the +weariness of waiting. His search was not in vain, for in an +adjoining room he discovered an old piano of unpromising +appearance, which, on being opened and tried, not only turned out +to be better than it looked, but even in tune. Of course our +artist did not bethink himself long, but sat down at once, and +launched out into an improvisation on a Polish air. One of his +fellow-passengers, a German, and an inveterate smoker, attracted +by the music, stepped in, and was soon so wrapped up in it that +he forgot even his pipe. The other passengers, the postmaster, +his buxom wife, and their pretty daughters, came dropping in, one +after the other. But when this peaceful conventicle had for some +time been listening silently, devoutly, and admiringly, lo, they +were startled by a stentorian voice bawling into the room the +words:--"Gentlemen, the horses are put in." The postmaster, who +was indignant at this untimely interruption, begged the musician +to continue. But Chopin said that they had already waited too +long, it was time to depart. Upon this there was a general +commotion; the mistress of the house solicited and cajoled, the +young ladies bashfully entreated with their eyes, and all pressed +around the artist and supported the request, the postmaster even +offering extra horses if Chopin would go on with his playing. Who +could resist? Chopin sat down again, and resumed his fantasia. +When he had ended, a servant brought in wine, the postmaster +proposed as a toast "the favourite of Polyhymnia," and one of the +audience, an old musician, gave voice to his feelings by telling +the hero that, "if Mozart had heard you, he would have shaken +hands with you and exclaimed 'Bravo!' An insignificant man like +me dare not do that." After Chopin had played a mazurka as a wind- +up, the tall postmaster took him in his arms, carried him to the +coach--the pockets of which the ladies had already filled with +wine and eatables--and, bidding him farewell, said that as long +as he lived he would think with enthusiasm of Frederick Chopin. + +We can have no difficulty in believing the statement that in +after-life our artist recalled with pleasure this incident at the +post-house of Zullichau, and that his success among these +unsophisticated people was dearer to him than many a more +brilliant one in the great world of art and fashion. But, it may +be asked, did all this happen in exactly the same way in which it +is told here? Gentle reader, let us not inquire too curiously +into this matter. Of course you have heard of myth-making and +legend-making. Well, anecdote-making is a process of a similar +nature, a process of accumulation and development. The only +difference between the process in the first two cases and that in +the third is, that the former is carried on by races, the latter +by individuals. A seed-corn of fact falls on the generous soil of +the poetic imagination, and forthwith it begins to expand, to +sprout, and to grow into flower, shrub, or tree. But there are +well and ill-shapen plants, and monstrosities too. The above +anecdote is a specimen of the first kind. As a specimen of the +last kind may be instanced an undated anecdote told by Sikorski +and others. It is likewise illustrative of Chopin's power and +love of improvisation. The seed-corn of fact in the case seems to +be that one Sunday, when playing during divine service in the +Wizytek Church, Chopin, taking for his subjects some motives of +the part of the Mass that had just been performed, got so +absorbed in his improvisation that he entirely forgot all his +surroundings, and turned a deaf ear to the priest at the altar, +who had already for the second time chanted 'Per omnia saecula +saeculurum.' This is a characteristic as well as a pretty artist- +story, which, however, is marred, I think, by the additions of a +choir that gathers round the organist and without exception +forgets like him time and place, and of a mother superior who +sends the sacristan to remind those music-enthusiasts in the +organ-gallery of the impatiently waiting priest and acolyte, &c. +Men willingly allow themselves to be deceived, but care has to be +taken that their credulity be not overtaxed. For if the intention +is perceived, it fails in its object; as the German poet says:-- +"So fuehrt man Absicht und man ist verstimmt." + +On the 6th of October, as has already been said, Chopin returned +to Warsaw. Judging from a letter written by him at the end of the +year (December 27, 1828) to his friend Titus Woyciechowski, he +was busy composing and going to parties. The "Rondeau a la +Krakowiak," Op. 14, was now finished, and the Trio, Op. 8, was +nearly so. A day on which he had not been musically productive +seems to have been regarded by him as a lost day. The opening +phrase of the following quotation reminds one of the famous +exclamation of the Emperor Titus:-- + + During the last week I have composed nothing worthy either of + God or of man. I run from Ananias to Caiaphas; to-night I + shall be at Madame Wizegerod's, from there I shall drive to a + musical soiree at Miss Kicka's. You know how pleasant it is + to be forced to improvise when one is tired! I have not often + such happy thoughts as come sometimes under my fingers when I + am with you. And then the miserable instruments! + +In the same letter he relates that his parents are preparing a +small room for him:-- + + A staircase leads from the entrance directly into it; there I + shall have an old writing-desk, and this nook will be my + retreat. + +This remark calls up a passage in a letter written two years +later from Vienna to his friend John Matuszynski:-- + + When your former colleagues, for instance, Rostkowski, + Schuch, Freyer, Kyjewski, Hube, &c., are holding merry + converse in my room, then think that I am laughing and + enjoying myself with you. + +A charming little genre picture of Chopin's home-life is to be +found in one of his letters from Vienna (December 1, 1830) Having +received news from Warsaw, he writes:-- + + The joy was general, for Titus also had letters from home. I + thank Celinski lor the enclosed note; it brought vividly back + to me the time when I was still amongst you: it seemed to me + as if I were sitting at the piano and Celinski standing + opposite me looking at Mr. Zywny, who just then treated + Linowski to a pinch of snuff. Only Matuszynski was wanting to + make the group complete. + +Several names in the above extract remind me that I ought to say +a few words about the young men with whom Chopin at that time +associated. Many of them were no doubt companions in the noblest +sense of the word. Of this class may have been Celinski, Hube, +Eustachius Marylski, and Francis Maciejowski (a nephew of the +previously-mentioned Professor Waclaw Maciejowski), who are more +or less frequently mentioned in Chopin's correspondence, but +concerning whom I have no information to give. I am as badly +informed about Dziewanowski, whom a letter quoted by Karasowski +shows to have been a friend of Chopin's. Of two other friends, +Stanislas Kozmian and William Kolberg, we know at least that the +one was a few years ago still living at Posen and occupied the +post of President of the Society of the Friends of Science, and +that the other, to whom the earliest letters of Chopin that have +come down to us are addressed, became, not to mention lesser +offices and titles, a Councillor of State, and died on June +4,1877. Whatever the influence of the friends I have thus far +named may have been on the man Chopin, one cannot but feel +inclined to think that Stephen Witwicki and Dominic Magnuszewski, +especially the former, must have had a greater influence on the +artist. At any rate, these two poets, who made their mark in +Polish literature, brought the musician in closest contact with +the strivings of the literary romanticism of those days. In later +years Chopin set several of Witwicki's songs to music. Both +Magnuszewski and Witwicki lived afterwards, like Chopin, in +Paris, where they continued to associate with him. Of the musical +acquaintances we have to notice first and foremost Julius +Fontana, who himself said that he was a daily visitor at Chopin's +house. The latter writes in the above-mentioned letter (December +27, 1828) to Titus Woyciechowski:-- + + The Rondo for two pianos, this orphan child, has found a step- + father in Fontana (you may perhaps have seen him at our + house, he attends the university); he studied it for more + than a month, but then he did learn it, and not long ago we + tried how it would sound at Buchholtz's. + +Alexander Rembielinski, described as a brilliant pianist and a +composer in the style of Fesca, who returned from Paris to Warsaw +and died young, is said to have been a friend of Chopin's. Better +musicians than Fontana, although less generally known in the +western part of Europe, are Joseph Nowakowski and Thomas Nidecki. +Chopin, by some years their junior, had intercourse with them +during his residence in Poland as well as afterwards abroad. It +does not appear that Chopin had what can rightly be called +intimate friends among the young Polish musicians. If we may +believe the writer of an article in Sowinski's Dictionary, there +was one exception. He tells us that the talented Ignaz Felix +Dobrzynski was a fellow-pupil of Chopin's, taking like him +private lessons from Elsner. Dobrzynski came to Warsaw in 1825, +and took altogether thirty lessons. + + Working together under the same master, having the same + manner of seeing and feeling, Frederick Chopin and I.F. + Dobrzynski became united in a close friendship. The same + aims, the same artistic tendency to seek the UNKNOWN, + characterised their efforts. They communicated to each other + their ideas and impressions, followed different routes to + arrive at the same goal. + +This unison of kindred minds is so beautiful that one cannot but +wish it to have been a fact. Still, I must not hide the +circumstance that neither Liszt nor Karasowski mentions +Dobrzynski as one of Chopin's friends, and the even more +significant circumstance that he is only mentioned twice and en +passant in Chopin's letters. All this, however, does not +necessarily nullify the lexicographer's statements, and until +contradictory evidence is forthcoming we may hold fast by so +pleasing and ennobling a creed. + +The most intimate of Chopin's early friends, indeed, of all his +friends--perhaps the only ones that can be called his bosom +friends--have still to be named, Titus Woyciechowski and John +Matuszynski. It was to them that Chopin wrote his most +interesting and self-revealing letters. We shall meet them and +hear of them often in the course of this narrative, for their +friendship with the musician was severed only by death. It will +therefore suffice to say here that Titus Woyciechowski, who had +been Chopin's school-fellow, lived, at the period of the latter's +life we have now reached, on his family estates, and that John +Matuszynski was then studying medicine in Warsaw. + +In his letter of December 27, 1828, Chopin makes some allusions +to the Warsaw theatres. The French company had played Rataplan, +and at the National Theatre they had performed a comedy of +Fredro's, Weber's Preciosa, and Auber's Macon. A musical event +whichmust have interested Chopin much more than the performances +of the two last-mentioned works took place in the first half of +the year 1829--namely, Hummel's appearance in Warsaw. He and +Field were, no doubt, those pianists who through the style of +their compositions most influenced Chopin. For Hummel's works +Chopin had indeed a life-long admiration and love. It is +therefore to be regretted that he left in his letters no record +of the impression which Hummel, one of the four most +distinguished representatives of pianoforte-playing of that time, +made upon him. It is hardly necessary to say that the other three +representatives--of different generations and schools let it be +understood--were Field, Kalkbrenner, and Moscheles. The only +thing we learn about this visit of Hummel's to Warsaw is that he +and the young Polish pianist made a good impression upon each +other. As far as the latter is concerned this is a mere surmise, +or rather an inference from indirect proofs, for, strange to say, +although Chopin mentions Hummel frequently in his letters, he +does not write a syllable that gives a clue to his sentiments +regarding him. The older master, on the other hand, shows by his +inquiries after his younger brother in art and the visits he pays +him that he had a real regard and affection for him. + +It is also to be regretted that Chopin says in his letters +nothing of Paganini's appearance in Warsaw. The great Italian +violinist, who made so deep an impression on, and exercised so +great an influence over, Liszt, cannot have passed by without +producing some effect on Chopin. That the latter had a high +opinion of Paganini may be gathered from later utterances, but +what one would like is a description of his feelings and thoughts +when he first heard him. Paganini came to Warsaw in 1829, after +his visit to Berlin. In the Polish capital he was worshipped with +the same ardour as elsewhere, and also received the customary +tributes of applause, gold, and gifts. From Oreste Bruni's +Niccolo Paganini, celebre violinista Genovese, we learn that his +Warsaw worshippers presented him with a gold snuff-box, which +bore the following inscription:--Al Cav. Niccolo Paganini. Gli +ammiratori del suo talento. Varsovia 19 Luglio 1829. + +Some months after this break in what he, no doubt, considered the +monotonous routine of Warsaw life, our friend made another +excursion, one of far greater importance in more than one respect +than that to Berlin. Vienna had long attracted him like a +powerful magnet, the obstacles to his going thither were now +removed, and he was to see that glorious art-city in which Gluck, +Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and many lesser but still +illustrious men had lived and worked. + + + +CHAPTER VII + + + +CHOPIN JOURNEYS TO VIENNA BY WAY OF CRACOW AND OJCOW.--STAYS +THERE FOR SOME WEEKS, PLAYING TWICE IN PUBLIC.--RETURNS TO WARSAW +BY WAY OF PRAGUE, DRESDEN, AND BRESLAU. + + + +IT was about the middle of July, 1829, that Chopin, accompanied +by his friends Celinski, Hube, and Francis Maciejowski, set out +on his journey to Vienna. They made a week's halt at the ancient +capital of the Polish Republic, the many-towered Cracow, which +rises picturesquely in a landscape of great loveliness. There +they explored the town and its neighbourhood, both of which are +rich in secular and ecclesiastical buildings, venerable by age +and historical associations, not a few of them remarkable also as +fine specimens of architecture. Although we have no detailed +account of Chopin's proceedings, we may be sure that our +patriotic friend did not neglect to look for and contemplate the +vestiges of his nation's past power and greatness: the noble +royal palace, degraded, alas, into barracks for the Austrian +soldiery; the grand, impressive cathedral, in which the tombs of +the kings present an epitome of Polish history; the town-hall, a +building of the 14th century; the turreted St. Florian's gate; +and the monumental hillock, erected on the mountain Bronislawa in +memory of Kosciuszko by the hands of his grateful countrymen, of +which a Frenchman said:--"Void une eloquence touts nouvelle: un +peuple qui ne peut s'exprimer par la parole ou par les livres, et +qui parle par des montagnes." On a Sunday afternoon, probably on +the 24th of July, the friends left Cracow, and in a rustic +vehicle drove briskly to Ojcow. They were going to put up not in +the place itself, but at a house much patronised by tourists, +lying some miles distant from it and the highway. This +circumstance led to something like a romantic incident, for as +the driver was unacquainted with the bye-roads, they got into a +small brook, "as clear and silvery bright as brooks in +fairytales," and having walls of rock on the right and left, they +were unable to extricate themselves "from this labyrinth." +Fortunately they met towards nine o'clock in the evening two +peasants who conducted them to their destination, the inn of Mr. +Indyk, in which also the Polish authoress Clementina Tanska, who +has described this district in one of her works, had lodged--a +fact duly reported by Chopin to his sister Isabella and friend +Titus. Arriving not only tired but also wet to above the knees, +his first business was to guard against taking a cold. He bought +a Cracow double-woven woollen night-cap, which he cut in two +pieces and wrapped round his feet. Then he sat down by the fire, +drank a glass of red wine, and, after talking for a little while +longer, betook himself to bed, and slept the sleep of the just. +Thus ended the adventure of that day, and, to all appearance, +without the dreaded consequences of a cold. The natural beauties +of the part of the country where Chopin now was have gained for +it the name of Polish Switzerland. The principal sights are the +Black Cave, in which during the bloody wars with the Turks and +Tartars the women and children used to hide themselves; the Royal +Cave, in which, about the year 1300, King Wladyslaw Lokietek +sought refuge when he was hardly pressed by the usurper Wenceslas +of Bohemia; and the beautifully-situated ruins of Ojcow Castle, +once embowered in thick forests. Having enjoyed to the full the +beauties of Polish Switzerland, Chopin continued his journey +merrily and in favourable weather through the picturesque +countries of Galicia, Upper Silesia, and Moravia, arriving in +Vienna on July 31. + +Chopin's letters tell us very little of his sight-seeing in the +Austrian capital, but a great deal of matters that interest us +far more deeply. He brought, of course, a number of letters of +introduction with him. Among the first which he delivered was one +from Elsner to the publisher Hashnger, to whom Chopin had sent a +considerable time before some of his compositions, which, +however, still remained in manuscript. Haslinger treated Elsner's +pupil with an almost embarrassing politeness, and, without being +reminded of the MSS. in question, informed his visitor that one +of them, the variations on La ci darem la mano, would before long +appear in the Odeon series. "A great honour for me, is it not?" +writes the happy composer to his friend Titus. The amiable +publisher, however, thought that Chopin would do well to show the +people of Vienna what his difficult and by no means easily +comprehensible composition was like. But the composer was not +readily persuaded. The thought of playing in the city where +Mozart and Beethoven had been heard frightened him, and then he +had not touched a piano for a whole fortnight. Not even when +Count Gallenberg entered and Haslinger presented Chopin to him as +a coward who dare not play in public was the young virtuoso put +on his mettle. In fact, he even declined with thanks the theatre +which was placed at his disposal by Count Gallenberg, who was +then lessee of the Karnthnerthor Theatre, and in whom the reader +has no doubt recognised the once celebrated composer of ballets, +or at least the husband of Beethoven's passionately-loved +Countess Giulia Guicciardi. Haslinger and Gallenberg were not the +only persons who urged him to give the Viennese an opportunity to +hear him. Dining at the house of Count Hussarzewski, a worthy old +gentleman who admired his young countryman's playing very much, +Chopin was advised by everybody present--and the guests belonged +to the best society of Vienna--to give a concert. The journalist +Blahetka, best known as the father of his daughter, was not +sparing in words of encouragement; and Capellmeister Wurfel, who +had been kind to Chopin in Warsaw, told him plainly that it would +be a disgrace to himself, his parents, and his teachers not to +make a public appearance, which, he added, was, moreover, a +politic move for this reason, that no one who has composed +anything new and wishes to make a noise in the world can do so +unless he performs his works himself. In fact, everybody with +whom he got acquainted was of the same opinion, and assured him +that the newspapers would say nothing but what was flattering. At +last Chopin allowed himself to be persuaded, Wurfel took upon him +the care of making the necessary arrangements, and already the +next morning the bills announced the coming event to the public +of Vienna. In a long postscript of a long and confused letter to +his people he writes: "I have made up my mind. Blahetka asserts +that I shall create a furore, 'being,' as he expressed it, 'an +artist of the first rank, and occupying an honourable place by +the side of Moscheles, Herz, and Kalkbrenner.'" To all appearance +our friend was not disposed to question the correctness of this +opinion; indeed, we shall see that although he had his moments of +doubting, he was perfectly conscious of his worth. No blame, +however, attaches to him on this account; self-respect and self- +confidence are not only irreprehensible but even indispensable-- +that is, indispensable for the successful exercise of any +talent. That our friend had his little weaknesses shall not be +denied nor concealed. I am afraid he cannot escape the suspicion +of having possessed a considerable share of harmless vanity. "All +journalists," he writes to his parents and sisters, "open their +eyes wide at me, and the members of the orchestra greet me +deferentially because I walk with the director of the Italian +opera arm-in-arm." Two pianoforte-manufacturers--in one place +Chopin says three--offered to send him instruments, but he +declined, partly because he had not room enough, partly because +he did not think it worth while to begin to practise two days +before the concert. Both Stein and Graff were very obliging; as, +however, he preferred the latter's instruments, he chose one of +this maker's for the concert, and tried to prevent the other from +taking offence by speaking him fair. + +Chopin made his first public appearance in Vienna at the +Karnthnerthor Theatre on August 11, 1829. The programme comprised +the following items: Beethoven's Overture to Prometheus; arias of +Rossini's and Vaccaj's, sung by Mdlle. Veltheim, singer to the +Saxon Court; Chopin's variations on La ci darem la mano and +Krakowiak, rondeau de concert (both for pianoforte and +orchestra), for the latter of which the composer substituted an +improvisation; and a short ballet. Chopin, in a letter to his +people dated August 12, 1829, describes the proceedings thus:-- + + Yesterday--i.e., Tuesday, at 7 p.m., I made my debut in the + Imperial Opera-house before the public of Vienna. These + evening concerts in the theatre are called here "musical + academies." As I claimed no honorarium, Count Gallenberg + hastened on my appearance. + +In a letter to Titus Woyciechowski, dated September 12, 1829, he +says:-- + + The sight of the Viennese public did not at all excite me, + and I sat down, pale as I was, at a wonderful instrument of + Graff's, at the time perhaps the best in Vienna. Beside me I + had a painted young man, who turned the leaves for me in the + Variations, and who prided himself on having rendered the + same service to Moscheles, Hummel, and Herz. Believe me when + I say that I played in a desperate mood; nevertheless, the + Variations produced so much effect that I was called back + several times. Mdlle. Veltheim sang very beautifully. Of my + improvisation I know only that it was followed by stormy + applause and many recalls. + +To the cause of the paleness and the desperate mood I shall +advert anon. Chopin was satisfied, nay, delighted with his +success; he had a friendly greeting of "Bravo!" on entering, and +this "pleasant word" the audience repeated after each Variation +so impetuously that he could not hear the tuttis of the +orchestra. At the end of the piece he was called back twice. The +improvisation on a theme from La Dame blanche and the Polish tune +Chmiel, which he substituted for the Krakowiak, although it did +not satisfy himself, pleased, or as Chopin has it, "electrified" +the audience. Count Gallenberg commended his compositions, and +Count Dietrichstein, who was much with the Emperor, came to him +on the stage, conversed with him a long time in French, +complimented him on his performance, and asked him to prolong his +stay in Vienna. The only adverse criticism which his friends, who +had posted themselves in different parts of the theatre, heard, +was that of a lady who remarked, "Pity the lad has not a better +tournure." However, the affair did not pass off altogether +without unpleasant incidents:-- + + The members of the orchestra [Chopin writes to his friend + Titus Woyciechowski] showed me sour faces at the rehearsal; + what vexed them most was that I wished to make my debut with + a new composition. I began with the Variations which are + dedicated to you; they were to be followed by the Rondo + Krakowiak. We got through the Variations well, the Rondo, on + the other hand, went so badly that we had to begin twice from + the beginning; the cause of this was said to be the bad + writing. I ought to have placed the figures above and not + below the rests (that being the way to which the Viennese + musicians are accustomed). Enough, these gentlemen made such + faces that I already felt inclined to send word in the + evening that I was ill. Demar, the manager, noticed the bad + disposition of the members of the orchestra, who also don't + like Wurfel. The latter wished to conduct himself, but the + orchestra refused (I don't know for what reason) to play + under his direction. Mr. Demar advised me to improvise, at + which proposal the orchestra looked surprised. I was so + irritated by what had happened that in my desperation I + agreed to it; and who knows if my bad humour and strange mood + were not the causes of the great success which my playing + obtained. + +Although Chopin passes off lightly the grumbling and grimacing of +the members of the orchestra respecting the bad writing of his +music, they seem to have had more serious reasons for complaint +than he alleges in the above quotation. Indeed, he relates +himself that after the occurrence his countryman Nidecki, who was +very friendly to him and rejoiced at his success, looked over the +orchestral parts of the Rondo and corrected them. The correction +of MSS. was at no time of his life a strong point of Chopin's. +That the orchestra was not hostile to him appears from another +allusion of his to this affair:-- + + The orchestra cursed my badly-written music, and was not at + all favourably inclined towards me until I began the + improvisation; but then it joined in the applause of the + public. From this I saw that it had a good opinion of me. + Whether the other artists had so too I did not know as yet; + but why should they be against me? They must see that I do + not play for the sake of material advantages. + +After such a success nothing was more natural than that Chopin +should allow himself to be easily persuaded to play again--il n'y +a que le premier pas qui coute--but he said he would not play a +third time. Accordingly, on August 18, he appeared once more on +the stage of the Karnthnerthor Theatre. Also this time he +received no payment, but played to oblige Count Gallenberg, who, +indeed, was in anything but flourishing circumstances. On this +occasion Chopin succeeded in producing the Krakowiak, and +repeated, by desire of the ladies, the Variations. Two other +items of the programme were Lindpaintner's Overture to Der +Bergkonig and a polonaise of Mayseder's played by the violinist +Joseph Khayl, a very young pupil of Jansa's. + + The rendering of the Rondo especially [Chopin writes] gave me + pleasure, because Gyrowetz, Lachner, and other masters, nay, + even the orchestra, were so charmed--excuse the expression-- + that they called me back twice. + +In another letter he is more loquacious on the subject:-- + + If the public received me kindly on my first appearance, it + was yesterday still more hearty. When I appeared on the stage + I was greeted with a twice-repeated, long-sustained "Bravo!" + The public had gathered in greater numbers than at the first + concert. The financier of the theatre, Baron--I do not + remember his name--thanked me for the recette and said that + if the attendance was great, it was not on account of the + ballet, which had already been often performed. With my Rondo + I have won the good opinion of all professional musicians-- + from Capellmeister Lachner to the pianoforte-tuner, all + praise my composition. + +The press showed itself not less favourable than the public. The +fullest account of our artist's playing and compositions, and the +impression they produced on this occasion, I found on looking +over the pages of the Wiener Theaterzeitung. Chopin refers to it +prospectively in a letter to his parents, written on August 19. +He had called on Bauerle, the editor of the paper, and had been +told that a critique of the concert would soon appear. To satisfy +his own curiosity and to show his people that he had said no more +than what was the truth in speaking of his success, he became a +subscriber to the Wiener Theaterzeitung, and had it sent to +Warsaw. The criticism is somewhat long, but as this first step +into the great world of art was an event of superlative +importance to Chopin, and is one of more than ordinary interest +to us, I do not hesitate to transcribe it in full so far as it +relates to our artist. Well, what we read in the Wiener +Theaterzeitung of August 20, 1829, is this:-- + + [Chopin] surprised people, because they discovered in him not + only a fine, but a really very eminent talent; on account of + the originality of his playing and compositions one might + almost attribute to him already some genius, at least, in so + far as unconventional forms and pronounced individuality are + concerned. His playing, like his compositions--of which we + heard on this occasion only variations--has a certain + character of modesty which seems to indicate that to shine is + not the aim of this young man, although his execution + conquered difficulties the overcoming of which even here, in + the home of pianoforte virtuosos, could not fail to cause + astonishment; nay, with almost ironical naivete he takes it + into his head to entertain a large audience with music as + music. And lo, he succeeded in this. The unprejudiced public + rewarded him with lavish applause. His touch, although neat + and sure, has little of that brilliance by which our + virtuosos announce themselves as such in the first bars; he + emphasised but little, like one conversing in a company of + clever people, not with that rhetorical aplomb which is + considered by virtuosos as indispensable. He plays very + quietly, without the daring elan which generally at once + distinguishes the artist from the amateur. Nevertheless, our + fine-feeling and acute-judging public recognised at once in + this youth, who is a stranger and as yet unknown to fame, a + true artist; and this evening afforded the unprejudiced + observer the pleasing spectacle of a public which, considered + as a moral person, showed itself a true connoisseur and a + virtuoso in the comprehension and appreciation of an artistic + performance which, in no wise grandiose, was nevertheless + gratifying. + + There were defects noticeable in the young man's playing, + among which are perhaps especially to be mentioned the non- + observance of the indication by accent of the commencement of + musical phrases. Nevertheless, he was recognised as an artist + of whom the best may be expected as soon as he has heard + more....As in his playing he was like a beautiful young tree + that stands free and full of fragrant blossoms and ripening + fruits, so he manifested as much estimable individuality in + his compositions, where new figures, new passages, new forms + unfolded themselves in the introduction, in the first, + second, and fourth Variations, and in the concluding + metamorphosis of Mozart's theme into a polacca. + + Such is the ingenuousness of the young virtuoso that he + undertook to come forward at the close of the concert with a + free fantasia before a public in whose eyes few improvisers, + with the exception of Beethoven and Hummel, have as yet found + favour. If the young man by a manifold change of his themes + aimed especially at amusement, the calm flow of his thoughts + and their firm connection and chaste development were + nevertheless a sufficient proof of his capability as regards + this rare gift. Mr. Chopin gave to-day so much pleasure to a + small audience that one cannot help wishing he may at another + performance play before a larger one.... + +Although the critic of the Wiener Theaterzeitung is more succinct +in his report (September 1, 1829) of the second concert, he is +not less complimentary. Chopin as a composer as well as an +executant justified on this occasion the opinion previously +expressed about him. + + He is a young man who goes his own way, and knows how to + please in this way, although his style of playing and writing + differs greatly from that of other virtuosos; and, indeed + chiefly in this, that the desire to make good music + predominates noticeably in his case over the desire to + please. Also to-day Mr. Chopin gave general satisfaction. + +These expressions of praise are so enthusiastic that a suspicion +might possibly arise as to their trustworthiness. But this is not +the only laudatory account to be found in the Vienna papers. Der +Sammler, for instance, remarked: "In Mr. Chopin we made the +acquaintance of one of the most excellent pianists, full of +delicacy and deepest feeling." The Wiener Zeitschrift fur Kunst, +Literatur, Theater und Mode, too, had appreciative notices of the +concerts. + + He executes the greatest difficulties with accuracy and + precision, and renders all passages with neatness. The + tribute of applause which the public paid to this clever + artist was very great; the concert-piece with orchestra (the + Variations) especially pleased. + +This was written after the first concert, and printed on August +22, 1829. From the criticism on the second concert, which +appeared in the same paper a week later (August 29), I cull the +following sentences:-- + + Chopin performed a new Rondo for pianoforte and orchestra of + his own composition. This piece is written throughout in the + chromatic style, rarely rises to geniality, but has passages + which are distinguished by depth and thoughtful working-out. + On the whole, however, he seems to be somewhat lacking in + variety. The master showed in it his dexterity as a pianist + to perfection, and conquered the greatest difficulties with + felicity. A longer stay in Vienna might be to the advantage + of his touch as well as of his ensemble playing with the + orchestra. He received much applause, and was repeatedly + called back....At the close Mr. Chopin played to-day the + Variations on a theme of Mozart's, which he had already + performed with so much bravura and felicity at his first + concert. The pleasing and yet substantial variety of this + composition as well as the fine, successful playing obtained + also to-day loud applause for the pianist. Connoisseurs and + amateurs manifested joyously and loudly their recognition of + his clever playing. This young man...shows in his + compositions a serious striving to interweave by interesting + combinations the orchestra with the pianoforte. + +In conclusion, let me quote one other journal, this time a purely +musical one--namely, the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (No. 46, +November 18, 1829). The notice, probably written by that +debauched genius F.A. Kanne, runs thus:-- + + Mr. Chopin, a pianist from Warsaw, according to report a + pupil of Wurfel's [which report was of course baseless], came + before us a master of the first rank. The exquisite delicacy + of his touch, his indescribable mechanical dexterity, his + finished shading and portamento, which reflect the deepest + feeling; the lucidity of his interpretation, and his + compositions, which bear the stamp of great genius-- + variazioni di bravura, rondo, free fantasia--reveal a + virtuoso most liberally endowed by nature, who, without + previous blasts of trumpets, appears on the horizon like one + of the most brilliant meteors. + +Still, the sweets of success were not altogether without some +admixture of bitterness, as we may perceive from the following +remarks of Chopin's:-- + + I know that I have pleased the ladies and the musicians. + Gyrowetz, who sat beside Celinski, made a terrible noise, and + shouted "Bravo." Only the out-and-out Germans seem not to + have been quite satisfied. + +And this, after having a few days before attributed the applause +to the Germans, who "could appreciate improvisations." Tantae +animis coelestibus irae? But what was the reason of this +indignation? Simply this: a gentleman, who after the second +concert came into the coffee-room of the hotel where Chopin was +staying, on being asked by some of the guests how he liked the +performance, answered laconically, "the ballet was very pretty"; +and, although they put some further questions, he would say no +more, having no doubt noticed a certain person. And hinc illae +lacrimae. Our sensitive friend was indeed so much ruffled at this +that he left the room in a pet and went to bed, so as not to +hinder, as he explains, the outpouring of the gentleman's +feelings. The principal stricture passed on the virtuoso was that +he played too softly, or, rather, too delicately. Chopin himself +says that on that point all were unanimous. But the touchy +artist, in true artist fashion-- or shall we be quite just and +say "in true human fashion"? adds:-- + + They are accustomed to the drumming of the native pianoforte + virtuosos. I fear that the newspapers will reproach me with + the same thing, especially as the daughter of an editor is + said to drum frightfully. However, it does not matter; as + this cannot be helped, I would rather that people say I play + too delicately than too roughly. + +When Count Moritz Lichnowski, to whom Chopin was introduced by +Wurfel, learned after the first concert that the young virtuoso +was going to play again, he offered to lend him his own piano for +the occasion, for he thought Chopin's feebleness of tone was +owing to the instrument he had used. But Chopin knew perfectly +the real state of the matter: "This is my manner of playing, +which pleases the ladies so very much." Chopin was already then, +and remained all his life, nay, even became more and more, the +ladies' pianist par excellence. By which, however, I do not mean +that he did not please the men, but only that no other pianist +was equally successful in touching the most tender and intimate +chords of the female heart. Indeed, a high degree of refinement +in thought and feeling combined with a poetic disposition are +indispensable requisites for an adequate appreciation of Chopin's +compositions and style of playing. His remark, therefore, that he +had captivated the learned and the poetic natures, was no doubt +strictly correct with regard to his success in Vienna; but at the +same time it may be accepted as a significant foreshadowing of +his whole artistic career. Enough has now been said of these +performances, and, indeed, too much, were it not that to +ascertain the stage of development reached by an original master, +and the effect which his efforts produced on his artistically- +cultivated contemporaries, are objects not undeserving a few +pages of discussion. + +During the twenty days which Chopin spent in Vienna he displayed +great activity. He was always busy, and had not a moment to +spare. His own public performances did not make him neglect those +of others. He heard the violinist Mayseder twice, and went to +representations of Boieldieu's "La Dame blanche," Rossini's +"Cenerentola," Meyerbeer's "Crociato in Egitto," and other +operas. He also visited the picture gallery and the museum of +antiquities, delivered letters of introduction, made +acquaintances, dined and drank tea with counts and countesses, +&c. Wherever Chopin goes we are sure to see him soon in +aristocratic and in Polish society. + + Everybody says that I have pleased the nobility here + exceedingly The Schwarzenbergs, Wrbnas, &c., were quite + enraptured by the delicacy and elegance of my playing. As a + further proof I may mention the visit which Count + Dietrichstein paid me on the stage. + +Chopin called repeatedly on the "worthy old gentleman" Count +Hussarzewski and his "worthy lady," with whom he dined once, and +who wished him to stay for dinner when he made his farewell call. +With the Countess Lichnowska and her daughter he took tea two +days after the first concert. They were inexpressibly delighted +to hear that he was going to give a second, asked him to visit +them on his way through Vienna to Paris, and promised him a +letter of introduction to a sister of the Count's. This Count +Lichnowski was Count Moritz Lichnowski, the friend of Beethoven, +to whom the great master dedicated the Variations, Op. 35, and +the Sonata, Op. 90, in which are depicted the woes and joys of +the Count's love for the singer Mdlle. Strammer, who afterwards +became his wife, and, in fact, was the Countess Lichnowska with +whom Chopin became acquainted. + +[Footnote: Count Moritz Lichnowski must not be confounded with +his elder brother Prince Carl Lichnowski, the pupil and friend of +Mozart, and the friend and patron of Beethoven, to whom the +latter dedicated his Op. 1, and who died in 1814.] + +Among the letters of introduction which Chopin brought with him +there was also one for Schuppanzigh, whose name is in musical +history indissolubly connected with those of Beethoven and +Lichnowski. The eminent quartet leader, although his quartet +evenings were over, held out to Chopin hopes of getting up +another during his visitor's stay in Vienna--he would do so, he +said, if possible. To no one, however, either professional or +amateur, was Chopin so much indebted for guidance and furtherance +as to his old obliging friend Wurfel, who introduced him not only +to Count Gallenberg, Count Lichnowski, and Capellmeister +Seyfried, but to every one of his acquaintances who either was a +man of influence or took an interest in musical matters. +Musicians whose personal acquaintance Chopin said he was glad to +make were: Gyrowetz, the author of the concerto with which little +Frederick made his debut in Warsaw at the age of nine, an +estimable artist, as already stated, who had the sad misfortune +to outlive his popularity; Capellmeister Seyfried, a prolific but +qualitatively poor composer, best known to our generation as the +editor of Albrechtsberger's theoretical works and Beethoven's +studies; Conradin Kreutzer, who had already distinguished himself +as a virtuoso on the clarinet and pianoforte, and as a conductor +and composer, but had not yet produced his "Nachtlager"; Franz +Lachner, the friend of Franz Schubert, then a young active +conductor and rising composer, now one of the most honoured +veterans of his art. With Schuppanzigh's pupil Mayseder, the +prince of the Viennese violinists of that day, and indeed one of +the neatest, most graceful, and elegant, although somewhat cold, +players of his instrument, Chopin had a long conversation. The +only critical comments to be found in Chopin's letters on the +musicians he came in contact with in the Austrian capital refer +to Czerny, with whom he got well acquainted and often played +duets for two pianos. Of him the young Polish musician said, "He +is a good man, but nothing more." And after having bidden him +farewell, he says, "Czerny was warmer than all his compositions." +However, it must not be supposed that Chopin's musical +acquaintances were confined to the male sex; among them there was +at least one belonging to the better and fairer half of humanity- +-a pianist-composer, a maiden still in her teens, and clever and +pretty to boot, who reciprocated the interest he took in her. +According to our friend's rather conceited statement I ought to +have said--but it would have been very ungallant to do so--he +reciprocated the interest she took in him. The reader has no +doubt already guessed that I am speaking of Leopoldine Blahetka. + +On the whole, Chopin passed his time in Vienna both pleasantly +and profitably, as is well shown by his exclamation on the last +day of his stay: "It goes crescendo with my popularity here, and +this gives me much pleasure." The preceding day Schuppanzigh had +said to him that as he left so soon he ought not to be long in +coming back. And when Chopin replied that he would like to return +to perfect himself, the by-standers told him he need not come for +that purpose as he had no longer anything to learn. Although the +young musician remarks that these were compliments, he cannot +help confessing that he likes to hear them; and of course one who +likes to hear them does not wholly disbelieve them, but considers +them something more than a mere flatus vocis. "Nobody here," +Chopin writes exultingly, "will regard me as a pupil." Indeed, +such was the reception he met with that it took him by surprise. +"People wonder at me," he remarked soon after his arrival in +Vienna, "and I wonder at them for wondering at me." It was +incomprehensible to him that the artists and amateurs of the +famous musical city should consider it a loss if he departed +without giving a concert. The unexpected compliments and applause +that everywhere fell upon his ear, together with the many events, +experiences, and thoughts that came crowding upon him, would have +caused giddiness in any young artist; Chopin they made drunk with +excitement and pleasure. The day after the second concert he +writes home: "I really intended to have written about something +else, but I can't get yesterday out of my head." His head was +indeed brimful, or rather full to overflowing, of whirling +memories and expectations which he poured into the news--budgets +destined for his parents, regardless of logical sequence, just as +they came uppermost. The clear, succinct accounts of his visit +which he gives to his friend Titus after his return to Warsaw +contrast curiously with the confused interminable letters of +shreds and patches he writes from Vienna. These latter, however, +have a value of their own; they present one with a striking +picture of the state of his mind at that time. The reader may +consider this part of the biography as an annotated digest of +Chopin's letters, of those addressed to his parents as well as of +those to his friend Woyciechowski. + +At last came the 19th of August, the day of our travelling- +party's departure. Chopin passed the whole forenoon in making +valedictory visits, and when in the afternoon he had done packing +and writing, he called once more on Haslinger--who promised to +publish the Variations in about five weeks--and then went to the +cafe opposite the theatre, where he was to meet Gyrowetz, +Lachner, Kreutzer, and others. The rest shall be told in Chopin's +own words:-- + + After a touching parting--it was really a touching parting + when Miss Blahetka gave me as a souvenir her compositions + bearing her own signature, and her father sent his + compliments to you [Chopin's father] and dear mother, + congratulating you on having such a son; when young Stein + [one of the well-known family of pianoforte-manufacturers and + musicians] wept, and Schuppanzigh, Gyrowetz, in one word, all + the other artists, were much moved--well then, after this + touching parting and having promised to return soon, I + stepped into the stage-coach. + +This was at nine o'clock in the evening, and Chopin and his +fellow-travellers, accompanied for half-an-hour by Nidecki and +some other Poles, leaving behind Vienna and Vienna friends, +proceeded on their way to Bohemia. + +Prague was reached by our travellers on August 21. The +interesting old town did not display its beauties in vain, for +Chopin writes admiringly of the fine views from the castle hill, +of the castle itself, of "the majestic cathedral with a silver +statue of St. John, the beautiful chapel of St. Wenceslas, inlaid +with amethysts and other precious stones," and promises to give a +fuller and more detailed description of what he has seen by word +of mouth. His friend Maciejowski had a letter of introduction to +Waclaw Hanka, the celebrated philologist and librarian of the +National Museum, to whom Chopin introduced himself as the godson +of Count Skarbek. On visiting the museum they were asked, like +all on whom the librarian bestowed his special attention, to +write their names in the visitors' book. Maciejowski wrote also +four mazurka strophes eulogising Hanka's scientific achievements, +and Chopin set them to music. The latter brought with him from +Vienna six letters of introduction--one from Blahetka and five +from Wurfel--which were respectively addressed to Pixis, to the +manager of the theatre, and to other musical big-wigs. The +distinguished violin-virtuoso, professor at the Conservatorium, +and conductor at the theatre, Frederick Pixis (1786--1842), +received Chopin very kindly, gave up some lessons that he might +keep him longer and talk with him, and invited him to come again +in the afternoon, when he would meet August Alexander Klengel, of +Dresden, whose card Chopin had noticed on the table. For this +esteemed pianist and famous contrapuntist he had also a letter of +introduction, and he was glad to meet him in Prague, as he +otherwise would have missed seeing him, Klengel being on his way +to Vienna and Italy. They made each other's acquaintance on the +stairs leading to Pixis' apartments. + + I heard him play his fugues for two hours; I did not play, as + they did not ask me to do so. Klengel's rendering pleased me, + but I must confess I had expected something better (but I beg + of you not to mention this remark of mine to others). + +Elsewhere he writes:-- + + Of all the artists whose acquaintance I have made, Klengel + pleased me most. He played me his fugues (one may say that + they are a continuation of those of Bach. There are forty- + eight of them, and the same number of canons). What a + difference between him and Czerny! + +Klengel's opus magnum, the "Canons et Fugues dans tons les tons +majeurs et mineurs pour le piano, en deux parties," did not +appear till 1854, two years after his death, although it had been +completed some decades previously. He carried it about with him +on all his travels, unceasingly improving and perfecting it, and +may be said to have worked at it for the space of half his life. +The two artists who met at Pixis' house got on well together, +unlike as they were in their characters and aims. Chopin called +on Klengel before the latter's departure from Prague, and spent +two hours with him in conversation, neither of them being for a +moment at a loss for material to talk about. Klengel gave Chopin +a letter of introduction to Morlacchi, the address of which ran: +Al ornatissimo Signore Cavaliere Morlacchi, primo maestro della +capella Reale, and in which he asked this gentleman to make the +bearer acquainted with the musical life of Dresden. How +favourably Klengel had impressed his younger brother in art may +be gathered from the above-quoted and the following remarks: "He +was to me a very agreeable acquaintance, whom I esteem more +highly than Czerny, but of this also don't speak, my beloved +ones." + +[FOOTNOTE: Their disparity of character would have revealed +itself unpleasantly to both parties if the grand seigneur Chopin +had, like Moritz Hauptmann, been the travelling-companion of the +meanly parsimonious Klengel, who to save a few bajocchi left the +hotels with uncleaned boots, and calculated the worth of the few +things he cared for by scudi.--See Moritz Hauptmann's account of +his "canonic" travelling-companion's ways and procedures in the +letters to Franz Hauser, vol. i., p. 64, and passim.] + +The reader will no doubt notice and admire the caution of our +young friend. Remembering that not even Paganini had escaped +being censured in Prague, Chopin felt no inclination to give a +concert, as he was advised to do. A letter in which he describes +his Prague experiences reveals to us one of his weaknesses--one, +however, which he has in common with many men of genius. A propos +of his bursting into a wrong bedroom he says: "I am absent- +minded, you know." + +After three pleasant days at Prague the quatrefoil of friends +betook themselves again to the road, and wended their way to +Teplitz, where they arrived the same evening, and stopped two +nights and one day. Here they fell in with many Poles, by one of +whom, Louis Lempicki, Chopin was introduced to Prince Clary and +his family, in whose castle he spent an evening in very +aristocratic society. Among the guests were an Austrian prince, +an Austrian and a Saxon general, a captain of the English navy, +and several dandies whom Chopin suspected to be Austrian princes +or counts. After tea he was asked by the mother of the Princess +Clary, Countess Chotek, to play something. Chopin at once went to +the piano, and invited those present to give him a theme to +improvise upon. + + Hereupon [he relates] I heard the ladies, who had taken seats + near a table, whisper to each other: "Un theme, un theme." + Three young princesses consulted together and at last turned + to Mr. Fritsche, the tutor of Prince Clary's only son, who, + with the approbation of all present, said to me: "The + principal theme of Rossini's 'Moses'." I improvised, and, it + appears, very successfully, for General Leiser [this was the + Saxon general] afterwards conversed with me for a long time, + and when he heard that I intended to go to Dresden he wrote + at once to Baron von Friesen as follows: "Monsieur Frederic + Chopin est recommande de la part du General Leiser a Monsieur + le Baron de Friesen, Maitre de Ceremonie de S.M. le Roi de + Saxe, pour lui etre utile pendant son sejour a Dresde et de + lui procurer la connaissance de plusieurs de nos artistes." + And he added, in German: "Herr Chopin is himself one of the + most excellent pianists whom I know." + +In short, Chopin was made much of; had to play four times, +received an invitation to dine at the castle the following day, +&c., &c. That our friend, in spite of all these charming +prospects, leaving behind him three lovely princesses, and who +knows what other aristocratic amenities, rolled off the very next +morning at five o'clock in a vehicle hired at the low price of +two thalers--i.e., six shillings--must be called either a feat of +superhuman heroism or an instance of barbarous insensibility--let +the reader decide which. Chopin's visit to Teplitz was not part +of his original plan, but the state of his finances was so good +that he could allow himself some extravagances. Everything +delighted him at Teplitz, and, short as his stay was, he did the +sight-seeing thoroughly--we have his own word for it that he saw +everything worth seeing, among the rest Dux, the castle of the +Waldsteins, with relics of their ancestor Albrecht Waldstein, or +Wallenstein. + +Leaving Teplitz on the morning of August 26, he arrived in the +evening of the same day in Dresden in good health and good +humour. About this visit to Dresden little is to be said. Chopin +had no intention of playing in public, and did nothing but look +about him, admiring nature in Saxon Switzerland, and art in the +"magnificent" gallery. He went to the theatre where Goethe's +Faust (the first part), adapted by Tieck, was for the first time +produced on the stage, Carl Devrient impersonating the principal +part. "An awful but grand imagination! In the entr'actes portions +from Spohr's opera "Faust" were performed. They celebrated today +Goethe's eightieth birthday." It must be admitted that the master- +work is dealt with rather laconically, but Chopin never indulges +in long aesthetical discussions. On the following Saturday +Meyerbeer's "Il Crociato" was to be performed by the Italian +Opera--for at that time there was still an Italian Opera in +Dresden. Chopin, however, did not stay long enough to hear it, +nor did he very much regret missing it, having heard the work +already in Vienna. Although Baron von Friesen received our friend +most politely, he seems to have been of no assistance to him. +Chopin fared better with his letter of introduction to +Capellmeister Morlacchi, who returned the visit paid him and made +himself serviceable. And now mark this touch of boyish vanity: +"Tomorrow morning I expect Morlacchi, and I shall go with him to +Miss Pechwell's. That is to say, I do not go to him, but he comes +to me. Yes, yes, yes!" Miss Pechwell was a pupil of Klengel's, +and the latter had asked Morlacchi to introduce Chopin to her. +She seems to have been not only a technically skilful, fine- +feeling, and thoughtful musician, but also in other respects a +highly-cultivated person. Klengel called her the best pianist in +Dresden. She died young, at the age of 35, having some time +previously changed her maiden name for that of Madame Pesadori. +We shall meet her again in the course of this biography. + +Of the rest of Chopin's journey nothing is known except that it +led him to Breslau, but when he reached and left it, and what he +did there, are open questions, and not worth troubling about. So +much, however, is certain, that on September 12, 1829, he was +settled again in his native city, as is proved by a letter +bearing that date. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + + +THE WORKS OF CHOPIN'S FIRST PERIOD. + + + +The only works of Chopin we have as yet discussed are--if we +leave out of account the compositions which the master neither +published himself nor wished to be published by anybody else--the +"Premier Rondeau," Op. 1, the "Rondeau a la Mazur," Op. 5, and +"Variations sur un air allemand" (see Chapter III). We must +retrace our steps as far back as 1827, and briefly survey the +composer's achievements up to the spring of 1829, when a new +element enters into his life and influences his artistic work. It +will be best to begin with a chronological enumeration of those +of Chopin's compositions of the time indicated that have come +down to us. In 1827 came into existence or were finished: a +Mazurka (Op. 68, No. 2), a Polonaise (Op. 71, No. 1), and a +Nocturne (Op. 72); in 1828, "La ci darem la mano, varie" for +piano and orchestra (Op. 2), a Polonaise (Op. 71, No. 2), a Rondo +for two pianos (Op. 73), a Sonata (Op. 4), a Fantasia on Polish +airs for piano and orchestra (Op. 13), a Krakowiak, "Grand +Rondeau de Concert," likewise for piano and orchestra (Op. 14), +and a Trio for piano, violin, and violoncello (Op. 8); in 1829, a +Polonaise (Op. 71, No. 3), a Waltz (Op. 69, No. 2), another Waltz +(in E major, without opus number), and a Funeral March (Op. 726). +I will not too confidently assert that every one of the last four +works was composed in the spring or early summer of 1829; but +whether they were or were not, they may be properly ranged with +those previously mentioned of 1827 and 1828. The works that bear +a higher opus number than 65 were published after the composer's +death by Fontana. The Waltz without opus number and the Sonata, +Op. 4, are likewise posthumous publications. + +The works enumerated above may be divided into three groups, the +first of which comprises the Sonata, the Trio, and the Rondo for +two pianos. + +The Sonata (in C minor) for piano, Op. 4, of which Chopin wrote +as early as September 9, 1828, that it had been for some time in +the hands of Haslinger at Vienna, was kept by this publisher in +manuscript till after the composer's death, being published only +in July, 1851. "As a pupil of his I dedicated it to Elsner," says +Chopin. It is indeed a pupil's work--an exercise, and not a very +successful one. The exigencies of the form overburdened the +composer and crushed all individuality out of him. Nowhere is +Chopin so little himself, we may even say so unlike himself. The +distribution of keys and the character of the themes show that +the importance of contrast in the construction of larger works +was still unsuspected by him. The two middle movements, a +Menuetto and a Larghetto--although in the latter the self-imposed +fetters of the 5-4 time prevent the composer from feeling quite +at his ease--are more attractive than the rest. In them are +discernible an approach to freedom and something like a breath of +life, whereas in the first and the last movement there is almost +nothing but painful labour and dull monotony. The most curious +thing, however, about this work is the lumbering passage-writing +of our graceful, light-winged Chopin. + +Infinitely superior to the Sonata is the Trio for piano, violin, +and violoncello, Op. 8, dedicated to Prince Anton Radziwill, +which was published in March, 1833. It was begun early in 1828, +was "not yet finished" on September 9, and "not yet quite +finished" on December 27 of that year. Chopin tried the first +movement in the summer of 1828, and we may assume that, a few +details and improvements excepted, the whole was completed at the +beginning of 1829. A considerable time, however, elapsed before +the composer declared it ready for the press. On August 31, 1830, +he writes:-- + + I tried the Trio last Sunday and was satisfied with it, + perhaps because I had not heard it for a long time. I suppose + you will say, "What a happy man!" Something occurred to me on + hearing it--namely, that it would be better to employ a viola + instead of the violin, for with the violin the E string + dominates most, whilst in my Trio it is hardly ever used. The + viola would stand in a more proper relation to the + violoncello. Then the Trio will be ready for the press. + +The composer did not make the intended alteration, and in this he +was well advised. For his remarks betray little insight; what +preciousness they possess they owe for the most part to the +scarcity of similar discussions of craftsmanship in his letters. +From the above dates we see that the composer bestowed much time, +care, and thought upon the work. Indeed, there can be no doubt +that as regards conventional handling of the sonata-form Chopin +has in no instance been more successful. Were we to look upon +this work as an exercise, we should have to pronounce it a most +excellent one. But the ideal content, which is always estimable +and often truly beautiful as well as original, raises it high +above the status of an exercise. The fundamental fault of the +Trio lies in this, that the composer tried to fill a given form +with ideas, and to some extent failed to do so--the working-out +sections especially testify to the correctness of this opinion. +That the notion of regarding form as a vessel--a notion oftener +acted upon than openly professed--is a mischievous one will +hardly be denied, and if it were denied, we could not here +discuss so wide a question as that of "What is form?" The +comparatively ineffective treatment of the violin and violoncello +also lays the composer open to censure. Notwithstanding its +weaknesses the work was received with favour by the critics, the +most pronounced conservatives not excepted. That the latter gave +more praise to it than to Chopin's previously-published +compositions is a significant fact, and may be easily accounted +for by the less vigorous originality and less exclusive +individuality of the Trio, which, although superior in these +respects to the Sonata, Op. 4, does not equal the composer's +works written in simpler forms. Even the most hostile of Chopin's +critics, Rellstab, the editor of the Berlin musical journal Iris, +admits--after censuring the composer's excessive striving after +originality, and the unnecessarily difficult pianoforte passages +with their progressions of intervals alike repellent to hand and +ear--that this is "on the whole a praiseworthy work, which, in +spite of some excursions into deviating bye-paths, strikes out in +a better direction than the usual productions of the modern +composers" (1833, No. 21). The editor of the Leipzig "Allgemeine +musikalische Zeitung," a journal which Schumann characterises as +"a sleepy place," is as eulogistic as the most rabid Chopin +admirer could wish. Having spoken of the "talented young man" as +being on the one hand under the influence of Field, and on the +other under that of Beethoven, he remarks:-- + + In the Trio everything is new: the school, which is the neo- + romantic; the art of pianoforte-playing, the individuality, + the originality, or rather the genius--which, in the + expression of a passion, unites, mingles, and alternates so + strangely with that amiable tenderness [Innigkeit] that the + shifting image of the passion hardly leaves the draughtsman + time to seize it firmly and securely, as he would fain do; + even the position of the phrases is unusual. All this, + however, would be ambiguous praise did not the spirit, which + is both old and new, breathe through the new form and give it + a soul. + +I place these criticisms before the reader as historical +documents, not as final decisions and examples of judicial +wisdom. In fact, I accept neither the strictures of the one nor +the sublimifications of the other, although the confident self- +assertion of the former and the mystic vagueness of the latter +ought, according to use and wont, to carry the weight of +authority with them. Schumann, the Chopin champion par +excellence, saw clearer, and, writing three years later (1836), +said that the Trio belonged to Chopin's earlier period when the +composer still allowed the virtuoso some privileges. Although I +cannot go so far as this too admiring and too indulgent critic, +and describe the work as being "as noble as possible, more full +of enthusiasm than the work of any other poet [so schwarmerisch +wie noch kein Dichter gesungen], original in its smallest +details, and, as a whole, every note music and life," I think +that it has enough of nobility, enthusiasm, originality, music, +and life, to deserve more attention than it has hitherto +obtained. + +Few classifications can at one and the same time lay claim to the +highest possible degree of convenience--the raison d'etre of +classifications--and strict accuracy. The third item of my first +group, for instance, might more properly be said to stand +somewhere between this and the second group, partaking somewhat +of the nature of both. The Rondo, Op. 73, was not originally +written for two pianos. Chopin wrote on September 9, 1828, that +he had thus rearranged it during a stay at Strzyzewo in the +summer of that year. At that time he was pretty well pleased with +the piece, and a month afterwards talked of playing it with his +friend Fontana at the Ressource. Subsequently he must have +changed his opinion, for the Rondo did not become known to the +world at large till it was published posthumously. Granting +certain prettinesses, an unusual dash and vigour, and some points +of interest in the working-out, there remains the fact that the +stunted melodies signify little and the too luxuriant passage- +work signifies less, neither the former nor the latter possessing +much of the charm that distinguishes them in the composer's later +works. The original in this piece is confined to the passage- +work, and has not yet got out of the rudimentary stage. Hence, +although the Rondo may not be unworthy of finding occasionally a +place in a programme of a social gathering with musical +accompaniments and even of a non-classical concert, it will +disappoint those who come to it with their expectations raised by +Chopin's chefs-d'oeuvre, where all is poetry and exquisiteness of +style. + +The second group contains Chopin's concert-pieces, all of which +have orchestral accompaniments. They are: (1) "La ci darem la +mano, varie pour le piano," Op. 2; (2) "Grande Fantaisie sur des +airs polonais," Op. 13; (3) "Krakowiak, Grande Rondeau de +Concert," Op. 14. Of these three the first, which is dedicated to +Titus Woyciechowski, has become the most famous, not, however, on +account of its greater intrinsic value, but partly because the +orchestral accompaniments can be most easily dispensed with, and +more especially because Schumann has immortalised it by--what +shall I call it ?--a poetic prose rhapsody. As previously stated, +the work had already in September, 1828, been for some time at +Vienna in the hands of Haslinger; it was probably commenced as +far back as 1827, but it did not appear in print till 1830. +[FOOTNOTE: It appeared in a serial publication entitled Odeon, +which was described on the title-page as: Ausgewahlte grosse +Concertstucke fur verschiedene Instrumente (Selected Grand +Concert-Pieces for different instruments).] On April 10 of that +year Chopin writes that he expects it impatiently. The appearance +of these Variations, the first work of Chopin published outside +his own country, created a sensation. Of the impression which he +produced with it on the Viennese in 1829 enough has been said in +the preceding chapter. The Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung +received no less than three reviews of it, two of them--that of +Schumann and one by "an old musician"--were accepted and inserted +in the same number of the paper (1831, Vol. xxxiii., No. 49); the +third, by Friedrich Wieck, which was rejected, found its way in +the following year into the musical journal Caecilia. Schumann's +enthusiastic effusion was a prophecy rather than a criticism. But +although we may fail to distinguish in Chopin's composition the +flirting of the grandee Don Juan with the peasant-girl Zerlina, +the curses of the duped lover Masetto, and the jeers and laughter +of the knavish attendant Leporello, which Schumann thought he +recognised, we all obey most readily and reverently his +injunction, "Hats off, gentlemen: a genius!" In these words lies, +indeed, the merit of Schumann's review as a criticism. Wieck felt +and expressed nearly the same, only he felt it less passionately +and expressed it in the customary critical style. The "old +musician," on the other hand, is pedantically censorious, and the +redoubtable Rellstab (in the Iris) mercilessly condemnatory. +Still, these two conservative critics, blinded as they were by +the force of habit to the excellences of the rising star, saw +what their progressive brethren overlooked in the ardour of their +admiration--namely, the super-abundance of ornament and +figuration. There is a grain of truth in the rather strong +statement of Rellstab that the composer "runs down the theme with +roulades, and throttles and hangs it with chains of shakes." +What, however, Rellstab and the "old musician"--for he, too, +exclaims, "nothing but bravura and figuration!"--did not see, but +what must be patent to every candid and unprejudiced observer, +are the originality, piquancy, and grace of these fioriture, +roulades, &c., which, indeed, are unlike anything that was ever +heard or seen before Chopin's time. I say "seen," for the +configurations in the notation of this piece are so different +from those of the works of any other composer that even an +unmusical person could distinguish them from all the rest; and +there is none of the timid groping, the awkward stumbling of the +tyro. On the contrary, the composer presents himself with an ease +and boldness which cannot but command admiration. The reader will +remember what the Viennese critic said about Chopin's "aim"; that +it was not to dazzle by the superficial means of the virtuoso, +but to impress by the more legitimate ones of the genuine +musician. This is true if we compare the Chopin of that day with +his fellow-virtuosos Kalkbrenner, Herz, &c.; but if we compare +him with his later self, or with Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, +Schumann, &c., the case is different. Indeed, there can be no +doubt but that in this and the other pieces of this group, +Chopin's aim was that of the virtuoso, only his nature was too +rich, too noble, to sink into the inanity of an insipid, +conventional brilliancy. Moreover, whilst maintaining that in the +works specified language outruns in youthful exuberance thought +and emotion, I hasten to add that there are premonitory signs-- +for instance, in the Op. 2 under discussion, more especially in +the introduction, the fifth variation, and the Finale--of what as +yet lies latent in the master's undeveloped creative power. + +The Grande Fantaisie sur des airs polonais (A major) for the +pianoforte and orchestra, Op. 13, dedicated to J. P. Pixis, and +published in April, 1834, and the Krakowiak, Grand Rondeau de +Concert (F major) for the pianoforte and orchestra, Op. 14, +dedicated to the Princesse Adam Czartoryska, and published in +June, 1834, are the most overtly Polish works of Chopin. Of the +composition of the former, which, according to Karasowski, was +sketched in 1828, the composer's letters give no information; but +they contain some remarks concerning the latter. We learn that +the score of the Krakowiak was finished by December 27, 1828, and +find the introduction described as having "as funny an appearance +as himself in his pilot-cloth overcoat." In the Fantasia the +composer introduces and variates a Polish popular song (Juz +miesiac zaszedl), and an air by the Polish composer Kurpinski, +and concludes with a Kujawiak, a dance of the mazurka species, in +3-4 time, which derives its name from the district called +Kujawia. In connection with this composition I must not omit to +mention that the first variation on the Polish popular song +contains the germ of the charming Berceuse (Op. 57). The Rondo, +Op. 14, has the character of a Krakowiak, a dance in 2-4 time +which originated in Cracovia. In no other compositions of the +master do the national elements show themselves in the same +degree of crudity; indeed, after this he never incorporates +national airs and imitates so closely national dances. Chopin +remains a true Pole to the end of his days, and his love of and +attachment to everything Polish increase with the time of absence +from his native country. But as the composer grows in maturity, +he subjects the raw material to a more and more thorough process +of refinement and development before he considers it fit for +artistic purposes; the popular dances are spiritualised, the +national characteristics and their corresponding musical idioms +are subtilised and individualised. I do not agree with those +critics who think it is owing to the strongly-marked, exclusive +Polish national character that these two works have gained so +little sympathy in the musical world; there are artistic reasons +that account for the neglect, which is indeed so great that I do +not remember having heard or read of any virtuoso performing +either of these pieces in public till a few years ago, when +Chopin's talented countrywoman Mdlle. Janotha ventured on a +revival of the Fantasia, without, however, receiving, in spite of +her finished rendering, much encouragement. The works, as wholes, +are not altogether satisfactory in the matter of form, and appear +somewhat patchy. This is especially the case in the Fantasia, +where the connection of parts is anything but masterly. Then the +arabesk-element predominates again quite unduly. Rellstab +discusses the Fantasia with his usual obtuseness, but points out +correctly that Chopin gives only here and there a few bars of +melody, and never a longer melodic strain. The best parts of the +works, those that contain the greatest amount of music, are +certainly the exceedingly spirited Kujawiak and Krakowiak. The +unrestrained merriment that reigns in the latter justifies, or, +if it does not justify, disposes us to forgive much. Indeed, the +Rondo may be said to overflow with joyousness; now the notes run +at random hither and thither, now tumble about head over heels, +now surge in bold arpeggios, now skip from octave to octave, now +trip along in chromatics, now vent their gamesomeness in the most +extravagant capers. + +The orchestral accompaniments, which in the Variations, Op. 2, +are of very little account, show in every one of the three works +of this group an inaptitude in writing for any other instrument +than the piano that is quite surprising considering the great +musical endowments of Chopin in other respects. I shall not dwell +on this subject now, as we shall have to consider it when we come +to the composer's concertos. + +The fundamental characteristics of Chopin's style--the loose- +textured, wide-meshed chords and arpeggios, the serpentine +movements, the bold leaps--are exaggerated in the works of this +group, and in their exaggeration become grotesque, and not +unfrequently ineffective. These works show us, indeed, the +composer's style in a state of fermentation; it has still to pass +through a clearing process, in which some of its elements will be +secreted and others undergo a greater or less change. We, who +judge Chopin by his best works, are apt to condemn too +precipitately the adverse critics of his early compositions. But +the consideration of the luxuriance and extravagance of the +passage-work which distinguish them from the master's maturer +creations ought to caution us and moderate our wrath. Nay more, +it may even lead us to acknowledge, however reluctantly, that +amidst the loud braying of Rellstab there occurred occasionally +utterances that were by no means devoid of articulation and +sense. Take, for instance, this--I do not remember just now a +propos of which composition, but it is very appropriate to those +we are now discussing:--"The whole striving of the composer must +be regarded as an aberration, based on decided talent, we admit, +but nevertheless an aberration." You see the most hostile of +Chopin's critics does not deny his talent; indeed, Rellstab +sometimes, especially subsequently, speaks quite patronisingly +about him. I shall take this opportunity to contradict the +current notion that Chopin had just cause to complain of +backwardness in the recognition of his genius, and even of +malicious attacks on his rising reputation. The truth of this is +already partly disproved by the foregoing, and it will be fully +so by the sequel. + +The pieces which I have formed into a third group show us the +composer free from the fetters that ambition and other +preoccupations impose. Besides Chopin's peculiar handling we find +in them more of his peculiar sentiment. If the works of the first +group were interesting as illustrating the development of the +student, those of the second group that of the virtuoso, and +those of both that of the craftsman, the works of the third group +furnish us most valuable documents for the history of the man and +poet. The foremost in importance of the pieces comprised in this +group are no doubt the three polonaises, composed respectively in +the years 1827, 1828, and 1829. The bravura character is still +prominent, but, instead of ruling supreme, it becomes in every +successive work more and more subordinate to thought and emotion. +These polonaises, although thoroughly Chopinesque, nevertheless +differ very much from his later ones, those published by himself, +which are generally more compact and fuller of poetry. Moreover, +I imagine I can see in several passages the influence of Weber, +whose Polonaise in E flat minor, Polacca in E major, Sonata in A +flat major, and Invitation a la Valse (to mention a few apposite +instances), respectively published in 1810, 1819, 1816, and 1821, +may be supposed to have been known to Chopin. These +reminiscences, if such they are, do not detract much from the +originality of the compositions; indeed, that a youth of eighteen +should have attained such a strongly-developed individuality as +the D minor Polonaise exhibits, is truly wonderful. + +The Nocturne of the year 1827 (Op. 72, No. 1, E minor) is +probably the poorest of the early compositions, but excites one's +curiosity as the first specimen of the kind by the incomparable +composer of nocturnes. Do not misunderstand me, however, and +imagine that I wish to exalt Chopin at the expense of another +great musician. Field has the glory not only of having originated +the genre, but also of having produced examples that have as yet +lost nothing, or very little, of their vitality. His nocturnes +are, indeed, a rich treasure, which, undeservedly neglected by +the present generation, cannot be superseded by those of his +illustrious, and now favoured successor. On the other hand, +although Field's priority and influence on Chopin must be +admitted, the unprejudiced cannot but perceive that the latter is +no imitator. Even where, as for instance in Op. 9, Nos. 1 and 2, +the mejody or the form of the accompaniment shows a distinct +reminiscence of Field, such is the case only for a few notes, and +the next moment Chopin is what nobody else could be. To watch a +great man's growth, to trace a master's noble achievements from +their humble beginnings, has a charm for most minds. I, +therefore, need not fear the reader's displeasure if I direct his +attention to some points, notable on this account--in this case +to the wide-meshed chords and light-winged flights of notes, and +the foreshadowing of the Coda of Op. 9. + +Of 1827 we have also a Mazurka in A minor, Op. 68, No. 2. It is +simple and rustic, and at the same time graceful. The trio (poco +piu mosso), the more original portion of the Mazurka, reappears +in a slightly altered form in later mazurkas. It is these +foreshadowings of future beauties, that make these early works so +interesting. The above-mentioned three polonaises are full of +phrases, harmonic, progressions, &c., which are subsequently +reutilised in a. purer, more emphatic, more developed, more +epigrammatic, or otherwise more perfect form. We notice the same +in the waltzes which remain yet to be discussed here. + +Whether these Waltzes (in B minor, Op. 69, No. 2; and in E major, +without opus number) were really written in the early part of +1829, or later on in the year, need not be too curiously inquired +into. As I have already remarked, they may certainly be classed +along with the above-discussed works. The first is the more +interesting of them. In both we meet with passages that point to +more perfect specimens of the kind--for instance, certain +rhythmical motives, melodic inflections, and harmonic +progressions, to the familiar Waltzes in E flat major (Op. 18) +and in A flat major (Op. 34, No. 1); and the D major portion of +the Waltz in B minor, to the C major part of the Waltz in A minor +(Op. 34, No. 2). This concludes our survey of the compositions of +Chopin's first period. + +In the legacy of a less rich man, the Funeral March in C minor, +Op. 72b, composed (according to Fontana) in 1829, [FOOTNOTE: In +Breitkopf and Hartel's Gesammtausgabe of Chopin's works will be +found 1826 instead of 1829. This, however, is a misprint, not a +correction.]would be a notable item; in that of Chopin it counts +for little. Whatever the shortcomings of this composition are, +the quiet simplicity and sweet melancholy which pervade it must +touch the hearer. But the master stands in his own. light; the +famous Funeral March in B flat minor, from the Sonata in B flat +minor, Op. 35, composed about ten years later, eclipses the more +modest one in C minor. Beside the former, with its sublime force +and fervency of passion and imposing mastery of the resources of +the art, the latter sinks into weak insignificance, indeed, +appears a mere puerility. Let us note in the earlier work the +anticipation, (bar 12) of a motive of the chef-d'ceuvre (bar 7), +and reminiscences of the Funeral March from Beethoven's. Sonata +in A flat major, Op. 26. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + + +CHOPIN'S FIRST LOVE.--FRIENDSHIP WITH TITUS WOYCIECHOWSKI.--LIFE +IN WARSAW AFTER RETURNING FROM VIENNA.--VISIT TO PRINCE RADZIWILL +AT ANTONIN (OCTOBER, 1829).--NEW COMPOSITIONS.--GIVES TWO +CONCERTS. + + + +IN the preceding chapter I alluded to a new element that entered +into the life of Chopin and influenced his artistic work. The +following words, addressed by the young composer on October 3, +1829, to his friend Titus Woyciechowski, will explain what kind +of element it was and when it began to make itself felt:-- + + Do not imagine that [when I speak of the advantages and + desirability of a stay in Vienua] I am thinking of Miss + Blahetka, of whom I have written to you; I have--perhaps to + my misfortune--already found my ideal, which I worship + faithfully and sincerely. Six months have elapsed, and I have + not yet exchanged a syllable with her of whom I dream every + night. Whilst my thoughts were with her I composed the Adagio + of my Concerto, and early this morning she inspired the Waltz + which I send along with this letter. + +The influence of the tender passion on the development of heart +and mind cannot be rated too highly; it is in nine out of ten, if +not in ninety-nine out of a hundred cases that which transforms +the rhymer into a poet, the artificer into an artist. Chopin +confesses his indebtedness to Constantia, Schumann his to Clara. +But who could recount all the happy and hapless loves that have +made poets? Countless is the number of those recorded in +histories, biographies, and anecdotes; greater still the number +of those buried in literature and art, the graves whence they +rise again as flowers, matchless in beauty, unfading, and of +sweetest perfume. Love is indeed the sun that by its warmth +unfolds the multitudinous possibilities that lie hidden, often +unsuspected, in the depths of the human soul. It was, then, +according to Chopin, about April, 1829, that the mighty power +began to stir within him; and the correspondence of the following +two years shows us most strikingly how it takes hold of him with +an ever-increasing firmness of grasp, and shakes the whole fabric +of his delicate organisation with fearful violence. The object of +Chopin's passion, the being whom he worshipped and in whom he saw +the realisation of his ideal of womanhood, was Constantia +Gladkowska, a pupil at the Warsaw Conservatorium, of whom the +reader will learn more in the course of this and the next +chapter. + +What reveals perhaps more distinctly than anything else Chopin's +idiosyncrasy is his friendship for Titus Woyciechowski. At any +rate, it is no exaggeration to say that a knowledge of the nature +of Chopin's two passions, his love and his friendship--for this, +too, was a passion with him--gives into our hands a key that +unlocks all the secrets of his character, of his life, and of +their outcome--his artistic work. Nay more, with a full +comprehension of, and insight into, these passions we can foresee +the sufferings and disappointments which he is fated to endure. +Chopin's friendship was not a common one; it was truly and in the +highest degree romantic. To the sturdy Briton and gay Frenchman +it must be incomprehensible, and the German of four or five +generations ago would have understood it better than his +descendant of to-day is likely to do. If we look for examples of +such friendship in literature, we find the type nowhere so +perfect as in the works of Jean Paul Richter. Indeed, there are +many passages in the letters of the Polish composer that read +like extracts from the German author: they remind us of the +sentimental and other transcendentalisms of Siebenkas, Leibgeber, +Walt, Vult, and others. There was somethine in Chopin's warm, +tender, effusive friendship that may be best characterised by the +word "feminine." Moreover, it was so exacting, or rather so +covetous and jealous, that he had often occasion to chide, gently +of course, the less caressing and enthusiastic Titus. Let me give +some instances. + December 27th, 1828.--If I scribble to-day again so much + nonsense, I do so only in order to remind you that you are as + much locked in my heart as ever, and that I am the same Fred + I was. You do not like to be kissed; but to-day you must + permit me to do so. + +The question of kissing is frequently brought up. + + September 12th, 1829.--I embrace you heartily, and kiss you + on your lips if you will permit me. + + October 20th, 1829.--I embrace you heartily--many a one + writes this at the end ol his letter, but most people do so + with little thought of what they are writing. But you may + believe me, my dearest friend, that I do so sincerely, as + truly as my name is Fred. + + September 4th, 1830.--Time passes, I must wash myself...do + not kiss me now...but you would not kiss me in any case--even + if I anointed myself with Byzantine oils--unless I forced you + to do so by magnetic means. + +Did we not know the writer and the person addressed, one might +imagine that the two next extracts were written by a lover to his +mistress or vice versa. + + November 14th, 1829.--You, my dearest one, do not require my + portrait. Believe me I am always with you, and shall not + forget you till the end of my life. + + May 15th, 1830.--You have no idea how much I love you! If I + only could prove it to you! What would I not give if I could + once again right heartily embrace you! + +One day he expresses the wish that he and his friend should +travel together. But this was too commonplace a sentiment not to +be refined upon. Accordingly we read in a subsequent letter as +follows:-- + + September 18th, 1830.--I should not like to travel with you, + for I look forward with the greatest delight to the moment + when we shall meet abroad and embrace each other; it will be + worth more than a thousand monotonous days passed with you on + the journey. +From another passage in one of these letters we get a good idea +of the influence Titus Woyciechowski exercised on his friend. + + April 10, 1830.--Your advice is good. I have already refused + some invitations for the evening, as if I had had a + presentiment of it--for I think of you in almost everything I + undertake. I do not know whether it comes from my having + learned from you how to feel and perceive; but when I compose + anything I should much like to know whether it pleases you; + and I believe that my second Concerto (E minor) will have no + value for me until you have heard it and approved of it. + +I quoted the above passage to show how Chopin felt that this +friendship had been a kind of education to him, and how he valued +his friend's opinion of his compositions--he is always anxious to +make Titus acquainted with anything new he may have composed. But +in this passage there is another very characteristic touch, and +it may easily be overlooked, or at least may not receive the +attention which it deserves--I allude to what Chopin says of +having had "a presentiment." In superstitiousness he is a true +child of his country, and all the enlightenment of France did not +succeed in weaning him from his belief in dreams, presentiments, +good and evil days, lucky and unlucky numbers, &c. This is +another romantic feature in the character of the composer; a +dangerous one in the pursuit of science, but advantageous rather +than otherwise in the pursuit of art. Later on I shall have to +return to this subject and relate some anecdotes, here I shall +confine myself to quoting a short passage from one of his early +letters. + + April 17, 1830.--If you are in Warsaw during the sitting of + the Diet, you will come to my concert--I have something like + a presentiment, and when I also dream it, I shall firmly + believe it. + +And now, after these introductory explanations, we will begin the +chapter in right earnest by taking up the thread of the story +where we left it. On his return to Warsaw Chopin was kept in a +state of mental excitement by the criticisms on his Vienna +performances that appeared in German papers. He does not weary of +telling his friend about them, transcribing portions of them, and +complaining of Polish papers which had misrepresented the drift +and mistranslated the words of them. I do not wonder at the +incorrectness of the Polish reports, for some of these criticisms +are written in as uncouth, confused, and vague German as I ever +had the misfortune to turn into English. One cannot help +thinking, in reading what Chopin says with regard to these +matters, that he showed far too much concern about the utterances +of the press, and far too much sensitiveness under the infliction +of even the slightest strictures. That, however, the young +composer was soon engaged on new works may be gathered from the +passage (Oct. 3, 1829), quoted at the commencement of this +chapter, in which he speaks of the Adagio of a concerto, and a +waltz, written whilst his thoughts were with his ideal. These +compositions were the second movement of the F minor Concerto and +the Waltz, Op. 70, No. 3. But more of this when we come to +discuss the works which Chopin produced in the years 1829 and +1830. + +One of the most important of the items which made up our friend's +musical life at this time was the weekly musical meetings at the +house of Kessler, the pianist-composer characterised in Chapter +X. There all the best artists of Warsaw assembled, and the +executants had to play prima vista whatever was placed before +them. Of works performed at two of these Friday evening meetings, +we find mentioned Spohr's Octet, described by Chopin as "a +wonderful work"; Ries's Concerto in C sharp minor (played with +quartet accompaniment), Hummel's Trio in E major, Prince Louis +Ferdinand of Prussia's Quartet, and Beethoven's last Trio, which, +Chopin says, he could not but admire for its magnificence and +grandeur. To Brzezina's music-shop he paid a visit every day, +without finding there, however, anything new, except a Concerto +by Pixis, which made no great impression upon him. That Chopin +was little satisfied with his situation may be gathered from the +following remarks of his:-- + + You cannot imagine how sad Warsaw is to me; if I did not feel + happy in my home circle I should not like to live here. Oh, + how bitter it is to have no one with whom one can share joy + and sorrow; oh, how dreadful to feel one's heart oppressed + and to be unable to express one's complaints to any human + soul! You know full well what I mean. How often do I tell my + piano all that I should like to impart to you! + +Of course the reader, who is in the secret, knows as well as +Titus knew, to whom the letter was addressed, that Chopin alludes +to his love. Let us mark the words in the concluding sentence +about the conversations with his piano. Chopin was continually +occupied with plans for going abroad. In October, 1829, he writes +that, wherever fate may lead him, he is determined not to spend +the winter in Warsaw. Nevertheless, more than a year passed away +before he said farewell to his native city. He himself wished to +go to Vienna, his father seems to have been in favour of Berlin. +Prince Radziwill and his wife had kindly invited him to come to +the Prussian capital, and offered him apartments in their palais. +But Chopin was unable to see what advantages he could derive from +a stay in Berlin. Moreover, unlike his father, he believed that +this invitation was no more than "de belles paroles." By the way, +these remarks of Chopin's furnish a strong proof that the Prince +was not his patron and benefactor, as Liszt and others have +maintained. While speaking of his fixed intention to go +somewhere, and of the Prince's invitation, Chopin suddenly +exclaims with truly Chopinesque indecision and capriciousness:-- + + But what is the good of it all? Seeing that I have begun so + many new works, perhaps the wisest thing I can do is to stay + here. + +Leaving this question undecided, he undertook in October, 1829, a +journey to Posen, starting on the 20th of that month. An +invitation from Prince Radziwill was the inducement that led him +to quit the paternal roof so soon after his return to it. His +intention was to remain only a fortnight from home, and to visit +his friends, the Wiesiolowskis, on the way to Antonin. Chopin +enjoyed himself greatly at the latter place. The wife of the +Prince, a courteous and kindly lady, who did not gauge a man's +merits by his descent, found the way to the heart of the composer +by wishing to hear every day and to possess as soon as possible +his Polonaise in F minor (Op. 71, No. 3). The young Princesses, +her daughters, had charms besides those of their beauty. One of +them played the piano with genuine musical feeling. + + I have written [reports Chopin to his friend Titus on + November 14, 1829] during my visit at Prince Radziwill's an + Alla Polacca with violoncello. It is nothing more than a + brilliant salon piece, such as pleases ladies. I would like + Princess Wanda to practise it, so that it might be said that + I had taught her. She is only seventeen years old and + beautiful; it would be delightful to have the privilege of + placing her pretty fingers on the keys. But, joking apart, + her soul is endowed with true musical feeling, and one does + not need to tell her whether she is to play crescendo, piano, + or pianissimo. + +According to Liszt, Chopin fondly remembered his visits to +Antonin, and told many an anecdote in connection with them. + + The Princess Elisa, one of the daughters of Prince Radziwill, + who died in the first bloom of her life, left him [Chopin] + the sweet image of an angel exiled for a short period here + below. + +A passage in the letter of Chopin from which I last quoted throws +also a little light on his relation to her. + + You wished one of my portraits; if I could only have pilfered + one of Princess Elisa's, I should certainly have sent it; for + she has two portraits of me in her album, and I am told that + these drawings are very good likenesses. + +The musical Prince would naturally be attracted by, and take an +interest in, the rising genius. What the latter's opinion of his +noble friend as a composer was, he tells Titus Woyciechowski at +some length. I may here say, once for all, that all the letters +from which extracts are given in this chapter are addressed to +this latter. + + You know how the Prince loves music; he showed me his "Faust" + and I found in it some things tnat are really beautiful, + indeed, in part even grandly conceived. In confidence, I + should not at all have credited the Namiestnik [governor, + lord-lieutenant] with such music! Among other things I was + struck by a scene in which Mephistopheles allures Margaret to + the window by his singing and guitar-playing, while at the + same time a chorale is heard from the neighbouring church. + This is sure to produce a great effect at a performance. I + mention this only that you may form an idea of his musical + conceptions. He is a great admirer of Gluck. Theatrical music + has, in his opinion, significance only in so far as it + illustrates the situation and emotion; the overture, + therefore, has no close, and leads at once into the + introduction. The orchestra is placed behind the stage and is + always invisible, in order that the attention of the audience + may not be diverted by external, such as the movements of the + conductor and executants. + +Chopin enjoyed himself so much at Antonin that if he had +consulted only his pleasure he would have stayed till turned out +by his host. But, although he was asked to prolong his visit, he +left this "Paradise" and the "two Eves" after a sojourn of eight +days. It was his occupations, more especially the F minor +Concerto, "impatiently waiting for its Finale," that induced him +to practise this self-denial. When Chopin had again taken +possession of his study, he no doubt made it his first business, +or at least one of the first, to compose the wanting movement, +the Rondo, of his Concerto; as, however, there is an interval of +more than four months in his extant letters, we hear no more +about it till he plays it in public. Before his visit to Antonin +(October 20, 1829) he writes to his friend that he has composed +"a study in his own manner," and after the visit he mentions +having composed "some studies." + +Chopin seems to have occasionally played at the Ressource. The +reader will remember the composer's intention of playing there +with Fontana his Rondo for two pianos. On November 14, 1829, +Chopin informs his friend Titus that on the preceding Saturday +Kessler performed Hummel's E major Concerto at the Ressource, and +that on the following Saturday he himself would perhaps play +there, and in the case of his doing so choose for his piece his +Variations, Op. 2. Thus composing, playing, and all the time +suffering from a certain loneliness--"You cannot imagine how +everywhere in Warsaw I now find something wanting! I have nobody +with whom I can speak, were it only two words, nobody whom I can +really trust"--the day came when he gave his first concert in his +native city. This great event took place on March 17, 1830, and +the programme contained the following pieces:-- + +PART I + + 1. Overture to the Opera "Leszek Bialy," by Elsner. + + 2. Allegro from the Concerto in F minor, composed and played + by F. Chopin. + + 3. Divertissement for the French horn, composed and played by + Gorner. + + 4. Adagio and Rondo from the Concerto in F minor, composed + and played by Chopin. + +PART II + + 1. Overture to the Opera "Cecylja Piaseczynska," by + Kurpinski. + + 2. Variations by Paer, sung by Madame Meier. + + 3. Pot-pourri on national airs, composed and played by + Chopin. + +Three days before the concert, which took place in the theatre, +neither box nor reserved seat was to be had. But Chopin complains +that on the whole it did not make the impression he expected. +Only the Adagio and Rondo of his Concerto had a decided success. +But let us see the concert-giver's own account of the +proceedings. + + The first Allegro of the F minor Concerto (not intelligible + to all) received indeed the reward of a "Bravo," but I + believe this was given because the public wished to show that + it understands and knows how to appreciate serious music. + There are people enough in all countries who like to assume + the air of connoisseurs! The Adagio and Rondo produced a very + great effect. After these the applause and the "Bravos" came + really from the heart; but the Pot-pourri on Polish airs + missed its object entirely. There was indeed some applause, + but evidently only to show the player that the audience had + not been bored. + +We now hear again the old complaint that Chopin's playing was too +delicate. The opinion of the pit was that he had not played loud +enough, whilst those who sat in the gallery or stood in the +orchestra seem to have been better satisfied. In one paper, where +he got high praise, he was advised to put forth more energy and +power in the future; but Chopin thought he knew where this power +was to be found, and for the next concert got a Vienna instrument +instead of his own Warsaw one. Elsner, too, attributed the +indistinctness of the bass passages and the weakness of tone +generally to the instrument. The approval of some of the +musicians compensated Chopin to some extent for the want of +appreciation and intelligence shown by the public at large +"Kurpinski thought he discovered that evening new beauties in my +Concerto, and Ernemann was fully satisfied with it." Edouard +Wolff told me that they had no idea in Warsaw of the real +greatness of Chopin. Indeed, how could they? He was too original +to be at once fully understood. There are people who imagine that +the difficulties of Chopin's music arise from its Polish national +characteristics, and that to the Poles themselves it is as easy +as their mother-tongue; this, however, is a mistake. In fact, +other countries had to teach Poland what is due to Chopin. That +the aristocracy of Paris, Polish and native, did not comprehend +the whole Chopin, although it may have appreciated and admired +his sweetness, elegance, and exquisiteness, has been remarked by +Liszt, an eye and ear-witness and an excellent judge. But his +testimony is not needed to convince one of the fact. A subtle +poet, be he ever so national, has thoughts and corresponding +language beyond the ken of the vulgar, who are to be found in all +ranks, high and low. Chopin, imbued as he was with the national +spirit, did nevertheless not manifest it in a popularly +intelligible form, for in passing through his mind it underwent a +process of idealisation and individualisation. It has been +repeatedly said that the national predominates over the universal +in Chopin's music; it is a still less disputable truth that the +individual predominates therein over the national. There are +artist-natures whose tendency is to expand and to absorb; others +again whose tendency is to contract and to exclude. Chopin is one +of the most typical instances of the latter; hence, no wonder +that he was not at once fully understood by his countrymen. The +great success which Chopin's subsequent concerts in Warsaw +obtained does not invalidate E. Wolff's statement, which indeed +is confirmed by the composer's own remarks on the taste of the +public and its reception of his compositions. Moreover, we shall +see that those pieces pleased most in which, as in the Fantasia +and Krakowiak, the national raw material was merely more or less +artistically dressed up, but not yet digested and assimilated; if +the Fantasia left the audience cold at the first concert, this +was no doubt owing to the inadequacy of the performance. + +No sooner was the first concert over than, with his head still +full of it, Chopin set about making preparations for a second, +which took place within a week after the first. The programme was +as follows:-- + +PART I + +1. Symphony by Nowakowski. + +2. Allegro from the Concerto in F minor, composed and played by +Chopin. + +3. Air Varie by De Beriot, played by Bielawski. + +4. Adagio and Rondo from the Concerto in F minor, composed and +played by Chopin. + +PART II + +1. Rondo Krakowiak, composed and played by Chopin. + +2. Aria from "Elena e Malvina" by Soliva, sung by Madame Meier. + +3. Improvisation on national airs. + +This time the audience, which Chopin describes as having been +more numerous than at any other concert, was satisfied. There was +no end to the applause, and when he came forward to bow his +acknowledgments there were calls of "Give another concert!" The +Krakowiak produced an immense effect, and was followed by four +volleys of applause. His improvisation on the Polish national air +"W miescie dziwne obyczaje" pleased only the people in the dress- +circle, although he did not improvise in the way he had intended +to do, which would not have been suitable for the audience that +was present. From this and another remark, that few of the haute +volee had as yet heard him, it appears that the aristocracy, for +the most part living on their estates, was not largely +represented at the concert. Thinking as he did of the public, he +was surprised that the Adagio had found such general favour, and +that he heard everywhere the most flattering remarks. He was also +told that "every note sounded like a bell," and that he had +"played much better on the second than on the first instrument." +But although Elsner held that Chopin could only be judged after +the second concert, and Kurpinski and others expressed their +regret that he did not play on the Viennese instrument at the +first one, he confesses that he would have preferred playing on +his own piano. The success of the concerts may be measured by the +following facts: A travelling virtuoso and former pupil of the +Paris Conservatoire, Dunst by name, offered in his enthusiasm to +treat Chopin with champagne; the day after the second concert a +bouquet with a poem was sent to him; his fellow-student Orlowski +wrote mazurkas and waltzes on the principal theme of the +Concerto, and published them in spite of the horrified composer's +request that he should not do so; Brzezina, the musicseller, +asked him for his portrait, but, frightened at the prospect of +seeing his counterfeit used as a wrapper for butter and cheese, +Chopin declined to give it to him; the editor of the "Courier" +inserted in his paper a sonnet addressed to Chopin. Pecuniarily +the concerts were likewise a success, although the concert-giver +was of a different opinion. But then he seems to have had quite +prima donna notions about receipts, for he writes very coolly: +"From the two concerts I had, after deduction of all expenses, +not as much as 5,000 florins (about 125 pounds)." Indeed, he +treats this part of the business very cavalierly, and declares +that money was no object with him. On the utterances of the +papers, which, of course, had their say, Chopin makes some +sensible and modest comments. + + After my concerts there appeared many criticisms; if in them + (especially in the "Kuryer Polski") abundant praise was + awarded to me, it was nevertheless not too extravagant. The + "Official Journal" has also devoted some columns to my + praise; one of its numbers contained, among other things, + such stupidities--well meant, no doubt--that I was quite + desperate till I had read the answer in the "Gazeta Polska," + which justly takes away what the other papers had in their + exaggeration attributed to me. In this article it is said + that the Poles will one day be as proud of me as the Germans + are of Mozart, which is palpable nonsense. But that is not + all, the critic says further: "That if I had fallen into the + hands of a pedant or a Rossinist (what a stupid expression!) + I could not have become what I am." Now, although I am as yet + nothing, he is right in so far that my performance would be + still less than it actually is if I had not studied under + Elsner. + +Gratifying as the praise of the press no doubt was to Chopin, it +became a matter of small account when he thought of his friend's +approving sympathy. "One look from you after the concert would +have been worth more to me than all the laudations of the critics +here." The concerts, however, brought with them annoyances as +well as pleasures. While one paper pointed out Chopin's strongly- +marked originality, another advised him to hear Rossini, but not +to imitate him. Dobrzynski, who expected that his Symphony would +be placed on one of the programmes, was angry with Chopin for not +doing so; a lady acquaintance took it amiss that a box had not +been reserved for her, and so on. What troubled our friend most +of all, and put him quite out of spirits, was the publication of +the sonnet and of the mazurkas; he was afraid that his enemies +would not let this opportunity pass, and attack and ridicule him. +"I will no longer read what people may now write about me," he +bursts out in a fit of lachrymose querulousness. Although pressed +from many sides to give a third concert, Chopin decided to +postpone it till shortly before his departure, which, however, +was farther off than he imagined. Nevertheless, he had already +made up his mind what to play--namely, the new Concerto (some +parts of which had yet to be composed) and, by desire, the +Fantasia and the Variations. + + + +CHAPTER X. + + + +1829-1830. + + + +MUSIC IN THE WARSAW SALONS.--MORE ABOUT CHOPIN'S CAUTION.-- +MUSICAL VISITORS TO THE POLISH CAPITAL: WORLITZER, MDLLE. DE +BELLEVILLE, MDLLE. SONTAG, &c.--SOME OF CHOPIN'S ARTISTIC AND +OTHER DOINGS; VISIT TO POTURZYN.--HIS LOVE FOR CONSTANTIA +GLADKOWSKA.--INTENDED AND FREQUENTLY-POSTPONED DEPARTURE FOR +ABROAD; IRRESOLUTION.--THE E MINOR CONCERTO AND HIS THIRD CONCERT +IN WARSAW.--DEPARTS AT LAST. + + + +After the turmoil and agitation of the concerts, Chopin resumed +the even tenor of his Warsaw life, that is to say, played, +composed, and went to parties. Of the latter we get some glimpses +in his letters, and they raise in us the suspicion that the +salons of Warsaw were not overzealous in the cultivation of the +classics. First we have a grand musical soiree at the house of +General Filipeus, [F- +ootnote: Or Philippeus] the intendant of the +Court of the Grand Duke Constantine. There the Swan of Pesaro was +evidently in the ascendant, at any rate, a duet from "Semiramide" +and a buffo duet from "Il Turco in Italia" (in this Soliva took a +part and Chopin accompanied) were the only items of the musical +menu thought worth mentioning by the reporter. A soiree at +Lewicki's offers matter of more interest. Chopin, who had drawn +up the programme, played Hummel's "La Sentinelle" and his Op. 3, +the Polonaise for piano and violoncello composed at Antonin with +a subsequently-added introduction; and Prince Galitzin was one of +the executants of a quartet of Rode's. Occasionally, however, +better works were performed. Some months later, for instance, at +the celebration of a gentleman's name-day, Spohr's Quintet for +piano, flute, clarinet, horn, and bassoon was played. Chopin's +criticism on this work is as usual short:-- + + Wonderfully beautiful, but not quite suitable for the piano. + Everything Spohr has written for the piano is very difficult, + indeed, sometimes it is impossible to find any fingering for + his passages. + +On Easter-day, the great feasting day of the Poles, Chopin was +invited to breakfast by the poet Minasowicz. On this occasion he +expected to meet Kurpinski; and as in the articles which had +appeared in the papers a propos of his concerts the latter and +Elsner had been pitted against each other, he wondered what would +be the demeanour of his elder fellow-countryman and fellow- +composer towards him. Remembering Chopin's repeated injunctions +to his parents not to mention to others his remarks on musicians, +we may be sure that in this as in every other case Chopin +proceeded warily. Here is another striking example of this +characteristic and highly-developed cautiousness. After hearing +the young pianist Leskiewicz play at a concert he writes:-- + + It seems to me that he will become a better player than + Krogulski; but I have not yet dared to express this opinion, + although I have been often asked to do so. + +In the first half of April, 1830, Chopin was so intent on +finishing the compositions he had begun that, greatly as he +wished to pay his friend Titus Woyciechowski a visit at his +country-seat Poturzyn, he determined to stick to his work. The +Diet, which had not been convoked for five years, was to meet on +the 28th of May. That there would be a great concourse of lords +and lordlings and their families and retinues followed as a +matter of course. Here, then, was an excellent opportunity for +giving a concert. Chopin, who remembered that the haute voice had +not yet heard him, did not overlook it. But be it that the +Concerto was not finished in time, or that the circumstances +proved less favourable than he had expected, he did not carry out +his plan. Perhaps the virtuosos poured in too plentifully. In +those days the age of artistic vagrancy had not yet come to an +end, and virtuosity concerts were still flourishing most +vigorously. Blahetka of Vienna, too, had a notion of coming with +his daughter to Warsaw and giving some concerts there during the +sitting of the Diet. He wrote to Chopin to this effect, and asked +his advice. The latter told him that many musicians and amateurs +had indeed often expressed a desire to hear Miss Blahetka, but +that the expenses of a concert and the many distinguished artists +who had arrived or were about to arrive made the enterprise +rather hazardous. + + Now [says Chopin, the cautious, to his friend] he [Blahetka] + cannot say that I have not sufficiently informed him of the + state of things here! It is not unlikely that he will come. I + should be glad to see them, and would do what I could to + procure a full house for his daughter. I should most + willingly play with her on two pianos, for you cannot imagine + how kindly an interest this German [Mr. Blahetka] took in me + at Vienna. + +Among the artists who came to Warsaw were: the youthful +Worlitzer, who, although only sixteen years of age, was already +pianist to the King of Prussia; the clever pianist Mdlle. de +Belleville, who afterwards became Madame Oury; the great +violinist Lipinski, the Polish Paganini; and the celebrated +Henrietta Sontag, one of the brightest stars of the time. +Chopin's intercourse with these artists and his remarks on them +are worth noting: they throw light on his character as a musician +and man as well as on theirs. He relates that Worlitzer, a youth +of Jewish extraction, and consequently by nature very talented, +had called on him and played to him several things famously, +especially Moscheles' "Marche d'Alexandre variée." +Notwithstanding the admitted excellence of Worlitzer's playing, +Chopin adds--not, however, without a "this remains between us +two"--that he as yet lacks much to deserve the title of Kammer- +Virtuos. Chopin thought more highly of Mdlle. de Belleville, who, +he says, "plays the piano beautifully; very airily, very +elegantly, and ten times better than Worlitzer." What, we may be +sure, in no wise diminished his good opinion of the lady was that +she had performed his Variations in Vienna, and could play one of +them by heart. To picture the object of Chopin's artistic +admiration a little more clearly, let me recall to the reader's +memory Schumann's characterisation of Mdlle. de Belleville and +Clara Wieck. + + They should not be compared. They are different mistresses of + different schools. The playing of the Belleville is + technically the finer of the two; Clara's is more + impassioned. The tone of the Belleville caresses, but does + not penetrate beyond the ear; that of Clara reaches the + heart. The one is a poetess; the other is poetry itself. + +Chopin's warmest admiration and longest comments were, however, +reserved for Mdlle. Sontag. Having a little more than a year +before her visit to Warsaw secretly married Count Rossi, she made +at the time we are speaking of her last artistic tour before +retiring, at the zenith of her fame and power, into private life. +At least, she thought then it was her last tour; but pecuniary +losses and tempting offers induced her in 1849 to reappear in +public. In Warsaw she gave a first series of five or six concerts +in the course of a week, went then by invitation of the King of +Prussia to Fischbach, and from there returned to Warsaw. Her +concerts were remarkable for their brevity. She usually sang at +them four times, and between her performances the orchestra +played some pieces. She dispensed altogether with the assistance +of other virtuosos. But Chopin remarks that so great was the +impression she made as a vocalist and the interest she inspired +as an artist that one required some rest after her singing. Here +is what the composer writes to his friend about her (June 5, +1830):-- + + ...It is impossible for me to describe to you how great a + pleasure the acquaintance with this "God-sent one" (as some + enthusiasts justly call her) has given me. Prince Radziwitt + introduced me to her, for which I feel greatly obliged to + him. Unfortunately, I profited little by her eight days' stay + with us, and I saw how she was bored by dull visits from + senators, woyewods, castellans, ministers, generals, and + adjutants, who only sat and stared at her while they were + talking about quite indifferent things. She receives them all + very kindly, for she is so very good-natured that she cannot + be unamiable to anyone. Yesterday, when she was going to put + on her bonnet previously to going to the rehearsal, she was + obliged to lock the door of her room, because the servant in + the ante-room could not keep back the large number of + callers. I should not have one to her if she had not sent for + me, Radziwill having asked me to write out a song which he + has arranged for her. This is an Ukraine popular song + ("Dumka") with variations. The theme and finale are + beautiful, but the middle section does not please me (and it + pleases Mdlle. Sontag even less than me). I have indeed made + some alterations, but it is still good for nothing. I am glad + she leaves after to-day's concert, because I shall pet rid of + this business, and when Radziwill comes at the close of the + Diet he may perhaps relinquish his variations. + + Mdlle. Sontag is not beautiful, but in the highest degree + captivating; she enchants all with her voice, which indeed is + not very powerful, but magnificently cultivated. Her + diminuendo is the non plus ultra that can be heard; her + portamento wonderfully fine; her chromatic scales, especially + toward the upper part of her voice, unrivalled. She sang us + an aria by Mercadante, very, very beautifully; the variations + by Rode, especially the last roulades, more than excellently. + The variations on the Swiss theme pleased so much that, after + having several times bowed her acknowledgments for the + applause, she had to sing them da capo. The same thing + happened to her yesterday with the last of Rode's variations. + She has, moreover, performed the cavatina from "Il Barbiere", + as well as several arias from "La Gazza ladra" and from "Der + Freischutz". Well, you will hear for yourself what a + difference there is between her erformances and those we have + hitherto heard here. On one occasion was with her when Soliva + came with the Misses Gladkowska [the idea!] and Wolkaw, who + had to sing to her his duet which concludes with the words + "barbara sorte"--you may perhaps remember it. Miss Sontag + remarked to me, in confidence, that both voices were really + beautiful, but already somewhat worn, and that these ladies + must change their method of singing entirely if they did not + wish to run the risk of losing their voices within two years. + She said, in my presence, to Miss Wolkow that she possessed + much facility and taste, but had une voix trop aigue. She + invited both ladies in the most friendly manner to visit her + more frequently, promising to do all in her power to show and + teach them her own manner of singing. Is this not a quite + unusual politeness? Nay, I even believe it is coquetry so + great that it made upon me the impression of naturalness and + a certain naivete; for it is hardly to be believed that a + human being can be so natural unless it knows all the + resources of coquetry. In her neglige Miss Sontag is a + hundred times more beautiful and pleasing than in full + evening-dress. Nevertheless, those who have not seen her in + the morning are charmed with her appearance at the concert. + On her return she will give concerts up to the 22nd of the + month; then, as she herself told me, she intends to go to St. + Petersburg. Therefore, be quick, dear friend, and come at + once, so that you may not miss more than the five concerts + she has already given. + +From the concluding sentence it would appear that Chopin had +talked himself out on the subject; this. however, is not the +case, for after imparting some other news he resumes thus:-- + + But I have not yet told you all about Miss Sontag. She has in + her rendering some entirely new broderies, with which she + produces great effect, but not in the same way as Paganini. + Perhaps the cause lies in this, that hers is a smaller genre. + She seems to exhale the perfume of a fresh bouquet of flowers + over the parterre, and, now caresses, now plays with her + voice; but she rarely moves to tears. Radziwill, on the other + hand, thinks that she sings and acts the last scene of + Desdemona in Othello in such a manner that nobody can refrain + from weeping. To-day I asked her if she would sing us + sometime this scene in costume (she is said to be an + excellent actress); she answered me that it was true that she + had often seen tears in the eyes of the audience, but that + acting excited her too much, and she had resolved to appear + as rarely as possible on the stage. You have but to come here + if you wish to rest from your rustic cares. Miss Sontag will + sing you something, and you will awake to life again and will + gather new strength for your labours. + +Mdlle. Sontag was indeed a unique artist. In power and fulness of +voice, in impassioned expression, in dazzling virtuosity, and in +grandeur of style, she might be inferior to Malibran, Catalani, +and Pasta; but in clearness and sweetness of voice, in purity of +intonation, in airiness, neatness, and elegance of execution, and +in exquisiteness of taste, she was unsurpassed. Now, these were +qualities particularly congenial to Chopin; he admired them +enthusiastically in the eminent vocalist, and appreciated similar +qualities in the pleasing pianist Mdlle. de Belleville. Indeed, +we shall see in the sequel that unless an artist possessed these +qualities Chopin had but little sympathy to bestow upon him. He +was, however, not slow to discover in these distinguished lady +artists a shortcoming in a direction where he himself was +exceedingly strong--namely, in subtlety and intensity of feeling. +Chopin's opinion of Mdlle. Sontag coincides on the whole with +those of other contemporaries; nevertheless, his account +contributes some details which add a page to her biography, and a +few touches to her portraiture. It is to be regretted that the +arrival of Titus Woyciechowski in Warsaw put for a time an end to +Chopin's correspondence with him, otherwise we should, no doubt, +have got some more information about Mdlle. Sontag and other +artists. + +While so many stars were shining, Chopin's light seems to have +been under an eclipse. Not only did he not give a concert, but he +was even passed over on the occasion of a soiree musicale at +court to which all the most distinguished artists then assembled +at Warsaw were invited--Mdlle. Sontag, Mdlle. de Belleville, +Worlitzer, Kurpinski, &c. "Many were astonished," writes Chopin," +that I was not invited to play, but _I_ was not astonished." When +the sittings of the Diet and the entertainments that accompanied +them came to a close Chopin paid a visit to his friend Titus at +Poturzyn, and on his return thence proceeded with his parents to +Zelazowa Wola to stay for some time at the Count of Skarbek's. +After leaving Poturzyn the picture of his friend's quiet rural +life continually rose up in Chopin's mind. A passage in one of +his letters which refers to his sojourn there seems to me +characteristic of the writer, suggestive of moods consonant with +his nocturnes and many cantilene in his other works:-- + + I must confess that I look back to it with great pleasure; I + feel always a certain longing for your beautiful country- + seat. The weeping-willow is always present to my mind; that + arbaleta! oh, I remember it so fondly! Well, you have teased + me so much about it that I am punished thereby for all my + sins. + +And has he forgotten his ideal? Oh, no! On the contrary, his +passion grows stronger every day. This is proved by his frequent +allusions to her whom he never names, and by those words of +restless yearning and heart-rending despair that cannot be read +without exciting a pitiful sympathy. As before long we shall get +better acquainted with the lady and hear more of her--she being +on the point of leaving the comparative privacy of the +Conservatorium for the boards that represent the world--it may be +as well to study the symptoms of our friend's interesting malady. + +The first mention of the ideal we find in the letter dated +October 3, 1829, wherein he says that he has been dreaming of her +every night for the past six months, and nevertheless has not yet +spoken to her. In these circumstances he stood in need of one to +whom he might confide his joys and sorrows, and as no friend of +flesh and blood was at hand, he often addressed himself to the +piano. And now let us proceed with our investigation. + + March 27, 1830.--At no time have I missed you so much as now. + I have nobody to whom I can open my heart. + + April 17, 1830.--In my unbearable longing I feel better as + soon as I receive a letter from you. To-day this comfort was + more necessary than ever. I should like to chase away the + thoughts that poison my joyousness; but, in spite of all, it + is pleasant to play with them. I don't know myself what I + want; perhaps I shall be calmer after writing this letter. + +Farther on in the same letter he says:-- + + How often do I take the night for the day, and the day for + the night! How often do I live in a dream and sleep during + the day, worse than if I slept, for I feel always the same; + and instead of finding refreshment in this stupor, as in + sleep, I vex and torment myself so that I cannot gain + strength. + +It may be easily imagined with what interest one so far gone in +love watched the debut of Miss Gladkowska as Agnese in Paer's +opera of the same name. Of course he sends a full account of the +event to his friend. She looked better on the stage than in the +salon; left nothing to be desired in her tragic acting; managed +her voice excellently up to the high j sharp and g; shaded in a +wonderful manner, and charmed her slave when she sang an aria +with harp accompaniment. The success of the lady, however, was +not merely in her lover's imagination, it was real; for at the +close of the opera the audience overwhelmed her with never-ending +applause. Another pupil of the Conservatorium, Miss Wolkow, made +her debut about the same time, discussions of the comparative +merits of the two ladies, on the choice of the parts in which +they were going to appear next, on the intrigues which had been +set on foot for or against them, &c., were the order of the day. +Chopin discusses all these matters with great earnestness and at +considerable length; and, while not at all stingy in his praise +of Miss Wolkow, he takes good care that Miss Gladkowska does not +come off a loser:-- + + Ernemann is of our opinion [writes Chopin] that no singer can + easily be compared to Miss Gladkowska, especially as regards + just intonation and genuine warmth of feeling, which + manifests itself fully only on the stage, and carries away + the audience. Miss Wolkow made several times slight mistakes, + whereas Miss Gladkowska, although she has only been heard + twice in Agnese, did not allow the least doubtful note to + pass her lips. + +The warmer applause given to Miss Wolkow did not disturb so +staunch a partisan; he put it to the account of Rossini's music +which she sang. + +When Chopin comes to the end of his account of Miss Gladkowska's +first appearance on the stage, he abruptly asks the question: +"And what shall I do now?" and answers forthwith: "I will leave +next month; first, however, I must rehearse my Concerto, for the +Rondo is now finished." But this resolve is a mere flash of +energy, and before we have proceeded far we shall come on words +which contrast strangely with what we have read just now. Chopin +has been talking about his going abroad ever so long, more +especially since his return from Vienna, and will go on talking +about it for a long time yet. First he intends to leave Warsaw in +the winter of 1829-1830; next he makes up his mind to start in +the summer of 1830, the question being only whether he shall go +to Berlin or Vienna; then in May, 1830, Berlin is already given +up, but the time of his departure remains still to be fixed. +After this he is induced by the consideration that the Italian +Opera season at Vienna does not begin till September to stay at +home during the hot summer months. How he continues to put off +the evil day of parting from home and friends we shall see as we +go on. I called Chopin's vigorously-expressed resolve a flash of +energy. Here is what he wrote not much more than a week after (on +August 31, 1830):-- + + I am still here; indeed, I do not feel inclined to go abroad. + Next month, however, I shall certainly go. Of course, only to + follow my vocation and reason, which latter would be in a + sorry plight if it were not strong enough to master every + other thing in my head. + +But that his reason was in a sorry plight may be gathered from a +letter dated September 4, 1830, which, moreover, is noteworthy, +as in the confessions which it contains are discoverable the key- +notes of the principal parts that make up the symphony of his +character. + + I tell you my ideas become madder and madder every day. I am + still sitting here, and cannot make up my mind to fix + definitively the day of my departure. I have always a + presentiment that I shall leave Warsaw never to return to it; + I am convinced that I shall say farewell to my home for ever. + Oh, how sad it must be to die in any other place but where + one was born! What a great trial it would be to me to see + beside my death-bed an unconcerned physician and paid servant + instead of the dear faces of my relatives! Believe me, Titus, + I many a time should like to go to you and seek rest for my + oppressed heart; but as this is not possible, I often hurry, + without knowing why, into the street. But there also nothing + allays or diverts my longing. I return home to... long again + indescribably... I have not yet rehearsed my Concerto; in any + case I shall leave all my treasures behind me by Michaelmas. + In Vienna I shall be condemned to sigh and groan! This is the + consequence of having no longer a free heart! You who know + this indescribable power so well, explain to me the strange + feeling which makes men always expect from the following day + something better than the preceding day has bestowed upon + them? "Do not be so foolish!" That is all the answer I can + give myself; if you know a better, tell me, pray, pray.... + +After saying that his plan for the winter is to stay two months +in Vienna and pass the rest of the season in Milan, "if it cannot +be helped," he makes some remarks of no particular interest, and +then comes back to the old and ever new subject, the cud that +humanity has been chewing from the time of Adam and Eve, and will +have to chew till the extinction of the race, whether pessimism +or optimism be the favoured philosophy. + + Since my return I have not yet visited her, and must tell you + openly that I often attribute the cause of my distress to + her; it seems to me as if people shared this view, and that + affords me a certain satisfaction. My father smiles at it; + but if he knew all, he would perhaps weep. Indeed, I am + seemingly quite contented, whilst my heart.... + +This is one of the occasions, which occur so frequently in +Chopin's letters, where he breaks suddenly off in the course of +his emotional outpourings, and subsides into effective silence. +On such occasions one would like to see him go to the piano and +hear him finish the sentence there. "All I can write to you now +is indeed stupid stuff; only the thought of leaving Warsaw..." +Another musical opportunity! Where words fail, there music +begins. + + Only wait, the day will come when you will not fare any + better. Man is not always happy; sometimes only a few moments + of happiness are granted to him in this life; therefore why + should we shun this rapture which cannot last long? + +After this the darkness of sadness shades gradually into brighter +hues:-- + + As on the one hand I consider intercourse with the outer + world a sacred duty, so, on the other hand, I regard it as a + devilish invention, and it would be better if men... but I + have said enough!... + +The reader knows already the rest of the letter; it is the +passage in which Chopin's love of fun gets the better of his +melancholy, his joyous spirits of his sad heart, and where he +warns his friend, as it were with a bright twinkle in his tearful +eyes and a smile on his face, not to kiss him at that moment, as +he must wash himself. This joking about his friend's dislike to +osculation is not without an undercurrent of seriousness; indeed, +it is virtually a reproach, but a reproach cast in the most +delicate form and attired in feminine coquetry. + +On September 18, 1830, Chopin is still in Warsaw. Why he is still +there he does not know; but he feels unspeakably happy where he +is, and his parents make no objections to this procrastination. + + To-morrow I shall hold a rehearsal [of the E minor Concerto] + with quartet, and then drive to--whither? Indeed, I do not + feel inclined to go anywhere; but I shall on no account stay + in Warsaw. If you have, perhaps, a suspicion that something + dear to me retains me here, you are mistaken, like many + others. I assure you I should be ready to make any sacrifice + if only my own self were concerned, and I--although I am in + love--had yet to keep my unfortunate feelings concealed in my + bosom for some years to come. + +Is it possible to imagine anything more inconsistent and self- +delusive than these ravings of our friend? Farther on in this +very lengthy epistle we come first of all once more to the +pending question. + + I was to start with the Cracow post for Vienna as early as + this day week, but finally I have given up that idea--you + will understand why. You may be quite sure that I am no + egoist, but, as I love you, am also willing to sacrifice + anything for the sake of others. For the sake of others, I + say, but not for the sake of outward appearance. For public + opinion, which is in high esteem among us, but which, you may + be sure, does not influence me, goes even so far as to call + it a misfortune if one wears a torn coat, a shabby hat, and + the like. If I should fail in my career, and have some day + nothing to eat, you must appoint me as clerk at Poturzyn. + There, in a room above the stables, I shall be as happy as I + was last summer in your castle. As long as I am in vigour and + health I shall willingly continue to work all my life. I have + often considered the question, whether I am really lazy or + whether I could work more without overexerting my strength. + Joking apart, I have convinced myself that I am not the worst + idler, and that I am able to work twice as much if necessity + demands it. + + It often happens that he who wishes to better the opinion + which others have formed of him makes it worse; but, I think, + as regards you, I can make it neither better nor worse, even + if I occasionally praise myself. The sympathy which I have + for you forces your heart to have the same sympathetic + feelings for me. You are not master of your thoughts, but I + command mine; when I have once taken one into my head I do + not let it be taken from me, just as the trees do not let + themselves be robbed of their green garment which gives them + the charm of youth. With me it will be green in winter also, + that is, only in the head, but--God help me--in the heart the + greatest ardour, therefore, no one need wonder that the + vegetation is so luxuriant. Enough...yours for ever...Only + now I notice that I have talked too much nonsense. You see + yesterday's impression [he refers to the name-day festivity + already mentioned] has not yet quite passed away, I am still + sleepy and tired, because I danced too many mazurkas. + + Around your letters I twine a little ribbon which my ideal + once gave me. I am glad the two lifeless things, the letters + and the ribbon, agree so well together, probably because, + although they do not know each other, they yet feel that they + both come from a hand dear to me. + +Even the most courteous of mortals, unless he be wholly destitute +of veracity, will hesitate to deny the truth of Chopin's +confession that he has been talking nonsense. But apart from the +vagueness and illogicalness of several of the statements, the +foregoing effusion is curious as a whole: the thoughts turn up +one does not know where, how, or why--their course is quite +unaccountable; and if they passed through his mind in an unbroken +connection, he fails to give the slightest indication of it. +Still, although Chopin's philosophy of life, poetical rhapsodies, +and meditations on love and friendship, may not afford us much +light, edification, or pleasure, they help us substantially to +realise their author's character, and particularly his temporary +mood. + +Great as was the magnetic power of the ideal over Chopin, great +as was the irresolution of the latter, the long delay of his +departure must not be attributed solely to these causes. The +disturbed state of Europe after the outbreak of the July +revolution in Paris had also something to do with this +interminable procrastination. Passports could only be had for +Prussia and Austria, and even for these countries not by +everyone. In France the excitement had not yet subsided, in Italy +it was nearing the boiling point. Nor were Vienna, whither Chopin +intended to go first, and the Tyrol, through which he would have +to pass on his way to Milan, altogether quiet. Chopin's father +himself, therefore, wished the journey to be postponed for a +short time. Nevertheless, our friend writes on September 22 that +he will start in a few weeks: his first goal is Vienna, where, he +says, they still remember him, and where he will forge the iron +as long as it is hot. But now to the climax of Chopin's amorous +fever. + + I regret very much [he writes on September 22, 1830] that I + must write to you when, as to-day, I am unable to collect my + thoughts. When I reflect on myself I get into a sad mood, and + am in danger of losing my reason. When I am lost in my + thoughts--which is often the case with me--horses could + trample upon me, and yesterday this nearly happened in the + street without my noticing it. Struck in the church by a + glance of my ideal, I ran in a moment of pleasant stupor into + the street, and it was not till about a quarter of an hour + afterwards that I regained my full consciousness; I am + sometimes so mad that I am frightened at myself. + +The melancholy cast of the letters cited in this chapter must not +lead us to think that despondence was the invariable state of +Chopin's mind. It is more probable that when his heart was +saddest he was most disposed to write to his friend his +confessions and complaints, as by this means he was enabled to +relieve himself to some extent of the burden that oppressed him. +At any rate, the agitations of love did not prevent him from +cultivating his art, for even at the time when he felt the +tyranny of the passion most potently, he mentions having composed +"some insignificant pieces," as he modestly expresses himself, +meaning, no doubt, "short pieces." Meanwhile Chopin had also +finished a composition which by no means belongs to the category +of "insignificant pieces"--namely, the Concerto in E minor, the +completion of which he announces on August 21, 1830. A critical +examination of this and other works will be found in a special +chapter, at present I shall speak only of its performance and the +circumstances connected with it. + +On September 18, 1830, Chopin writes that a few days previously +he rehearsed the Concerto with quartet accompaniment, but that it +does not quite satisfy him:-- + + Those who were present at the rehearsal say that the Finale + is the most successful movement (probably because it is + easily intelligible). How it will sound with the orchestra I + cannot tell you till next Wednesday, when I shall play the + Concerto for the first time in this guise. To-morrow I shall + have another rehearsal with quartet. + +To a rehearsal with full orchestra, except trumpets and drums (on +September 22, 1830), he invited Kurpinski, Soliva, and the select +musical world of Warsaw, in whose judgment, however, he professes +to have little confidence. Still, he is curious to know how-- + + the Capellmeister [Kurpinski] will look at the Italian + [Soliva], Czapek at Kessler, Filipeus at Dobrzynski, Molsdorf + at Kaczynski, Ledoux at Count Sohyk, and Mr. P. at us all. It + has never before occurred that all these gentlemen have been + assembled in one place; I alone shall succeed in this, and I + do it only out of curiosity! + +The musicians in this company, among whom are Poles, Czechs, +Germans, Italians, &c., give us a good idea of the mixed +character of the musical world of Warsaw, which was not unlike +what the musical world of London is still in our day. From the +above remark we see that Chopin had neither much respect nor +affection for his fellow-musicians; indeed, there is not the +slightest sign in his letters that an intimacy existed between +him and any one of them. The rehearsals of the Concerto keep +Chopin pretty busy, and his head is full of the composition. In +the same letter from which I quoted last we find the following +passage:-- + + I heartily beg your pardon for my hasty letter of to-day; I + have still to run quickly to Elsner in order to make sure + that he will come to the rehearsal. Then I have also to + provide the desks and mutes, which I had yesterday totally + forgotten; without the latter the Adagio would be wholly + insignificant, and its success doubtful. The Rondo is + effective, the first Allegro vigorous. Cursed self-love! And + if it is anyone's fault that I am conceited it is yours, + egoist; he who associates with such a person becomes like + him. But in one point I am as yet unlike you. I can never + make up my mind quickly. But I have the firm will and the + secret intention actually to depart on Saturday week, without + pardon, and in spite of lamentations, tears, and complaints. + My music in the trunk, a certain ribbon on my heart, my soul + full of anxiety: thus into the post-chaise. To be sure, + everywhere in the town tears will flow in streams: from + Copernicus to the fountain, from the bank to the column of + King Sigismund; but I shall be cold and unfeeling as a stone, + and laugh at all those who wish to take such a heart-rending + farewell of me! + +After the rehearsal of the Concerto with orchestra, which +evidently made a good impression upon the much-despised musical +world of Warsaw, Chopin resolved to give, or rather his friends +resolved for him that he should give, a concert in the theatre on +October 11, 1830. Although he is anxious to know what effect his +Concerto will produce on the public, he seems little disposed to +play at any concert, which may be easily understood if we +remember the state of mind he is in. + + You can hardly imagine [he writes] how everything here makes + me impatient, and bores me, in consequence of the commotion + within me against which I cannot struggle. + +The third and last of his Warsaw concerts was to be of a more +perfect type than the two preceding ones; it was to be one +"without those unlucky clarinet and bassoon solos," at that time +still so much in vogue. To make up for this quantitative loss +Chopin requested the Misses Gladkowska and Wolkow to sing some +arias, and obtained, not without much trouble, the requisite +permission for them from their master, Soliva, and the Minister +of Public Instruction, Mostowski. It was necessary to ask the +latter's permission, because the two young ladies were educated +as singers at the expense of the State. + +The programme of the concert was as follows:-- + +PART I + + 1. Symphony by Gorner. + + 2. First Allegro from the Concerto in E minor, composed and + played by Chopin. + + 3. Aria with Chorus by Soliva, sung by Miss Wolkow. + + 4. Adagio and Rondo from the Concerto in E minor, composed + and played by Chopin. + +PART II + + 1. Overture to "Guillaume Tell" by Rossini. + + 2. Cavatina from "La Donna del lago" by Rossini, sung by Miss + Gladkowska. + + 3. Fantasia on Polish airs, composed and played by Chopin. + +The success of the concert made Chopin forget his sorrows. There +is not one complaint in the letter in which he gives an account +of it; in fact, he seems to have been enjoying real halcyon days. +He had a full house, but played with as little nervousness as if +he had been playing at home. The first Allegro of the Concerto +went very smoothly, and the audience rewarded him with thundering +applause. Of the reception of the Adagio and Rondo we learn +nothing except that in the pause between the first and second +parts the connoisseurs and amateurs came on the stage, and +complimented him in the most flattering terms on his playing. The +great success, however, of the evening was his performance of the +Fantasia on Polish airs. "This time I understood myself, the +orchestra understood me, and the audience understood us." This is +quite in the bulletin style of conquerors; it has a ring of +"veni, vidi, vici" about it. Especially the mazurka at the end of +the piece produced a great effect, and Chopin was called back so +enthusiastically that he was obliged to bow his acknowledgments +four times. Respecting the bowing he says: "I believe I did it +yesterday with a certain grace, for Brandt had taught me how to +do it properly." In short, the concert-giver was in the best of +spirits, one is every moment expecting him to exclaim: "Seid +umschlungen Millionen, diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt." He is +pleased with himself and Streicher's piano on which he had +played; pleased with Soliva, who kept both soloist and orchestra +splendidly in order; pleased with the impression the execution of +the overture made; pleased with the blue-robed, fay-like Miss +Wolkow; pleased most of all with Miss Gladkowska, who "wore a +white dress and roses in her hair, and was charmingly beautiful." +He tells his friend that: + + she never sang so well as on that evening (except the aria in + "Agnese"). You know "O! quante lagrime per te versai." The + tutto detesto down to the lower b came out so magnificently + that Zielinski declared this b alone was worth a thousand + ducats. + +In Vienna the score and parts of the Krakowiak had been found to +be full of mistakes, it was the same with the Concerto in Warsaw. +Chopin himself says that if Soliva had not taken the score with +him in order to correct it, he (Chopin) did not know what might +have become of the Concerto on the evening of the concert. Carl +Mikuli, who, as well as his fellow-pupil Tellefsen, copied many +of Chopin's MSS., says that they were full of slips of the pen, +such as wrong notes and signatures, omissions of accidentals, +dots, and intervals of chords, and incorrect markings of slurs +and 8va's. + +Although Chopin wrote on October 5, 1830, that eight days after +the concert he would certainly be no longer in Warsaw, that his +trunk was bought, his whole outfit ready, the scores corrected, +the pocket-handkerchiefs hemmed, the new trousers and the new +dress-coat tried on, &c., that, in fact, nothing remained to be +done but the worst of all, the leave-taking, yet it was not till +the 1st of November, 1830, that he actually did take his +departure. Elsner and a number of friends accompanied him to +Wola, the first village beyond Warsaw. There the pupils of the +Conservatorium awaited them, and sang a cantata composed by +Elsner for the occasion. After this the friends once more sat +down together to a banquet which had been prepared for them. In +the course of the repast a silver goblet filled with Polish earth +was presented to Chopin in the name of all. + + May you never forget your country [said the speaker, + according to Karasowski], wherever you may wander or sojourn, + may you never cease to love it with a warm, faithful heart! + Remember Poland, remember your friends, who call you with + pride their fellow-countryman, who expect great things of + you, whose wishes and prayers accompany you! + +How fully Chopin realised their wishes and expectations the +sequel will show: how much such loving words must have affected +him the reader of this chapter can have no difficulty in +understanding. But now came pitilessly the dread hour of parting. +A last farewell is taken, the carriage rolls away, and the +traveller has left behind him all that is dearest to him-- +parents, sisters, sweetheart, and friends. "I have always a +presentiment that I am leaving Warsaw never to return to it; I am +convinced that I shall say an eternal farewell to my native +country." Thus, indeed, destiny willed it. Chopin was never to +tread again the beloved soil of Poland, never to set eyes again +on Warsaw and its Conservatorium, the column of King Sigismund +opposite, the neighbouring church of the Bernardines +(Constantia's place of worship), and all those things and places +associated in his mind with the sweet memories of his youth and +early manhood. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + + +CHOPIN IS JOINED AT KALISZ BY TITUS WOYCIECHOWSKI.--FOUR DAYS AT +BRESLAU: HIS VISITS TO THE THEATRE; CAPELLMEISTER SCHNABEL; PLAYS +AT A CONCERT; ADOLF HESSE.--SECOND VISIT TO DRESDEN: MUSIC AT +THEATRE AND CHURCH; GERMAN AND POLISH SOCIETY; MORLACCHI, SIGNORA +PALAZZESI, RASTRELLI, ROLLA, DOTZAUER, KUMMER, KLENGEL, AND OTHER +MUSICIANS; A CONCERT TALKED ABOUT BUT NOT GIVEN; SIGHT-SEEING.-- +AFTER A WEEK, BY PRAGUE TO VIENNA.--ARRIVES AT VIENNA TOWARDS THE +END OF NOVEMBER, 1830. + + + +Thanks to Chopin's extant letters to his family and friends it is +not difficult to give, with the help of some knowledge of the +contemporary artists and of the state of music in the towns he +visited, a pretty clear account of his experiences and mode of +life during the nine or ten months which intervene between his +departure from Warsaw and his arrival in Paris. Without the +letters this would have been impossible, and for two reasons: one +of them is that, although already a notable man, Chopin was not +yet a noted man; and the other, that those with whom he then +associated have, like himself, passed away from among us. + +Chopin, who, as the reader will remember, left Warsaw on November +1, 1830, was joined at Kalisz by Titus Woyciechowski. Thence the +two friends travelled together to Vienna. They made their first +halt at Breslau, which they reached on November 6. No sooner had +Chopin put up at the hotel Zur goldenen Gans, changed his dress, +and taken some refreshments, than he rushed off to the theatre. +During his stay in Breslau he was present at three performances-- +at Raimund's fantastical comedy "Der Alpenkonig und der +Menschenfeind", Auber's "Maurer und Schlosser (Le Macon)," and +Winter's "Das unterbrochene Opferfest", a now superannuated but +then still popular opera. The players succeeded better than the +singers in gaining the approval of their fastidious auditor, +which indeed might have been expected. As both Chopin and +Woyciechowski were provided with letters of introduction, and the +gentlemen to whom they were addressed did all in their power to +make their visitors' sojourn as pleasant as possible, the friends +spent in Breslau four happy days. It is characteristic of the +German musical life in those days that in the Ressource, a +society of that town, they had three weekly concerts at which the +greater number of the performers were amateurs. Capellmeister +Schnabel, an old acquaintance of Chopin's, had invited the latter +to come to a morning rehearsal. When Chopin entered, an amateur, +a young barrister, was going to rehearse Moscheles' E flat major +Concerto. Schnabel, on seeing the newcomer, asked him to try the +piano. Chopin sat down and played some variations which +astonished and delighted the Capellmeister, who had not heard him +for four years, so much that he overwhelmed him with expressions +of admiration. As the poor amateur began to feel nervous, Chopin +was pressed on all sides to take that gentleman's place in the +evening. Although he had not practised for some weeks he +consented, drove to the hotel, fetched the requisite music, +rehearsed, and in the evening performed the Romanza and Rondo of +his E minor Concerto and an improvisation on a theme from Auber's +"La Muette" ("Masaniello"). At the rehearsal the "Germans" +admired his playing; some of them he heard whispering "What a +light touch he has!" but not a word was said about the +composition. The amateurs did not know whether it was good or +bad. Titus Woyciechowski heard one of them say "No doubt he can +play, but he can't compose." There was, however, one gentleman +who praised the novelty of the form, and the composer naively +declares that this was the person who understood him best. +Speaking of the professional musicians, Chopin remarks that, with +the exception of Schnabel, "the Germans" were at a loss what to +think of him. The Polish peasants use the word "German" as an +invective, believe that the devil speaks German and dresses in +the German fashion, and refuse to take medicine because they hold +it to be an invention of the Germans and, consequently, unfit for +Christians. Although Chopin does not go so far, he is by no means +free from this national antipathy. Let his susceptibility be +ruffled by Germans, and you may be sure he will remember their +nationality. Besides old Schnabel there was among the persons +whose acquaintance Chopin made at Breslau only one other who +interests us, and interests us more than that respectable +composer of church music; and this one was the organist and +composer Adolph Frederick Hesse, then a young man of Chopin's +age. Before long the latter became better acquainted with him. In +his account of his stay and playing in the Silesian capital, he +says of him only that "the second local connoisseur, Hesse, who +has travelled through the whole of Germany, paid me also +compliments." + +Chopin continued his journey on November 10, and on November 12 +had already plunged into Dresden life. Two features of this, in +some respects quite unique, life cannot but have been +particularly attractive to our traveller--namely, its Polish +colony and the Italian opera. The former owed its origin to the +connection of the house of Saxony with the crown of Poland; and +the latter, which had been patronised by the Electors and Kings +for hundreds of years, was not disbanded till 1832. In 1817, it +is true, Weber, who had received a call for that purpose, founded +a German opera at Dresden, but the Italian opera retained the +favour of the Court and of a great part of the public, in fact, +was the spoiled child that looked down upon her younger sister, +poor Cinderella. Even a Weber had to fight hard to keep his own, +indeed, sometimes failed to do so, in the rivalry with the +ornatissimo Signore Cavaliere Morlacchi, primo maestro della +capella Reale. + +Chopin's first visit was to Miss Pechwell, through whom he got +admission to a soiree at the house of Dr. Kreyssig, where she was +going to play and the prima donna of the Italian opera to sing. +Having carefully dressed, Chopin made his way to Dr. Kreyssig's +in a sedan-chair. Being unaccustomed to this kind of conveyance +he had a desire to kick out the bottom of the "curious but +comfortable box," a temptation which he, however--to his honour +be it recorded--resisted. On entering the salon he found there a +great number of ladies sitting round eight large tables:-- + + No sparkling of diamonds met my eye, but the more modest + glitter of a host of steel knitting-needles, which moved + ceaselessly in the busy hands of these ladies. The number of + ladies and knitting-needles was so large that if the ladies + had planned an attack upon the gentlemen that were present, + the latter would have been in a sorry plight. Nothing would + have been left to them but to make use of their spectacles as + weapons, for there was as little lack of eye-glasses as of + bald heads. + +The clicking of knitting-needles and the rattling of teacups were +suddenly interrupted by the overture to the opera "Fra Diavolo," +which was being played in an adjoining room. After the overture +Signora Palazzesi sang "with a bell-like, magnificent voice, and +great bravura." Chopin asked to be introduced to her. He made +likewise the acquaintance of the old composer and conductor +Vincent Rastrelli, who introduced him to a brother of the +celebrated tenor Rubini. + +At the Roman Catholic church, the Court Church, Chopin met +Morlacchi, and heard a mass by that excellent artist. The +Neapolitan sopranists Sassaroli and Tarquinio sang, and the +"incomparable Rolla" played the solo violin. On another occasion +he heard a clever but dry mass by Baron von Miltitz, which was +performed under the direction of Morlacchi, and in which the +celebrated violoncello virtuosos Dotzauer and Kummer played their +solos beautifully, and the voices of Sassaroli, Muschetti, +Babnigg, and Zezi were heard to advantage. The theatre was, as +usual, assiduously frequented by Chopin. After the above- +mentioned soiree he hastened to hear at least the last act of +"Die Stumme von Portici" ("Masaniello"). Of the performance of +Rossini's "Tancredi," which he witnessed on another evening, he +praised only the wonderful violin playing of Rolla and the +singing of Mdlle. Hahnel, a lady from the Vienna Court Theatre. +Rossini's "La Donna del lago," in Italian, is mentioned among the +operas about to be performed. What a strange anomaly, that in the +year 1830 a state of matters such as is indicated by these names +and facts could still obtain in Dresden, one of the capitals of +musical Germany! It is emphatically a curiosity of history. + +Chopin, who came to Rolla with a letter of introduction from +Soliva, was received by the Italian violinist with great +friendliness. Indeed, kindness was showered upon him from all +sides. Rubini promised him a letter of introduction to his +brother in Milan, Rolla one to the director of the opera there, +and Princess Augusta, the daughter of the late king, and Princess +Maximiliana, the sister-in-law of the reigning king, provided him +with letters for the Queen of Naples, the Duchess of Lucca, the +Vice-Queen of Milan, and Princess Ulasino in Rome. He had met the +princesses and played to them at the house of the Countess +Dobrzycka, Oberhofmeisterin of the Princess Augusta, daughter of +the late king, Frederick Augustus. + +The name of the Oberhofmeisterin brings us to the Polish society +of Dresden, into which Chopin seems to have found his way at +once. Already two days after his arrival he writes of a party of +Poles with whom he had dined. At the house of Mdme. Pruszak he +made the acquaintance of no less a person than General +Kniaziewicz, who took part in the defence of Warsaw, commanded +the left wing in the battle of Maciejowice (1794), and joined +Napoleon's Polish legion in 1796. Chopin wrote home: "I have +pleased him very much; he said that no pianist had made so +agreeable an impression on him." + +To judge from the tone of Chopin's letters, none of all the +people he came in contact with gained his affection in so high a +degree as did Klengel, whom he calls "my dear Klengel," and of +whom he says that he esteems him very highly, and loves him as if +he had known him from his earliest youth. "I like to converse +with him, for from him something is to be learned." The great +contrapuntist seems to have reciprocated this affection, at any +rate he took a great interest in his young friend, wished to see +the scores of his concertos, went without Chopin's knowledge to +Morlacchi and to the intendant of the theatre to try if a concert +could not be arranged within four days, told him that his playing +reminded him of Field's, that his touch was of a peculiar kind, +and that he had not expected to find him such a virtuoso. +Although Chopin replied, when Klengel advised him to give a +concert, that his stay in Dresden was too short to admit of his +doing so, and thought himself that he could earn there neither +much fame nor much money, he nevertheless was not a little +pleased that this excellent artist had taken some trouble in +attempting to smooth the way for a concert, and to hear from him +that this had been done not for Chopin's but for Dresden's sake; +our friend, be it noted, was by no means callous to flattery. +Klengel took him also to a soiree at the house of Madame +Niesiolawska, a Polish lady, and at supper proposed his health, +which was drunk in champagne. + +There is a passage in one of Chopin's letters which I must quote; +it tells us something of his artistic taste outside his own art:- +- + + The Green Vault I saw last time I was here, and once is + enough for me; but I revisited with great interest the + picture gallery. If I lived here I would go to it every week, + for there are pictures in it at the sight of which I imagine + I hear music. + +Thus our friend spent a week right pleasantly and not altogether +unprofitably in the Saxon Athens, and spent it so busily that +what with visits, dinners, soirees, operas, and other amusements, +he leaving his hotel early in the morning and returning late at +night, it passed away he did not know how. + +Chopin, who made also a short stay in Prague--of which visit, +however, we have no account--arrived in Vienna in the latter part +of November, 1830. His intention was to give some concerts, and +to proceed in a month or two to Italy. How the execution of this +plan was prevented by various circumstances we shall see +presently. Chopin flattered himself with the belief that +managers, publishers, artists, and the public in general were +impatiently awaiting his coming, and ready to receive him with +open arms. This, however, was an illusion. He overrated his +success. His playing at the two "Academies" in the dead season +must have remained unnoticed by many, and was probably forgotten +by not a few who did notice it. To talk, therefore, about forging +the iron while it was hot proved a misconception of the actual +state of matters. It is true his playing and compositions had +made a certain impression, especially upon some of the musicians +who had heard him. But artists, even when free from hostile +jealousy, are far too much occupied with their own interests to +be helpful in pushing on their younger brethren. As to publishers +and managers, they care only for marketable articles, and until +an article has got a reputation its marketable value is very +small. Nine hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand judge by +names and not by intrinsic worth. Suppose a hitherto unknown +statue of Phidias, a painting of Raphael, a symphony of +Beethoven, were discovered and introduced to the public as the +works of unknown living artists, do you think they would receive +the same universal admiration as the known works of the immortal +masters? Not at all! By a very large majority of the connoisseurs +and pretended connoisseurs they would be criticised, depreciated, +or ignored. Let, however, the real names of the authors become +known, and the whole world will forthwith be thrown into ecstasy, +and see in them even more beauties than they really possess. +Well, the first business of an artist, then, is to make himself a +reputation, and a reputation is not made by one or two successes. +A first success, be it ever so great, and achieved under ever so +favourable circumstances, is at best but the thin end of the +wedge which has been got in, but which has to be driven home with +much vigour and perseverance before the work is done. "Art is a +fight, not a pleasure-trip," said the French painter Millet, one +who had learnt the lesson in the severe school of experience. +Unfortunately for Chopin, he had neither the stuff nor the +stomach for fighting. He shrank back at the slightest touch like +a sensitive plant. He could only thrive in the sunshine of +prosperity and protected against all those inimical influences +and obstacles that cause hardier natures to put forth their +strength, and indeed are necessary for the full unfolding of all +their capabilities. Chopin and Titus Woyciechowski put up at the +hotel Stadt London, but, finding the charges too high, they +decamped and stayed at the hotel Goldenes Lamm till the lodgings +which they had taken were evacuated by the English admiral then +in possession of them. From Chopin's first letter after his +arrival in the Austrian capital his parents had the satisfaction +of learning that their son was in excellent spirits, and that his +appetite left nothing to be desired, especially when sharpened by +good news from home. In his perambulations he took particular +note of the charming Viennese girls, and at the Wilde Mann, where +he was in the habit of dining, he enjoyed immensely a dish of +Strudeln. The only drawback to the blissfulness of his then +existence was a swollen nose, caused by the change of air, a +circumstance which interfered somewhat with his visiting +operations. He was generally well received by those on whom he +called with letters of introduction. In one of the two +exceptional cases he let it be understood that, having a letter +of introduction from the Grand Duke Constantine to the Russian +Ambassador, he was not so insignificant a person as to require +the patronage of a banker; and in the other case he comforted +himself with the thought that a time would come when things would +be changed. + +In the letter above alluded to (December 1, 1830) Chopin speaks +of one of the projected concerts as if it were to take place +shortly; that is to say, he is confident that, such being his +pleasure, this will be the natural course of events. His Warsaw +acquaintance Orlowski, the perpetrator of mazurkas on his +concerto themes, was accompanying the violinist Lafont on a +concert-tour. Chopin does not envy him the honour:-- + + Will the time come [he writes] when Lafont will accompany me? + Does this question sound arrogant? But, God willing, this may + come to pass some day. + +Wurfel has conversations with him about the arrangements for a +concert, and Graff, the pianoforte-maker, advises him to give it +in the Landstandische Saal, the finest and most convenient hall +in Vienna. Chopin even asks his people which of his Concertos he +should play, the one in F or the one in E minor. But +disappointments were not long in coming. One of his first visits +was to Haslinger, the publisher of the Variations on "La ci darem +la mano," to whom he had sent also a sonata and another set of +variations. Haslinger received him very kindly, but would print +neither the one nor the other work. No wonder the composer +thought the cunning publisher wished to induce him in a polite +and artful way to let him have his compositions gratis. For had +not Wurfel told him that his Concerto in F minor was better than +Hummel's in A flat, which Haslinger had just published, and had +not Klengel at Dresden been surprised to hear that he had +received no payment for the Variations? But Chopin will make +Haslinger repent of it. "Perhaps he thinks that if he treats my +compositions somewhat en bagatelle, I shall be glad if only he +prints them; but henceforth nothing will be got from me gratis; +my motto will be 'Pay, animal!'" But evidently the animal +wouldn't pay, and in fact did not print the compositions till +after Chopin's death. So, unless the firm of Haslinger mentioned +that he will call on him as soon as he has a room wherein he can +receive a visit in return, the name of Lachner does not reappear +in the correspondence. + +In the management of the Karnthnerthor Theatre, Louis Duport had +succeeded, on September 1, 1830, Count Gallenberg, whom severe +losses obliged to relinquish a ten years' contract after the +lapse of less than two years. Chopin was introduced to the new +manager by Hummel. + + He (Duport) [writes Chopin on December 21 to his parents] was + formerly a celebrated dancer, and is said to be very + niggardly; however, he received me in an extremely polite + manner, for perhaps he thinks I shall play for him gratis. He + is mistaken there! We entered into a kind of negotiation, but + nothing definite was settled. If Mr. Duport offers me too + little, I shall give my concert in the large Redoutensaal. + +But the niggardly manager offered him nothing at all, and Chopin +did not give a concert either in the Redoutensaal or elsewhere, +at least not for a long time. Chopin's last-quoted remark is +difficult to reconcile with what he tells his friend Matuszyriski +four days later:" I have no longer any thought of giving a +concert." In a letter to Elsner, dated January 26, 1831, he +writes:-- + + I meet now with obstacles on all sides. Not only does a + series of the most miserable pianoforte concerts totally ruin + all true music and make the public suspicious, but the + occurrences in Poland have also acted unfavourably upon my + position. Nevertheless, I intend to have during the carnival + a performance of my first Concerto, which has met with + Wurfel's full approval. + +It would, however, be a great mistake to ascribe the failure of +Chopin's projects solely to the adverse circumstances pointed out +by him. The chief causes lay in himself. They were his want of +energy and of decision, constitutional defects which were of +course intensified by the disappointment of finding indifference +and obstruction where he expected enthusiasm and furtherance, and +by the outbreak of the revolution in Poland (November 30, 1830), +which made him tremble for the safety of his beloved ones and the +future of his country. In the letter from which I have last +quoted Chopin, after remarking that he had postponed writing till +he should be able to report some definite arrangement, proceeds +to say:-- + + But from the day that I heard of the dreadful occurrences in + our fatherland, my thoughts have been occupied only with + anxiety and longing for it and my dear ones. Malfatti gives + himself useless trouble in trying to convince me that the + artist is, or ought to be, a cosmopolitan. And, supposing + this were really the case, as an artist I am still in the + cradle, but as a Pole already a man. I hope, therefore, that + you will not be offended with me for not yet having seriously + thought of making arrangements for a concert. + +What affected Chopin most and made him feel lonely was the +departure of his friend Woyciechowski, who on the first news of +the insurrection returned to Poland and joined the insurgents. +Chopin wished to do the same, but his parents advised him to stay +where he was, telling him that he was not strong enough to bear +the fatigues and hardships of a soldier's life. Nevertheless, +when Woyciechowski was gone an irresistible home-sickness seized +him, and, taking post-horses, he tried to overtake his friend and +go with him. But after following him for some stages without +making up to him, his resolution broke down, and he returned to +Vienna. Chopin's characteristic irresolution shows itself again +at this time very strikingly, indeed, his letters are full of +expressions indicating and even confessing it. On December 21, +1830, he writes to his parents:-- + + I do not know whether I ought to go soon to Italy or wait a + little longer? Please, dearest papa, let me know your and the + best mother's will in this matter. + +And four days afterwards he writes to Matuszynski:-- + + You know, of course, that 1 have letters from the Royal Court + of Saxony to the Vice-Queen in Milan, but what shall I do? My + parents leave me to choose; I wish they would give me + instructions. Shall I go to Paris? My acquaintances here + advise me to wait a little longer. Shall I return home? Shall + I stay here? Shall I kill myself? Shall I not write to you + any more? + +Chopin's dearest wish was to be at home again. "How I should like +to be in Warsaw!" he writes. But the fulfilment of this wish was +out of the question, being against the desire of his parents, of +whom especially the mother seems to have been glad that he did +not execute his project of coming home. + + I would not like to be a burden to my father; were it not for + this fear I should return home at once. I am often in such a + mood that I curse the moment of my departure from my sweet + home! You will understand my situation, and that since the + departure of Titus too much has fallen upon me all at once. + +The question whether he should go to Italy or to France was soon +decided for him, for the suppressed but constantly-increasing +commotion which had agitated the former country ever since the +July revolution at last vented itself in a series of +insurrections. Modena began on February 3,1831, Bologna, Ancona, +Parma, and Rome followed. While the "where to go" was thus +settled, the "when to go" remained an open question for many +months to come. Meanwhile let us try to look a little deeper into +the inner and outer life which Chopin lived at Vienna. + +The biographical details of this period of Chopin's life have to +be drawn almost wholly from his letters. These, however, must be +judiciously used. Those addressed to his parents, important as +they are, are only valuable with regard to the composer's outward +life, and even as vehicles of such facts they are not altogether +trustworthy, for it is always his endeavour to make his parents +believe that he is well and cheery. Thus he writes, for instance, +to his friend Matuszyriski, after pouring forth complaint after +complaint:--"Tell my parents that I am very happy, that I am in +want of nothing, that I amuse myself famously, and never feel +lonely." Indeed, the Spectator's opinion that nothing discovers +the true temper of a person so much as his letters, requires a +good deal of limitation and qualification. Johnson's ideas on the +same subject may be recommended as a corrective. He held that +there was no transaction which offered stronger temptations to +fallacy and sophistication than epistolary intercourse:-- + + In the eagerness of conversation the first emotions of the + mind burst out before they are considered. In the tumult of + business, interest and passion have their genuine effect; but + a friendly letter is a calm and deliberate performance in the + cool of leisure, in the stillness of solitude, and surely no + man sits down by design to depreciate his own character. + Friendship has no tendency to secure veracity; for by whom + can a man so much wish to be thought better than he is, as by + him whose kindness he desires to gain or keep? + +These one-sided statements are open to much criticism, and would +make an excellent theme for an essay. Here, however, we must +content ourselves with simply pointing out that letters are not +always calm and deliberate performances, but exhibit often the +eagerness of conversation and the impulsiveness of passion. In +Chopin's correspondence we find this not unfrequently +exemplified. But to see it we must not turn to the letters +addressed to his parents, to his master, and to his acquaintances- +-there we find little of the real man and his deeper feelings-- +but to those addressed to his bosom-friends, and among them there +are none in which he shows himself more openly than in the two +which he wrote on December 25, 1830, and January 1, 1831, to John +Matuszynski. These letters are, indeed, such wonderful +revelations of their writer's character that I should fail in my +duty as his biographer were I to neglect to place before the +reader copious extracts from them, in short, all those passages +which throw light on the inner working of this interesting +personality. + + Dec. 25, 1830.--I longed indescribably for your letter; you + know why. How happy news of my angel of peace always makes + me! How I should like to touch all the strings which not only + call up stormy feelings, but also awaken again the songs + whose half-dying echo is still flitting on the banks of the + Danube-songs which the warriors of King John Sobieski sang! + + You advised me to choose a poet. But you know I am an + undecided being, and succeeded only once in my life in making + a good choice. + + The many dinners, soirees, concerts, and balls which I have + to go to only bore me. I am sad, and feel so lonely and + forsaken here. But I cannot live as I would! I must dress, + appear with a cheerful countenance in the salons; but when I + am again in my room I give vent to my feelings on the piano, + to which, as my best friend in Vienna, I disclose all my + sufferings. I have not a soul to whom I can fully unbosom + myself, and yet I must meet everyone like a friend. There + are, indeed, people here who seem to love me, take my + portrait, seek my society; but they do not make up for the + want of you [his friends and relations]. I lack inward peace, + I am at rest only when I read your [his friends' and + relations'] letters, and picture to myself the statue of King + Sigismund, or gaze at the ring [Constantia's], that dear + jewel. Forgive me, dear Johnnie, for complaining so much to + you; but my heart grows lighter when I speak to you thus. To + you I have indeed always told all that affected me. Did you + receive my little note the day before yesterday? Perhaps you + don't care much for my scribbling, for you are at home; but I + read and read your letters again and again. + + Dr. Freyer has called on me several times; he had learned + from Schuch that I was in Vienna. He told me a great deal of + interesting news, and enjoyed your letter, which I read to + him up to a certain passage. This passage has made me very + sad. Is she really so much changed in appearance? Perhaps she + was ill? One could easily fancy her being so, as she has a + very sensitive disposition. Perhaps she only appeared so to + you, or was she afraid of anything? God forbid that she + should suffer in any way on my account. Set her mind at rest, + and tell her that as long as my heart beats I shall not cease + to adore her. Tell her that even after my death my ashes + shall be strewn under her feet. Still, all this is yet too + little, and you might tell her a great deal more. + + I shall write to her myself; indeed, I would have done so + long ago to free myself from my torments; but if my letter + should fall into strange hands, might this not hurt her + reputation ? Therefore, dear friend, be you the interpreter + of my feelings; speak for me, "et j'en conviendrai." These + French words of yours flashed through me like lightning. A + Viennese gentleman who walked beside me in the street when I + was reading your letter, seized me by the arm, and was hardly + able to hold me. He did not know what had happened to me. I + should have liked to embrace and kiss all the passers-by, and + I felt happier than I had done for a long time, for I had + received the first letter from you. Perhaps I weary you, + Johnnie, with my passionateness; but it is difficult for me + to conceal from you anything that moves my heart. + + The day before yesterday I dined at Madame Beyer's, her name + is likewise Constantia. I like her society, her having that + indescribably dear Christian name is sufficient to account + for my partiality; it gives me even pleasure when one of her + pocket-handkerchiefs or napkins marked "Constantia" comes + into my hands. + + I walked alone, and slowly, into St. Stephen's. The church + was as yet empty. To view the noble, magnificent edifice in a + truly devout spirit I leant against a pillar in the darkest + corner of this house of God. The grandeur of the arched roof + cannot be described, one must see St. Stephen's with one's + own eyes. Around me reigned the profoundest silence, which + was interrupted only by the echoing footsteps of the + sacristan who came to light the candles. Behind me was a + grave, before me a grave, only above me I saw none. At that + moment I felt my loneliness and isolation. When the lights + were burning and the Cathedral began to fill with people, I + wrapped myself up more closely in my cloak (you know the way + in which I used to walk through the suburb of Cracow), and + hastened to be present at the Mass in the Imperial Court + Chapel. Now, however, I walked no longer alone, but passed + through the beautiful streets of Vienna in merry company to + the Hofburg, where I heard three movements of a mass + performed by sleepy musicians. At one o'clock in the morning + I reached my lodgings. I dreamt of you, of her, and of my + dear children [his sisters]. + + The first thing I did to-day was to indulge myself in + melancholy fantasias on my piano. + + Advise me what to do. Please ask the person who has always + exercised so powerful an influence over me in Warsaw, and let + me know her opinion; according to that I shall act. + + Let me hear once more from you before you take the field. + Vienna, poste restante. Go and see my parents and Constantia. + Visit my sisters often, as long as you are still in Warsaw, + so that they may think that you are coming to me, and that I + am in the other room. Sit down beside them that they may + imagine I am there too; in one word, be my substitute in the + house of my parents. + + I shall conclude, dear Johnnie, for now it is really time. + Embrace all my dear colleagues for me, and believe that I + shall not cease to love you until I cease to love those that + are dearest to me, my parents and her. + + My dearest friend, do write me soon a few lines. You may even + show her this letter, if you think fit to do so. + + My parents don't know that I write to you. You may tell them + of it, but must by no means show them the letter. I cannot + yet take leave of my Johnnie; but I shall be off presently, + you naughty one! If W...loves you as heartily as I love you, + then would Con...No, I cannot complete the name, my hand is + too unworthy. Ah! I could tear out my hair when I think that + I could be forgotten by her! + + My portrait, of which only you and I are to know, is a very + good likeness; if you think it would give her pleasure, I + would send it to her through Schuch. + + January 1, 1831.--There you have what you wanted! Have you + received the letter? Have you delivered any of the messages + it contained? To-day I still regret what I have done. I was + full of sweet hopes, and now am tormented by anxiety and + doubts. Perhaps she mocks at me--laughs at me? Perhaps--ah! + does she love me? This is what my passionate heart asks. You + wicked AEsculapius, you were at the theatre, you eyed her + incessantly with your opera-glass; if this is the case a + thunderbolt shall...Do not forfeit my confidence; oh, you! if + I write to you I do so only for my own sake, for you do not + deserve it. + + Just now when I am writing I am in a strange state; I feel as + if I were with you [with his dear ones], and were only + dreaming what I see and hear here. The voices which I hear + around me, and to which my ear is not accustomed, make upon + me for the most part only an impression like the rattling of + carriages or any other indifferent noise. Only your voice or + that of Titus could to-day wake me out of my torpor. Life and + death are perfectly alike to me. Tell, however, my parents + that I am very happy, that I am in want of nothing, that I + amuse myself famously, and never feel lonely. + + If she mocks at me, tell her the same; but if she inquires + kindly for me, shows some concern about me, whisper to her + that she may make her mind easy; but add also that away from + her I feel everywhere lonely and unhappy. I am unwell, but + this I do not write to my parents. Everybody asks what is the + matter with me. I should like to answer that I have lost my + good spirits. However, you know best what troubles me! + Although there is no lack of entertainment and diversion + here, I rarely feel inclined for amusement. + + To-day is the first of January. Oh, how sadly this year + begins for me! I love you [his friends] above all things. + Write as soon as possible. Is she at Radom? Have you thrown + up redoubts? My poor parents! How are my friends faring? + + I could die for you, for you all! Why am I doomed to be here + so lonely and forsaken? You can at least open your hearts to + each other and comfort each other. Your flute will have + enough to lament! How much more will my piano have to weep! + + You write that you and your regiment are going to take the + field; how will you forward the note? Be sure you do not send + it by a messenger; be cautious! The parents might perhaps-- + they might perhaps view the matter in a false light. + + I embrace you once more. You are going to the war; return as + a colonel. May all pass off well! Why may I not at least be + your drummer? + + Forgive the disorder in my letter, I write as if I were + intoxicated. + +The disorder of the letters is indeed very striking; it is great +in the foregoing extracts, and of course ten times greater with +the interspersed descriptions, bits of news, and criticisms on +music and musicians. I preferred separating the fundamental and +always-recurring thoughts, the all-absorbing and predominating +feelings, from the more superficial and passing fancies and +affections, and all those matters which were to him, if not of +total indifference, at least of comparatively little moment; +because such a separation enables us to gain a clearer and fuller +view of the inner man and to judge henceforth his actions and +works with some degree of certainty, even where his own accounts +and comments and those of trustworthy witnesses fail us. The +psychological student need not be told to take note of the +disorder in these two letters and of their length (written to the +same person within less than a week, they fill nearly twelve +printed pages in Karasowski's book), he will not be found +neglecting such important indications of the temporary mood and +the character of which it is a manifestation. And now let us take +a glance at Chopin's outward life in Vienna. + +I have already stated that Chopin and Woyciechowski lived +together. Their lodgings, for which they had to pay their +landlady, a baroness, fifty florins, were on the third story of a +house in the Kohlmarkt, and consisted of three elegant rooms. +When his friend left, Chopin thought the rent too high for his +purse, and as an English family was willing to pay as much as +eighty florins, he sublet the rooms and removed to the fourth +story, where he found in the Baroness von Lachmanowicz an +agreeable young landlady, and had equally roomy apartments which +cost him only twenty florins and pleased him quite well. The +house was favourably situated, Mechetti being on the right, +Artaria on the left, and the opera behind; and as people were not +deterred by the high stairs from visiting him, not even old Count +Hussarzewski, and a good profit would accrue to him from those +eighty florins, he could afford to laugh at theprobable dismay of +his friends picturing him as "a poor devil living in a garret," +and could do so the more heartily as there was in reality another +story between him and the roof. He gives his people a very pretty +description of his lodgings and mode of life:-- + + I live on the fourth story, in a fine street, but I have to + strain my eyes in looking out of the window when I wish to + see what is going on beneath. You will find my room in my new + album when I am at home again. Young Hummel [a son of the + composer] is so kind as to draw it for me. It is large and + has five windows; the bed is opposite to them. My wonderful + piano stands on the right, the sofa on the left; between the + windows there is a mirror, in the middle of the room a fine, + large, round mahogany table; the floor is polished. Hush! + "The gentleman does not receive visitors in the afternoon"-- + hence I can be amongst you in my thoughts. Early in the + morning the unbearably-stupid servant wakes me; I rise, get + my coffee, and often drink it cold because I forget my + breakfast over my playing. Punctually at nine o'clock appears + my German master; then I generally write; and after that, + Hummel comes to work at my portrait, while Nidecki studies my + concerto. And all this time I remain in my comfortable + dressing-gown, which I do not take off till twelve o'clock. + At that hour a very worthy German makes his appearance, Herr + Leibenfrost, who works in the law-courts here. If the weather + is fine I take a walk with him on the Glacis, then we dine + together at a restaurant, Zur bohmischen Kochin, which is + frequented by all the university students; and finally we go + (as is the custom here) to one of the best coffee-houses. + After this I make calls, return home in the twilight, throw + myself into evening-dress, and must be off to some soiree: to- + day here, to-morrow there. About eleven or twelve (but never + later) I return home, play, laugh, read, lie down, put out + the light, sleep, and dream of you, my dear ones. + +If is evident that there was no occasion to fear that Chopin +would kill himself with too hard work. Indeed, the number of +friends, or, not to misuse this sacred name, let us rather say +acquaintances, he had, did not allow him much time for study and +composition. In his letters from Vienna are mentioned more than +forty names of families and single individuals with whom he had +personal intercourse. I need hardly add that among them there was +a considerable sprinkling of Poles. Indeed, the majority of the +houses where he was oftenest seen, and where he felt most happy, +were those of his countrymen, or those in which there was at +least some Polish member, or which had some Polish connection. +Already on December 1, 1830, he writes home that he had been +several times at Count Hussarzewski's, and purposes to pay a +visit at Countess Rosalia Rzewuska's, where he expects to meet +Madame Cibbini, the daughter of Leopold Kozeluch and a pupil of +Clementi, known as a pianist and composer, to whom Moscheles +dedicated a sonata for four hands, and who at that time was first +lady-in-waiting to the Empress of Austria. Chopin had likewise +called twice at Madame Weyberheim's. This lady, who was a sister +of Madame Wolf and the wife of a rich banker, invited him to a +soiree "en petit cercle des amateurs," and some weeks later to a +soiree dansante, on which occasion he saw "many young people, +beautiful, but not antique [that is to say not of the Old +Testament kind], "refused to play, although the lady of the house +and her beautiful daughters had invited many musical personages, +was forced to dance a cotillon, made some rounds, and then went +home. In the house of the family Beyer (where the husband was a +Pole of Odessa, and the wife, likewise Polish, bore the +fascinating Christian name Constantia--the reader will remember +her) Chopin felt soon at his ease. There he liked to dine, sup, +lounge, chat, play, dance mazurkas, &c. He often met there the +violinist Slavik, and the day before Christmas played with him +all the morning and evening, another day staying with him there +till two o'clock in the morning. We hear also of dinners at the +house of his countrywoman Madame Elkan, and at Madame +Schaschek's, where (he writes in July, 1831) he usually met +several Polish ladies, who by their hearty hopeful words always +cheered him, and where he once made his appearance at four +instead of the appointed dinner hour, two o'clock. But one of his +best friends was the medical celebrity Dr. Malfatti, physician-in- +ordinary to the Emperor of Austria, better remembered by the +musical reader as the friend of Beethoven, whom he attended in +his last illness, forgetting what causes for complaint he might +have against the too irritable master. Well, this Dr. Malfatti +received Chopin, of whom he had already heard from Wladyslaw +Ostrowski, "as heartily as if I had been a relation of his" +(Chopin uses here a very bold simile), running up to him and +embracing him as soon as he had got sight of his visiting-card. +Chopin became a frequent guest at the doctor's house; in his +letters we come often on the announcement that he has dined or is +going to dine on such or such a day at Dr. Malfatti's. + + December 1, 1830.--On the whole things are going well with + me, and I hope with God's help, who sent Malfatti to my + assistance--oh, excellent Malfatti!--that they will go better + still. + + December 25, 1830.--I went to dine at Malfatti's. This + excellent man thinks of everything; he is even so kind as to + set before us dishes prepared in the Polish fashion. + + May 14, 1831.--I am very brisk, and feel that good health is + the best comfort in misfortune. Perhaps Malfatti's soups have + strengthened me so much that I feel better than I ever did. + If this is really the case, I must doubly regret that + Malfatti has gone with his family into the country. You have + no idea how beautiful the villa is in which he lives; this + day week I was there with Hummel. After this amiable + physician had taken us over his house he showed us also his + garden. When we stood at the top of the hill, from which we + had a splendid view, we did not wish to go down again. The + Court honours Malfatti every year with a visit. He has the + Duchess of Anhalt-Cothen as a neighbour; I should not wonder + if she envied him his garden. On one side one sees Vienna + lying at one's feet, and in such a way that one might believe + it was joined to Schoenbrunn; on the other side one sees high + mountains picturesquely dotted with convents and villages. + Gazing on this romantic panorama one entirely forgets the + noisy bustle and proximity of the capital. + +This is one of the few descriptive passages to be found in +Chopin's letters--men and their ways interested him more than +natural scenery. But to return from the villa to its owner, +Chopin characterises his relation to the doctor unequivocally in +the following statement:--"Malfatti really loves me, and I am not +a little proud of it." Indeed, the doctor seems to have been a +true friend, ready with act and counsel. He aided him with his +influence in various ways; thus, for instance, we read that he +promised to introduce him to Madame Tatyszczew, the wife of the +Russian Ambassador, and to Baron Dunoi, the president of the +musical society, whom Chopin thought a very useful personage to +know. At Malfatti's he made also the acquaintance of some artists +whom he would, perhaps, have had no opportunity of meeting +elsewhere. One of these was the celebrated tenor Wild. He came to +Malfatti's in the afternoon of Christmas-day, and Chopin, who had +been dining there, says: "I accompanied by heart the aria from +Othello, which he sang in a masterly style. Wild and Miss +Heinefetter are the ornaments of the Court Opera." Of a +celebration of Malfatti's name-day Chopin gives the following +graphic account in a letter to his parents, dated June 25, 1831:- +- + + Mechetti, who wished to surprise him [Malfatti], persuaded + the Misses Emmering and Lutzer, and the Messrs. Wild, + Cicimara, and your Frederick to perform some music at the + honoured man's house; almost from beginning to end the + performance was deserving of the predicate "parfait." I never + heard the quartet from Moses better sung; but Miss Gladkowska + sang "O quante lagrime" at my farewell concert at Warsaw with + much more expression. Wild was in excellent voice, and I + acted in a way as Capellmeister. + +To this he adds the note:-- + + Cicimara said there was nobody in Vienna who accompanied so + well as I. And I thought, "Of that I have been long + convinced." A considerable number of people stood on the + terrace of the house and listened to our concert. The moon + shone with wondrous beauty, the fountains rose like columns + of pearls, the air was filled with the fragrance of the + orangery; in short, it was an enchanting night, and the + surroundings were magnificent! And now I will describe to you + the drawing-room in which we were. High windows, open from + top to bottom, look out upon the terrace, from which one has + a splendid view of the whole of Vienna. The walls are hung + with large mirrors; the lights were faint: but so much the + greater was the effect of the moonlight which streamed + through the windows. The cabinet to the left of the drawing- + room and adjoining it gives, on account of its large + dimensions, an imposing aspect to the whole apartment. The + ingenuousness and courtesy of the host, the elegant and + genial society, the generally-prevailing joviality, and the + excellent supper, kept us long together. + +Here Chopin is seen at his best as a letter writer; it would be +difficult to find other passages of equal excellence. For, +although we meet frequently enough with isolated pretty bits, +there is not one single letter which, from beginning to end, as a +whole as well as in its parts, has the perfection and charm of +Mendelssohn's letters. + + + +CHAPTER XII + + + +VIENNA MUSICAL LIFE.--KARNTHNERTHOR THEATRE.--SABINE HEINEFETTER.- +-CONCERTS: HESSE, THALBERG, DOHLER, HUMMEL, ALOYS SCHMITT, +CHARLES CZERNY, SLAVIK, MERK, BOCKLET, ABBE STABLER, KIESEWETTER, +KANDLER.--THE PUBLISHERS HASLINGER, DIABELLI, MECHETTI, AND +JOSEPH CZERNY.--LANNER AND STRAUSS.--CHOPIN PLAYS AT A CONCERT +OF MADAME GARZIA-VESTRIS AND GIVES ONE HIMSELF.--HIS STUDIES AND +COMPOSITIONS OF THAT TIME.--HIS STATE OF BODY AND MIND.-- +PREPARATIONS FOR AND POSTPONEMENT OF HIS DEPARTURE.--SHORTNESS OF +MONEY.--HIS MELANCHOLY.--TWO EXCURSIONS.--LEAVES FOR MUNICH.--HIS +CONCERT AT MUNICH.--HIS STAY AT STUTTGART.--PROCEEDS TO PARIS. + + + +The allusions to music and musicians lead us naturally to inquire +further after Chopin's musical experiences in Vienna. + + January 26, 1831.--If I had not made [he writes] the + exceedingly interesting acquaintance of the most talented + artists of this place, such as Slavik, Merk, Bocklet, and so + forth [this "so forth" is tantalising], I should be very + little satisfied with my stay here. The Opera indeed is good: + Wild and Miss Heinefetter fascinate the Viennese; only it is + a pity that Duport brings forward so few new operas, and + thinks more of his pocket than of art. + +What Chopin says here and elsewhere about Duport's stinginess +tallies with the contemporary newspaper accounts. No sooner had +the new manager taken possession of his post than he began to +economise in such a manner that he drove away men like Conradin +Kreutzer, Weigl, and Mayseder. During the earlier part of his +sojourn in Vienna Chopin remarked that excepting Heinefetter and +Wild, the singers were not so excellent as he had expected to +find them at the Imperial Opera. Afterwards he seems to have +somewhat extended his sympathies, for he writes in July, 1831:-- + + Rossini's "Siege of Corinth" was lately very well performed + here, and I am glad that I had the opportunity of hearing + this opera. Miss Heinefetter and Messrs. Wild, Binder, and + Forti, in short, all the good singers in Vienna, appeared in + this opera and did their best. + +Chopin's most considerable criticism of this time is one on Miss +Heinefetter in a letter written on December 25, 1830; it may +serve as a pendant to his criticism on Miss Sontag which I quoted +in a preceding chapter. + + Miss Heinefetter has a voice such as one seldom hears; she + sings always in tune; her coloratura is like so many pearls; + in short, everything is faultless. She looks particularly + well when dressed as a man. But she is cold: I got my nose + almost frozen in the stalls. In "Othello" she delighted me + more than in the "Barber of Seville," where she represents a + finished coquette instead of a lively, witty girl. As Sextus + in "Titus" she looks really quite splendid. In a few days she + is to appear in the "Thieving Magpie" ["La Gazza ladra"]. I + am anxious to hear it. Miss Woikow pleased me better as + Rosina in the "Barber"; but, to be sure, she has not such a + delicious voice as the Heinefetter. I wish I had heard Pasta! + +The opera at the Karnthnerthor Theatre with all its shortcomings +was nevertheless the most important and most satisfactory musical +institution of the city. What else, indeed, had Vienna to offer +to the earnest musician? Lanner and Strauss were the heroes of +the day, and the majority of other concerts than those given by +them were exhibitions of virtuosos. Imagine what a pass the +musical world of Vienna must have come to when Stadler, +Kiesewetter, Mosel, and Seyfried could be called, as Chopin did +call them, its elite! Abbe Stadler might well say to the stranger +from Poland that Vienna was no longer what it used to be. Haydn, +Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert had shuffled off their mortal +coil, and compared with these suns their surviving contemporaries +and successors--Gyrowetz, Weigl, Stadler, Conradin Kreutzer, +Lachner, &c.--were but dim and uncertain lights. + +With regard to choral and orchestral performances apart from the +stage, Vienna had till more recent times very little to boast of. +In 1830-1831 the Spirituel-Concerte (Concerts Spirituels) were +still in existence under the conductorship of Lannoy; but since +1824 their number had dwindled down from eighteen to four yearly +concerts. The programmes were made up of a symphony and some +sacred choruses. Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn predominated among +the symphonists; in the choral department preference was given to +the Austrian school of church music; but Cherubim also was a +great favourite, and choruses from Handel's oratorios, with +Mosel's additional accompaniments, were often performed. The name +of Beethoven was hardly ever absent from any of the programmes. +That the orchestra consisted chiefly of amateurs, and that the +performances took place without rehearsals (only difficult new +works got a rehearsal, and one only), are facts which speak for +themselves. Franz Lachner told Hanslick that the performances of +new and in any way difficult compositions were so bad that +Schubert once left the hall in the middle of one of his works, +and he himself (Lachner) had felt several times inclined to do +the same. These are the concerts of which Beethoven spoke as +Winkelmusik, and the tickets of which he denominated +Abtrittskarten, a word which, as the expression of a man of +genius, I do not hesitate to quote, but which I could not venture +to translate. Since this damning criticism was uttered, matters +had not improved, on the contrary, had gone from bad to worse. +Another society of note was the still existing and flourishing +Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. It, too, gave four, or perhaps +five yearly concerts, in each of which a symphony, an overture, +an aria or duet, an instrumental solo, and a chorus were +performed. This society was afflicted with the same evil as the +first-named institution. It was a + + gladdening sight [we are told] to see counts and tradesmen, + superiors and subalterns, professors and students, noble + ladies and simple burghers' daughters side by side + harmoniously exerting themselves for the love of art. + +As far as choral singing is concerned the example deserves to be +followed, but the matter stands differently with regard to +instrumental music, a branch of the art which demands not only +longer and more careful, but also constant, training. Although +the early custom of drawing lots, in order to determine who were +to sing the solos, what places the players were to occupy in the +orchestra, and which of the four conductors was to wield the +baton, had already disappeared before 1831, yet in 1841 the +performances of the symphonies were still so little "in the +spirit of the composers" (a delicate way of stating an ugly fact) +that a critic advised the society to imitate the foreign +conservatoriums, and reinforce the band with the best musicians +of the capital, who, constantly exercising their art, and +conversant with the works of the great masters, were better able +to do justice to them than amateurs who met only four times a +year. What a boon it would be to humanity, what an increase of +happiness, if amateurs would allow themselves to be taught by +George Eliot, who never spoke truer and wiser words than when she +said:--"A little private imitation of what is good is a sort of +private devotion to it, and most of us ought to practise art only +in the light of private study--preparation to understand and +enjoy what the few can do for us." In addition to the above I +shall yet mention a third society, the Tonkunstler-Societat, +which, as the name implies, was an association of musicians. Its +object was the getting-up and keeping-up of a pension fund, and +its artistic activity displayed itself in four yearly concerts. +Haydn's "Creation" and "Seasons" were the stock pieces of the +society's repertoire, but in 1830 and 1831 Handel's "Messiah" and +"Solomon" and Lachner's "Die vier Menschenalter" were also +performed. + +These historical notes will give us an idea of what Chopin may +have heard in the way of choral and orchestral music. I say "may +have heard," because not a word is to be found in his extant +letters about the concerts of these societies. Without exposing +ourselves to the reproach of rashness, we may, however, assume +that he was present at the concert of the Gesellschaft der +Musikfreunde on March 20, 1831, when among the items of the +programme were Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, and the first +movement of a concerto composed and played by Thalberg. On seeing +the name of one of the most famous pianists contemporary with +Chopin, the reader has, no doubt, at once guessed the reason why +I assumed the latter's presence at the concert. These two +remarkable, but in their characters and aims so dissimilar, men +had some friendly intercourse in Vienna. Chopin mentions Thalberg +twice in his letters, first on December 25, 1830, and again on +May 28, 1831. On the latter occasion he relates that he went with +him to an organ recital given by Hesse, the previously-mentioned +Adolf Hesse of Breslau, of whom Chopin now remarked that he had +talent and knew how to treat his instrument. Hesse and Chopin +must have had some personal intercourse, for we learn that the +former left with the latter an album leaf. A propos of this +circumstance, Chopin confesses in a letter to his people that he +is at a loss what to write, that he lacks the requisite wit. But +let us return to the brilliant pianist, who, of course, was a +more interesting acquaintance in Chopin's, eyes than the great +organist. Born in 1812, and consequently three years younger than +Chopin, Sigismund Thalberg had already in his fifteenth year +played with success in public, and at the age of sixteen +published Op. 1, 2, and 3. However, when Chopin made his +acquaintance, he had not yet begun to play only his own +compositions (about that time he played, for instance, +Beethoven's C minor Concerto at one of the Spirituel-Concerte, +where since 1830 instrumental solos were occasionally heard), nor +had he attained that in its way unique perfection of beauty of +tone and elegance of execution which distinguished him +afterwards. Indeed, the palmy days of his career cannot be dated +farther back than the year 1835, when he and Chopin met again in +Paris; but then his success was so enormous that his fame in a +short time became universal, and as a virtuoso only one rival was +left him--Liszt, the unconquered. That Chopin and Thalberg +entertained very high opinions of each other cannot be asserted. +Let the reader judge for himself after reading what Chopin says +in his letter of December 25, 1830:-- + + Thalberg plays famously, but he is not my man. He is younger + than I, pleases the ladies very much, makes pot-pourris on + "La Muette" ["Masaniello"], plays the forte and piano with + the pedal, but not with the hand, takes tenths as easily as I + do octaves, and wears studs with diamonds. Moscheles does not + at all astonish him; therefore it is no wonder that only the + tuttis of my concerto have pleased him. He, too, writes + concertos. + +Chopin was endowed with a considerable power of sarcasm, and was +fond of cultivating and exercising it. This portraiture of his +brother-artist is not a bad specimen of its kind, although we +shall meet with better ones. + +Another, but as yet unfledged, celebrity was at that time living +in Vienna, prosecuting his studies under Czerny--namely, Theodor +Dohler. Chopin, who went to hear him play some compositions of +his master's at the theatre, does not allude to him again after +the concert; but if he foresaw what a position as a pianist and +composer he himself was destined to occupy, he could not suspect +that this lad of seventeen would some day be held up to the +Parisian public by a hostile clique as a rival equalling and even +surpassing his peculiar excellences. By the way, the notion of +anyone playing compositions of Czerny's at a concert cannot but +strangely tickle the fancy of a musician who has the privilege of +living in the latter part of the nineteenth century. + +Besides the young pianists with a great future before them Chopin +came also in contact with aging pianists with a great past behind +them. Hummel, accompanied by his son, called on him in the latter +part of December, 1830, and was extraordinarily polite. In April, +1831, the two pianists, the setting and the rising star, were +together at the villa of Dr. Malfatti. Chopin informed his +master, Elsner, for whose masses he was in quest of a publisher, +that Haslinger was publishing the last mass of Hummel, and added:- +- + + For he now lives only by and for Hummel. It is rumoured that + the last compositions of Hummel do not sell well, and yet he + is said to have paid a high price for them. Therefore he now + lays all MSS. aside, and prints only Strauss's waltzes. + +Unfortunately there is not a word which betrays Chopin's opinion +of Hummel's playing and compositions. We are more fortunate in +the case of another celebrity, one, however, of a much lower +order. In one of the prosaic intervals, of the sentimental +rhapsody, indited on December 25, 1830, there occur the following +remarks:-- + + The pianist Aloys Schmitt of Frankfort-on-the-Main, famous + for his excellent studies, is at present here; he is a man + above forty. I have made his acquaintance; he promised to + visit me. He intends to give a concert here, and one must + admit that he is a clever musician. I think we shall + understand each other with regard to music. + +Having looked at this picture, let the reader look also at this +other, dashed off a month later in a letter to Elsner:-- + + The pianist Aloys Schmitt has been flipped on the nose by the + critics, although he is already over forty years old, and + composes eighty-years-old music. + +From the contemporary journals we learn that, at the concert +mentioned by Chopin, Schmitt afforded the public of Vienna an +opportunity of hearing a number of his own compositions--which +were by no means short drawing-room pieces, but a symphony, +overture, concerto, concertino, &c.--and that he concluded his +concert with an improvisation. One critic, at least, described +his style of playing as sound and brilliant. The misfortune of +Schmitt was to have come too late into the world--respectable +mediocrities like him always do that--he never had any youth. The +pianist on whom Chopin called first on arriving in Vienna was +Charles Czerny, and he + + was, as he is always (and to everybody), very polite, and + asked, "Hat fleissig studirt?" [Have you studied diligently?] + He has again arranged an overture for eight pianos and + sixteen performers, and seems to be very happy over it. + +Only in the sense of belonging rather to the outgoing than to the +incoming generation can Czerny be reckoned among the aged +pianists, for in 1831 he was not above forty years of age and had +still an enormous capacity for work in him--hundreds and hundreds +of original and transcribed compositions, thousands and thousands +of lessons. His name appears in a passage of one of Chopin's +letters which deserves to be quoted for various reasons: it shows +the writer's dislike to the Jews, his love of Polish music, and +his contempt for a kind of composition much cultivated by Czerny. +Speaking of the violinist Herz, "an Israelite," who was almost +hissed when he made his debut in Warsaw, and whom Chopin was +going to hear again in Vienna, he says:-- + + At the close of the concert Herz will play his own Variations + on Polish airs. Poor Polish airs! You do not in the least + suspect how you will be interlarded with "majufes" [see page + 49, foot-note], and that the title of "Polish music" is only + given you to entice the public. If one is so outspoken as to + discuss the respective merits of genuine Polish music and + this imitation of it, and to place the former above the + latter, people declare one to be mad, and do this so much the + more readily because Czerny, the oracle of Vienna, has + hitherto in the fabrication of his musical dainties never + produced Variations on a Polish air. + +Chopin had not much sympathy with Czerny the musician, but seems +to have had some liking for the man, who indeed was gentle, kind, +and courteous in his disposition and deportment. + +A much more congenial and intimate connection existed between +Chopin, Slavik, and Merk. [FOOTNOTE: Thus the name is spelt in +Mendel's Musikalisches Conversations-Lexikon and by E. A. Melis, +the Bohemian writer on music. Chopin spells it Slawik. The more +usual spelling, however, is Slawjk; and in C.F. Whistling's +Handbuch der musikalischen Literatur (Leipzig, 1828) it is +Slavjk.] Joseph Slavik had come to Vienna in 1825 and had at once +excited a great sensation. He was then a young man of nineteen, +but technically already superior to all the violinists that had +been heard in the Austrian capital. The celebrated Mayseder +called him a second Lipinski. Pixis, his master at the +Conservatorium in Prague, on seeing some of this extraordinary +pupil's compositions--a concerto, variations, &c.--had wondered +how anyone could write down such mad, unplayable stuff. But +Slavik before leaving Prague proved at a farewell concert that +there was at least one who could play the mad stuff. All this, +however, was merely the prelude to what was yet to come. The +appearance of Paganini in 1828 revealed to him the, till then, +dimly-perceived ideal of his dreams, and the great Italian +violinist, who took an interest in this ardent admirer and gave +him some hints, became henceforth his model. Having saved a +little money, he went for his further improvement to Paris, +studying especially under Baillot, but soon returned to accept an +engagement in the Imperial Band. When after two years of hard +practising he reappeared before the public of Vienna, his style +was altogether changed; he mastered the same difficulties as +Paganini, or even greater ones, not, however, with the same +unfailing certainty, nor with an always irreproachable +intonation. Still, there can be no doubt that had not a premature +death (in 1833, at the age of twenty-seven) cut short his career, +he would have spread his fame all over the world. Chopin, who met +him first at Wurfel's, at once felt a liking for him, and when on +the following day he heard him play after dinner at Beyer's, he +was more pleased with his performance than with that of any other +violinist except Paganini. As Chopin's playing was equally +sympathetic to Slavik, they formed the project of writing a duet +for violin and piano. In a letter to his friend Matuszynski +(December 25, 1830) Chopin writes:-- + + I have just come from the excellent violinist Slavik. With + the exception of Paganini, I never heard a violin-player like + him. Ninety-six staccato notes in one bow! It is almost + incredible! When I heard him I felt inclined to return to my + lodgings and sketch variations on an Adagio [which they had + previously agreed to take for their theme] of Beethoven's. + +The sight of the post-office and a letter from his Polish friends +put the variations out of his mind, and they seem never to have +been written, at least nothing has been heard of them. Some +remarks on Slavik in a letter addressed to his parents (May 28, +1831) show Chopin's admiration of and affection for his friend +still more distinctly:-- + + He is one of the Viennese artists with whom I keep up a + really friendly and intimate intercourse. He plays like a + second Paganini, but a rejuvenated one, who will perhaps in + time surpass the first. I should not believe it myself if I + had not heard him so often....Slavik fascinates the listener + and brings tears into his eyes. + +Shortly after falling in with Slavik, Chopin met Merk, probably +at the house of the publisher Mechetti, and on January 1, 1831, +he announces to his friend in Warsaw with unmistakable pride that +"Merk, the first violoncellist in Vienna," has promised him a +visit. Chopin desired very much to become acquainted with him +because he thought that Merk, Slavik, and himself would form a +capital trio. The violoncellist was considerably older than +either pianist or violinist, being born in 1795. Merk began his +musical career as a violinist, but being badly bitten in the arm +by a big dog, and disabled thereby to hold the violin in its +proper position (this is what Fetis relates), he devoted himself +to the violoncello, and with such success as to become the first +solo player in Vienna. At the time we are speaking of he was a +member of the Imperial Orchestra and a professor at the +Conservatorium. He often gave concerts with Mayseder, and was +called the Mayseder of the violoncello. Chopin, on hearing him at +a soiree of the well-known autograph collector Fuchs, writes +home:-- + + Limmer, one of the better artists here in Vienna, produced + some of his compositions for four violoncelli. Merk, by his + expressive playing, made them, as usual, more beautiful than + they really are. People stayed again till midnight, for Merk + took a fancy to play with me his variations. He told me that + he liked to play with me, and it is always a great treat to + me to play with him. I think we look well together. He is the + first violoncellist whom I really admire. + +Of Chopin's intercourse with the third of the "exceedingly +interesting acquaintances "whom he mentions by name, we get no +particulars in his letters. Still, Carl Maria von Bocklet, for +whom Beethoven wrote three letters of recommendation, who was an +intimate friend of Schubert's, and whose interpretations of +classical works and power of improvisation gave him one of the +foremost places among the pianists of the day, cannot have been +without influence on Chopin. Bocklet, better than any other +pianist then living in Vienna, could bring the young Pole into +closer communication with the German masters of the preceding +generation; he could, as it were, transmit to him some of the +spirit that animated Beethoven, Schubert, and Weber. The absence +of allusions to Bocklet in Chopin's letters does not, however, +prove that he never made any, for the extant letters are only a +small portion of those he actually wrote, many of them having in +the perturbed state of Poland never reached their destination, +others having been burnt by his parents for fear of the Russian +police, and some, no doubt, having been lost through carelessness +or indifference. + +The list of Chopin's acquaintances is as yet far from being +exhausted. He had conversations with old Abbe Stadler, the friend +of Haydn and Mozart, whose Psalms, which he saw in MS., he +admired. He also speaks of one of the performances of old, +sacred, and secular music which took place at Kiesewetter's house +as if he were going to it. But a musician of Chopin's nature +would not take a very lively interest in the historical aspect of +the art; nor would the learned investigator of the music of the +Netherlanders, of the music of the Arabs, of the life and works +of Guido d'Arezzo, &c., readily perceive the preciousness of the +modern composer's originality. At any rate, Chopin had more +intercourse with the musico-literary Franz Kandler, who wrote +favourable criticisms on his performances as a composer and +player, and with whom he went on one occasion to the Imperial +Library, where the discovery of a certain MS. surprised him even +more than the magnitude and order of the collection, which he +could not imagine to be inferior to that of Bologna--the +manuscript in question being no other than his Op. 2, which +Haslinger had presented to the library. Chopin found another MS. +of his, that of the Rondo for two pianos, in Aloys Fuchs's famous +collection of autographs, which then comprised 400 numbers, but +about the year 1840 had increased to 650 numbers, most of them +complete works. He must have understood how to ingratiate himself +with the collector, otherwise he would hardly have had the good +fortune to be presented with an autograph of Beethoven. + +Chopin became also acquainted with almost all the principal +publishers in Vienna. Of Haslinger enough has already been said. +By Czerny Chopin was introduced to Diabelli, who invited him to +an evening party of musicians. With Mechetti he seems to have +been on a friendly footing. He dined at his house, met him at Dr. +Malfatti's, handed over to him for publication his Polonaise for +piano and violoncello (Op. 3), and described him as enterprising +and probably persuadable to publish Elsner's masses. Joseph +Czerny, no relation of Charles's, was a mere business +acquaintance of Chopin's. Being reminded of his promise to +publish a quartet of Elsner's, he said he could not undertake to +do so just then (about January 26, 1831), as he was publishing +the works of Schubert, of which many were still in the press. + + Therefore [writes Chopin to his master] I fear your MS. will + have to wait. Czerny, I have found out now, is not one of the + richest publishers here, and consequently cannot easily risk + the publication of a work which is not performed at the Sped + or at the Romische Kaiser. Waltzes are here called works; and + Lanner and Strauss, who lead the performances, Capellmeister. + In saying this, however, I do not mean that all people here + are of this opinion; on the contrary, there are many who + laugh at it. Still, it is almost only waltzes that are + published. + +It is hardly possible for us to conceive the enthusiasm and +ecstasy into which the waltzes of the two dance composers +transported Vienna, which was divided into two camps:-- + + The Sperl and Volksgarten [says Hanslick] were on the Strauss + and Lanner days the favourite and most frequented "concert + localities." In the year 1839 Strauss and Lanner had already + each of them published more than too works. The journals were + thrown into ecstasy by every new set of waltzes; innumerable + articles appeared on Strauss, and Lanner, enthusiastic, + humorous, pathetic, and certainly longer than those that were + devoted to Beethoven and Mozart. + +These glimpses of the notabilities and manners of a by-gone +generation, caught, as it were, through the chinks of the wall +which time is building up between the past and the present, are +instructive as well as amusing. It would be a great mistake to +regard these details, apparently very loosely connected with the +life of Chopin, as superfluous appendages to his biography. A +man's sympathies and antipathies are revelations of his nature, +and an artist's surroundings make evident his position and merit, +the degree of his originality being undeterminable without a +knowledge of the time in which he lived. Moreover, let the +impatient reader remember that, Chopin's life being somewhat poor +in incidents, the narrative cannot be an even-paced march, but +must be a series of leaps and pauses, with here and there an +intervening amble, and one or two brisk canters. + +Having described the social and artistic sphere, or rather +spheres, in which Chopin moved, pointed out the persons with whom +he most associated, and noted his opinions regarding men and +things, almost all that is worth telling of his life in the +imperial city is told--almost all, but not all. Indeed, of the +latter half of his sojourn there some events have yet to be +recorded which in importance, if not in interest, surpass +anything that is to be found in the preceding and the foregoing +part of the present chapter. I have already indicated that the +disappointment of Chopin's hopes and the failure of his plans +cannot altogether be laid to the charge of unfavourable +circumstances. His parents must have thought so too, and taken +him to task about his remissness in the matter of giving a +concert, for on May 14, 1831, Chopin writes to them:--"My most +fervent wish is to be able to fulfil your wishes; till now, +however, I found it impossible to give a concert." But although +he had not himself given a concert he had had an opportunity of +presenting himself in the best company to the public of Vienna. +In the "Theaterzeitung" of April 2, 1831, Madame Garzia-Vestris +announced a concert to be held in the Redoutensaal during the +morning hours of April 4, in which she was to be assisted by the +Misses Sabine and Clara Heinefetter, Messrs. Wild, Chopin, Bohm +(violinist), Hellmesberger (violinist, pupil of the former), +Merk, and the brothers Lewy (two horn-players). Chopin was +distinguished from all the rest, as a homo ignotus et novus, by +the parenthetical "pianoforte-player" after his name, no such +information being thought necessary in the case of the other +artists. The times are changed, now most readers require +parenthetical elucidation after each name except that of Chopin. +"He has put down the mighty from their seat and has exalted them +of low degree!" The above-mentioned exhortation of his parents +seems to have had the desired effect, and induced Chopin to make +an effort, although now the circumstances were less favourable to +his giving a concert than at the time of his arrival. The musical +season was over, and many people had left the capital for their +summer haunts; the struggle in Poland continued with increasing +fierceness, which was not likely to lessen the backwardness of +Austrians in patronising a Pole; and in addition to this, cholera +had visited the country and put to flight all who were not +obliged to stay. I have not been able to ascertain the date and +other particulars of this concert. Through Karasowski we learn +that it was thinly attended, and that the receipts did not cover +the expenses. The "Theaterzeitung," which had given such full +criticisms of Chopin's performances in 1829, says not a word +either of the matinee or of the concert, not even the +advertisement of the latter has come under my notice. No doubt +Chopin alludes to criticisms on this concert when he writes in +the month of July:-- + + Louisa [his sister] informs me that Mr. Elsner was very much + pleased with the criticism; I wonder what he will say of the + others, he who was my teacher of composition? + +Kandler, the Vienna correspondent of the "Allgemeine musikalische +Zeitung," after discussing in that paper (September 21, 1831) the +performances of several artists, among others that of the clever +Polish violin-virtuoso Serwaczynski, turns to "Chopin, also from +the Sarmatian capital, who already during his visit last year +proved himself a pianist of the first rank," and remarks:-- + + The execution of his newest Concerto in E minor, a serious + composition, gave no cause to revoke our former judgment. One + who is so upright in his dealings with genuine art is + deserving our genuine esteem. + +All things considered, I do not hesitate to accept Liszt's +statement that the young artist did not produce such a sensation +as he had a right to expect. In fact, notwithstanding the many +pleasant social connections he had, Chopin must have afterwards +looked back with regret, probably with bitterness, on his eight +months' sojourn in Vienna. Not only did he add nothing to his +fame as a pianist and composer by successful concerts and new +publications, but he seems even to have been sluggish in his +studies and in the production of new works. How he leisurely +whiled away the mornings at his lodgings, and passed the rest of +the day abroad and in society, he himself has explicitly +described. That this was his usual mode of life at Vienna, +receives further support from the self-satisfaction with which he +on one occasion mentions that he had practised from early morning +till two o'clock in the afternoon. In his letters we read only +twice of his having finished some new compositions. On December +21, 1830, he writes:-- + + I wished to enclose my latest waltz, but the post is about to + depart, and I have no longer time to copy it, therefore I + shall send it another time. The mazurkas, too, I have first + to get copied, but they are not intended for dancing. + +And in the month of July, 1831, "I have written a polonaise, +which I must leave here for Wurfel." There are two more remarks +about compositions, but of compositions which were never +finished, perhaps never begun. One of these remarks refers to the +variations on a theme of Beethoven's, which he intended to +compose conjointly with Slavik, and has already been quoted; the +other refers to a grander project. Speaking of Nidecki, who came +every morning to his lodgings and practised his (Chopin's) +concerto, he says (December 21, 1830):-- + + If I succeed in writing a concerto for two pianos so as to + satisfy myself, we intend to appear at once with it in + public; first, however, I wish to play once alone. + +What an interesting, but at the same time what a gigantic, +subject to write on the history of the unrealised plans of men of +genius would be! The above-mentioned waltz, polonaise, and +mazurkas do not, of course, represent the whole of Chopin's +output as a composer during the time of his stay in Vienna; but +we may surmise with some degree of certainty that few works of +importance have to be added to it. Indeed, the multiplicity of +his social connections and engagements left him little time for +himself, and the condition of his fatherland kept him in a +constant state of restlessness. Poland and her struggle for +independence were always in his mind; now he laments in his +letters the death of a friend, now rejoices at a victory, now +asks eagerly if such or such a piece of good news that has +reached him is true, now expresses the hope that God will be +propitious to their cause, now relates that he has vented his +patriotism by putting on the studs with the Polish eagles and +using the pocket-handkerchief with the Kosynier (scythe-man) +depicted on it. + + What is going on at home? [he writes, on May 28, 1831.] I am + always dreaming of you. Is there still no end to the + bloodshed? I know your answer: "Patience!" I, too, always + comfort myself with that. + +But good health, he finds, is the best comfort in misfortune, and +if his bulletins to his parents could be trusted he was in full +enjoyment of it. + + Zacharkiewicz of Warsaw called on me; and when his wife saw + me at Szaszek's, she did not know how to sufficiently express + her astonishment at my having become such a sturdy fellow. I + have let my whiskers grow only on the right side, and they + are growing very well; on the left side they are not needed + at all, for one sits always with the right side turned to the + public. + +Although his "ideal" is not there to retain him, yet he cannot +make up his mind to leave Vienna. On May 28, he writes:-- + + How quickly this dear time passes! It is already the end of + May, and I am still in Vienna. June will come, and I shall + probably be still here, for Kumelski fell ill and was obliged + to take to bed again. + +It was not only June but past the middle of July before Chopin +left, and I am afraid he would not always have so good an excuse +for prolonging his stay as the sickness of his travelling- +companion. On June 25, however, we hear of active preparations +being made for departure. + + I am in good health, that is the only thing that cheers me, + for it seems as if my departure would never take place. You + all know how irresolute I am, and in addition to this I meet + with obstacles at every step. Day after day I am promised my + passport, and I run from Herod to Pontius Pilate, only to get + back what I deposited at the police office. To-day I heard + even more agreeable news--namely, that my passport has been + mislaid, and that they cannot find it; I have even to send in + an application for a new one. It is curious how now every + imaginable misfortune befalls us poor Poles. Although I am + ready to depart, I am unable to set out. + +Chopin had been advised by Mr. Beyer to have London instead of +Paris put as a visa in his passport. The police complied with his +request that this should be done, but the Russian Ambassador, +after keeping the document for two days, gave him only permission +to travel as far as Munich. But Chopin did not care so long as he +got the signature of the French Ambassador. Although his passport +contained the words "passant par Paris a Londres," and he in +after years in Paris sometimes remarked, in allusion to these +words, "I am here only in passing," he had no intention of going +to London. The fine sentiment, therefore, of which a propos of +this circumstance some writers have delivered themselves was +altogether misplaced. When the difficulty about the passport was +overcome, another arose: to enter Bavaria from cholera-stricken +Austria a passport of health was required. Thus Chopin had to +begin another series of applications, in fact, had to run about +for half a day before he obtained this additional document. + +Chopin appears to have been rather short of money in the latter +part of his stay in Vienna--a state of matters with which the +financial failure of the concert may have had something to do. +The preparations for his departure brought the pecuniary question +still more prominently forward. On June 25, 1831, he writes to +his parents:-- + + I live as economically as possible, and take as much care of + every kreuzer as of that ring in Warsaw [the one given him by + the Emperor Alexander]. You may sell it, I have already cost + you so much. + +He must have talked about his shortness of money to some of his +friends in Vienna, for he mentions that the pianist-composer +Czapek, who calls on him every day and shows him much kindness, +has offered him money for the journey should he stand in need of +it. One would hardly have credited Chopin with proficiency in an +art in which he nevertheless greatly excelled--namely, in the art +of writing begging letters. How well he understood how to touch +the springs of the parental feelings the following application +for funds will prove. + + July, 1831.--But I must not forget to mention that I shall + probably be obliged to draw more money from the banker Peter + than my dear father has allowed me. I am very economical; + but, God knows, I cannot help it, for otherwise I should have + to leave with an almost empty purse. God preserve me from + sickness; were, however, anything to happen to me, you might + perhaps reproach me for not having taken more. Pardon me, but + consider that I have already lived on this money during May, + June, and July, and that I have now to pay more for my dinner + than I did in winter. I do not do this only because I myself + feel I ought to do so, but also in consequence of the good + advice of others. I am very sorry that I have to ask you for + it; my papa has already spent more than three groschen for + me; I know also very well how difficult it is to earn money. + Believe me, my dearest ones, it is harder for me to ask than + for you to give. God will not fail to assist us also in the + future, punctum! + +Chopin was at this time very subject to melancholy, and did not +altogether hide the fact even from his parents. He was perhaps +thinking of the "lengthening chain" which he would have to drag +at this new remove. He often runs into the street to seek Titus +Woyciechowski or John Matuszynski. One day he imagines he sees +the former walking before him, but on coming up to the supposed +friend is disgusted to find "a d---- Prussian." + + I lack nothing [he writes in July, 1831] except more life, + more spirit! I often feel unstrung, but sometimes as merry as + I used to be at home. When I am sad I go to Madame Szaszek's; + there I generally meet several amiable Polish ladies who with + their hearty, hopeful words always cheer me up, so that I + begin at once to imitate the generals here. This is a fresh + joke of mine; but those who saw it almost died with laughing. + But alas, there are days when not two words can be got out of + me, nor can anyone find out what is the matter with me; then, + to divert myself, I generally take a thirty-kreuzer drive to + Hietzing, or somewhere else in the neighbourhood of Vienna. + +This is a valuable bit of autobiography; it sets forth clearly +Chopin's proneness to melancholy, which, however, easily gave way +to his sportiveness. That low spirits and scantiness of money did +not prevent Chopin from thoroughly enjoying himself may be +gathered from many indications in his letters; of these I shall +select his descriptions of two excursions in the neighbourhood of +Vienna, which not only make us better acquainted with the writer, +but also are interesting in themselves. + + June 25, 1831.--The day before yesterday we were with + Kumelski and Czapek...on the Kahlenberg and Leopoldsberg. It + was a magnificent day; I have never had a finer walk. From + the Leopoldsberg one sees all Vienna, Wagram, Aspern, + Pressburg, even Kloster-Neuburg, the castle in which Richard + the Lion-hearted lived for a long time as a prisoner. Also + the whole of the upper part of the Danube lay before our + eyes. After breakfast we ascended the Kahlenberg, where King + John Sobieski pitched his camp and caused the rockets to be + fired which announced to Count Starhemberg, the commandant of + Vienna, the approach of the Polish army. There is the + Camaldolese Monastery in which the King knighted his son + James before the attack on the Turks and himself served as + acolyte at the Mass. I enclose for Isabella a little leaf + from that spot, which is now covered with plants. From there + we went in the evening to the Krapfenwald, a beautiful + valley, where we saw a comical boys' trick. The little + fellows had enveloped themselves from head to foot in leaves + and looked like walking bushes. In this costume they crept + from one visitor to another. Such a boy covered with leaves + and his head adorned with twigs is called a "Pfingstkonig" + [Whitsuntide-King]. This drollery is customary here at + Whitsuntide. + +The second excursion is thus described:-- + + July, 1831.--The day before yesterday honest Wurfel called on + me; Czapek, Kumelski. and many others also came, and we drove + together to St. Veil--a beautiful place; I could not say the + same of Tivoli, where they have constructed a kind ol + caroitsscl, or rather a track with a sledge, which is called + Rutsch. It is a childish amusement, but a great number of + grown-up people have themselves rolled down the hill in this + carriage just for pastime. At first I did not feel inclined + to try it, but as there were eight of us, all good friends, + we began to vie with each other in sliding down. It was + folly, and yet we all laughed heartily. I myself joined in + the sport with much satisfaction until it struck me that + healthy and strong men could do something better--now, when + humanity calls to them for protection and defence. May the + devil take this frivolity! + +In the same letter Chopin expresses the hope that his use of +various, not quite unobjectionable, words beginning with a "d" +may not give his parents a bad opinion of the culture he has +acquired in Vienna, and removes any possible disquietude on their +part by assuring them that he has adopted nothing that is +Viennese in its nature, that, in fact, he has not even learnt to +play a Tanzwalzer (a dancing waltz). This, then, is the sad +result of his sojourn in Vienna. + +On July 20, 1831, Chopin, accompanied by his friend Kumelski, +left Vienna and travelled by Linz and Salzburg to Munich, where +he had to wait some weeks for supplies from home. His stay in the +capital of Bavaria, however, was not lost time, for he made there +the acquaintance of several clever musicians, and they, charmed +by his playing and compositions, induced him to give a concert. +Karasowski tells us that Chopin played his E minor Concerto at +one of the Philharmonic Society's concerts--which is not quite +correct, as we shall see presently--and adds that + + the audience, carried away by the beauty of the composition + and his excellent, poetic rendering, overwhelmed the young + virtuoso with loud applause and sincere admiration. + +In writing this the biographer had probably in his mind the +following passage from Chopin's letter to Titus Woyciechowski, +dated Paris, December 16, 1831:--" I played [to Kalkbrenner, in +Paris] the E minor Concerto, which charmed the people of the +Bavarian capital so much." The two statements are not synonymous. +What the biographer says may be true, and if it is not, ought to +be so; but I am afraid the existing documents do not bear it out +in its entirety. Among the many local and other journals which I +have consulted, I have found only one notice of Chopin's +appearance at Munich, and when I expectantly scanned a resume of +Munich musical life, from the spring to the end of the year 1831, +in the "Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung," I found mention made of +Mendelssohn and Lafont, but not of Chopin. Thus, unless we assume +that Karasowski--true to his mission as a eulogising biographer, +and most vigorous when unfettered by definite data--indulged in +exaggeration, we must seek for a reconciliation of the enthusiasm +of the audience with the silence of the reporter in certain +characteristics of the Munich public. Mendelssohn says of it:-- + + The people here [in Munich] have an extraordinary receptivity + for music, which is much cultivated. But it appears to me + that everything makes an impression and that the impressions + do not last. + +Speaking of Mendelssohn, it is curious to note how he and Chopin +were again and again on the point of meeting, and again and again +failed to meet. In Berlin Chopin was too bashful and modest to +address his already famous young brother-artist, who in 1830 left +Vienna shortly before Chopin arrived, and in 1831 arrived in +Munich shortly after Chopin had left. The only notice of Chopin's +public appearance in Munich I have been able to discover, I found +in No. 87 (August 30, 1831) of the periodical "Flora", which +contains, under the heading "news," a pretty full account of the +"concert of Mr. Chopin of Warsaw." From this account we learn +that Chopin was assisted by the singers Madame Pellegrini and +Messrs. Bayer, Lenz, and Harm, the clarinet-player Barmann, jun., +and Capellmeister Stunz. The singers performed a four-part song, +and Barmann took part in a cavatina (sung by Bayer, the first +tenor at the opera) with clarinet and pianoforte accompaniment by +Schubert (?). What the writer of the account says about Chopin +shall be quoted in full:-- + + On the 28th August, Mr. F. Chopin, of Warsaw, gave a morning + concert [Mittags Concert] in the hall of the Philharmonic + Society, which was attended by a very select audience. Mr. + Chopin performed on the pianoforte a Concerto in E minor of + his own composition, and showed an excellent virtuosity in + the treatment of his instrument; besides a developed + technique, one noticed especially a charming delicacy of + execution, and a beautiful and characteristic rendering of + the motives. The composition was, on the whole, brilliantly + and well written, without surprising, however, by + extraordinary novelty or a particular profundity, with the + exception of the Rondo, whose principal thought as well as + the florid middle sections, through an original combination + of a melancholy trait with a capriccio, evolved a peculiar + charm, on which account it particularly pleased. The concert- + giver performed in conclusion a fantasia on Polish national + songs. There is a something in the Slavonic songs which + almost never fails in its effect, the cause of which, + however, is difficult to trace and explain; for it is not + only the rhythm and the quick change from minor to major + which produce this charm. No one has probably understood + better how to combine the national character of such folk- + songs with a brilliant concert style than Bernhard Romberg + [Footnote: The famous violoncellist], who by his compositions + of this kind, put in a favourable light by his masterly + playing, knew how to exercise a peculiar fascination. Quite + of this style was the fantasia of Mr. Chopin, who gained + unanimous applause. + +From Munich Chopin proceeded to Stuttgart, and during his stay +there learnt the sad news of the taking of Warsaw by the Russians +(September 8, 1831). It is said that this event inspired him to +compose the C minor study (No. 12 of Op. 10), with its passionate +surging and impetuous ejaculations. Writing from Paris on +December 16, 1831, Chopin remarks, in allusion to the traeic +denouement of the Polish revolution: "All this has caused me much +pain. Who could have foreseen it!" + +With his visits to Stuttgart Chopin's artist-life in Germany came +to a close, for, although he afterwards repeatedly visited the +country, he never played in public or made a lengthened stay +there. Now that Chopin is nearing Paris, where, occasional +sojourns elsewhere (most of them of short duration) excepted, he +will pass the rest of his life, it may interest the reader to +learn that this change of country brought with it also a change +of name, at least as far as popular pronunciation and spelling +went. We may be sure that the Germans did not always give to the +final syllable the appropriate nasal sound. And what the Polish +pronunciation was is sufficiently indicated by the spelling +"Szopen," frequently to be met with. I found it in the Polish +illustrated journal "Kiosy," and it is also to be seen in Joseph +Sikorski's "Wspomnienie Szopena" ("Reminiscences of Chopin"). +Szulc and Karasowski call their books and hero "Fryderyk Chopin." + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + + +CHOPIN'S PRODUCTIONS FROM THE SPRING OF 1829 TO THEEND OF 1831.-- +THE CHIEF INFLUENCES THAT HELPED TO FORM HIS STYLE OF +COMPOSITION. + + + +Let us pause for a little in our biographical inquiries and +critically examine what Chopin had achieved as a composer since +the spring of 1829. At the very first glance it becomes evident +that the works of the last two years (1829-1831) are decidedly +superior to those he wrote before that time. And this advance was +not due merely to the increased power derived from practice; it +was real growth, which a Greek philosopher describes as +penetration of nourishment into empty places, the nourishment +being in Chopin's case experience of life's joys and sorrows. In +most of the works of what I call his first period, the composer +luxuriates, as it were, in language. He does not regard it solely +or chiefly as the interpreter of thoughts and feelings, he loves +it for its own sake, just as children, small and tall, prattle +for no other reason than the pleasure of prattling. I closed the +first period when a new element entered Chopin's life and +influenced his artistic work. This element was his first love, +his passion for Constantia Gtadkowska. Thenceforth Chopin's +compositions had in them more of humanity and poetry, and the +improved subject-matter naturally, indeed necessarily, chastened, +ennobled, and enriched the means and ways of expression. Of +course no hard line can be drawn between the two periods--the +distinctive quality of the one period appears sometimes in the +work of the other: a work of the earlier period foreshadows the +character of the later; one of the later re-echoes that of the +earlier. + +The compositions which we know to have been written by Chopin +between 1829 and 1831 are few in number. This may be partly +because Chopin was rather idle from the autumn of 1830 to the end +of 1831, partly because no account of the production of other +works has come down to us. In fact, I have no doubt that other +short pieces besides those mentioned by Chopin in his letters +were composed during those years, and subsequently published by +him. The compositions oftenest and most explicitly mentioned in +the letters are also the most important ones--namely, the +concertos. As I wish to discuss them at some length, we will keep +them to the last, and see first what allusions to other +compositions we can find, and what observations these latter give +rise to. + +On October 3, 1829, Chopin sends his friend Titus Woyciechowski a +waltz which, he says, was, like the Adagio of the F minor +Concerto, inspired by his ideal, Constantia Gladkowska:-- + + Pay attention to the passage marked with a +; nobody, except + you, knows of this. How happy would I be if I could play my + newest compositions to you! In the fifth bar of the trio the + bass melody up to E flat dominates, which, however, I need + not tell you, as you are sure to feel it without being told. + +The remark about the bass melody up to E flat in the trio gives +us a clue to which of Chopin's waltzes this is. It can be no +other than the one in D flat which Fontana published among his +friend's posthumous works as Op. 70, No. 3. Although by no means +equal to any of the waltzes published by Chopin himself, one may +admit that it is pretty; but its chief claim to our attention +lies in the fact that it contains germs which reappear as fully- +developed flowers in other examples of this class of the master's +works--the first half of the first part reappears in the opening +(from the ninth bar onward) of Op. 42 (Waltz in A flat major); +and the third part, in the third part (without counting the +introductory bars) of Op. 34, No. 1 (Waltz in A flat major). + +On October 20, 1829, Chopin writes:--"During my visit at Prince +Radziwill's [at Antonin] I wrote an Alla Polacca. It is nothing +more than a brilliant salon piece, such as pleases ladies"; and +on April 10, 1830:-- + + I shall play [at a soiree at the house of Lewicki] Hummel's + "La Sentinelle," and at the close my Polonaise with + violoncello, for which I have composed an Adagio as an + introduction. I have already rehearsed it, and it does not + sound badly. + +Prince Radziwill, the reader will remember, played the +violoncello. It was, however, not to him but to Merk that Chopin +dedicated this composition, which, before departing from Vienna +to Paris, he left with Mechetti, who eventually published it +under the title of "Introduction et Polonaise brillante pour +piano et violoncelle," dediees a Mr. Joseph Merk. On the whole we +may accept Chopin's criticism of his Op. 3 as correct. The +Polonaise is nothing but a brilliant salon piece. Indeed, there +is very little in this composition--one or two pianoforte +passages, and a finesse here and there excepted--that +distinguishes it as Chopin's. The opening theme verges even +dangerously to the commonplace. More of the Chopinesque than in +the Polonaise may be discovered in the Introduction, which was +less of a piece d'occasion. What subdued the composer's +individuality was no doubt the violoncello, which, however, is +well provided with grateful cantilene. + +On two occasions Chopin writes of studies. On October 20, 1829: +"I have composed a study in my own manner"; and on November 14, +1829: "I have written some studies; in your presence I would play +them well." These studies are probably among the twelve published +in the summer of 1833, they may, however, also be among those +published in the autumn of 1837. The twelfth of the first sheaf +of studies (Op. 10) Chopin composed, as already stated, at +Stuttgart, when he was under the excitement caused by the news of +the taking of Warsaw by the Russians on September 8, 1831. + +The words "I intend to write a Polonaise with orchestra," +contained in a letter dated September 18, 1830, give rise to the +interesting question: "Did Chopin realise his intention, and has +the work come down to us?" I think both questions can be answered +in the affirmative. At any rate, I hold that internal evidence +seems to indicate that Op. 22, the "Grande Polonaise brillante +precedee d'un Andante spianato avec orchestre," which was +published in the summer of 1836, is the work in question. Whether +the "Andante" was composed at the same time, and what, if any, +alterations were subsequently made in the Polonaise, I do not +venture to decide. But the Polonaise has so much of Chopin's +early showy virtuosic style and so little of his later noble +emotional power that my conjecture seems reasonable. Moreover, +the fact that the orchestra is employed speaks in favour of my +theory, for after the works already discussed in the tenth +chapter, and the concertos with which we shall concern ourselves +presently, Chopin did not in any other composition (i.e., after +1830) write for the orchestra. His experiences in Warsaw, Vienna, +and Paris convinced him, no doubt, that he was not made to +contend with masses, either as an executant or as a composer. +Query: Is the Polonaise, of which Chopin says in July, 1831, that +he has to leave it to Wurfel, Op. 22 or another work? + +Two other projects of Chopin, however, seem to have remained +unrealised--a Concerto for two pianos which he intended to play +in public at Vienna with his countryman Nidecki (letter of +December 21, 1830), and Variations for piano and violin on a +theme of Beethoven's, to be written conjointly by himself and +Slavik (letters of December 21 and 25, 1830). Fragments of the +former of these projected works may, however, have been used in +the "Allegro de Concert," Op. 46, published in 1842. + +In the letter of December 21, 1830, there is also an allusion to +a waltz and mazurkas just finished, but whether they are to be +found among the master's printed compositions is more than I can +tell. + +The three "Ecossaises" of the year 1830, which Fontana published +as Op. 72, No. 3, are the least individual of Chopin's +compositions, and almost the only dances of his which may be +described as dance music pure and simple--rhythm and melody +without poetry, matter with a minimum of soul. + +The posthumous Mazurka (D major) of 1829-30 is unimportant. It +contains nothing notable, except perhaps the descending chromatic +successions of chords of the sixth. In fact, we can rejoice in +its preservation only because a comparison with a remodelling of +1832 allows us to trace a step in Chopin's development. + +And now we come to the concertos, the history of which, as far as +it is traceable in the composer's letters, I will here place +before the reader. If I repeat in this chapter passages already +quoted in previous chapters, it is for the sake of completeness +and convenience. + + October 3, 1829.--I have--perhaps to my misfortune--already + found my ideal, whom I worship faithfully and sincerely. Six + months have elapsed and I have not yet exchanged a syllable + with her of whom I dream every night. Whilst my thoughts were + with her I composed the Adagio of my Concerto. + +The Adagio here mentioned is that of the F minor Concerto, Op. +21, which he composed before but published after the F. minor +Concerto, Op. 11--the former appearing in print in April, 1836, +the latter in September, 1833. [Footnote: The slow movements of +Chopin's concertos are marked Larglietto, the composer uses here +the word Adagio generically--i.e., in the sense of slow movement +generally.] Karasowski says mistakingly that the movement +referred to is the Adagio of the E minor Concerto. He was perhaps +misled by a mistranslation of his own. In the German version of +his Chopin biography he gives the concluding words of the above +quotation as "of my new Concerto," but there is no new in the +Polish text (na ktorego pamiatke skomponowalem Adagio do mojego +Koncertu). + + October 20, 1829.--Elsner has praised the Adagio of the + Concerto. He says that there is something new in it. As to + the Rondo I do not wish yet to hear a judgment, for I am not + yet satisfied with it myself. I am curious whether I shall + finish this work when I return [from a visit to Prince + Radziwill]. + + November 14, 1829.--I received your last letter at Antonin at + Radziwill's. I was there a week; you cannot imagine how + quickly and pleasantly the time passed to me. I left by the + last coach, and had much trouble in getting away. As for me I + should have stayed till they had turned me out; but my + occupations and, above all things, my Concerto, which is + impatiently waiting for its Finale, have compelled me to take + leave of this Paradise. + +On March 17, 1830, Chopin played the F minor Concerto at the +first concert he gave in Warsaw. How it was received by the +public and the critics on this occasion and on that of a second +concert has been related in the ninth chapter (p.131). + + March 27, 1830.--I hope yet to finish before the holidays the + first Allegro of my second Concerto [i.e., the one in E + minor], and therefore I should in any case wait till after + the holidays [to give a third concert], although I am + convinced that I should have this time a still larger + audience than formerly; for the haute volee has not yet heard + me. + +On April 10, 1830, Chopin writes that his Concerto is not yet +finished; and on May 15, 1830:-- + + The Rondo for my Concerto is not yet finished, because the + right inspired mood has always beep wanting. If I have only + the Allegro and the Adagio completely finished I shall be + without anxiety about the Finale. The Adagio is in E major, + and of a romantic, calm, and partly melancholy character. It + is intended to convey the impression which one receives when + the eye rests on a beloved landscape that calls up in one's + soul beautiful memories--for instance, on a fine, moonlit + spring night. I have written violins with mutes as an + accompaniment to it. I wonder if that will have a good + effect? Well, time will show. + + August 21, 1830.--Next month I leave here; first, however, I + must rehearse my Concerto, for the Rondo is now finished. + +For an account of the rehearsals of the Concerto and its first +public performance at Chopin's third Warsaw concert on October u, +1830, the reader is referred to the tenth chapter (p. 150). +[FOOTNOTE: In the following remarks on the concertos I shall draw +freely from the critical commentary on the Pianoforte Works of +Chopin, which I contributed some years ago (1879) to the Monthly +Musical Record.] + +Chopin, says Liszt, wrote beautiful concertos and fine sonatas, +but it is not difficult to perceive in these productions "plus de +volonte que d'inspiration." As for his inspiration it was +naturally "imperieuse, fantasque, irreflechie; ses allures ne +pouvaient etre que libres." Indeed, Liszt believes that Chopin-- + + did violence to his genius every time he sought to fetter it + by rules, classifications, and an arrangement that was not + his own, and could not accord with the exigencies of his + spirit, which was one of those whose grace displays itself + when they seem to drift along [alter a la derive]....The + classical attempts of Chopin nevertheless shine by a rare + refinement of style. They contain passages of great interest, + parts of surprising grandeur. + +With Chopin writing a concerto or a sonata was an effort, and the +effort was always inadequate for the attainment of the object--a +perfect work of its kind. He lacked the peculiar qualities, +natural and acquired, requisite for a successful cultivation of +the larger forms. He could not grasp and hold the threads of +thought which he found flitting in his mind, and weave them into +a strong, complex web; he snatched them up one by one, tied them +together, and either knit them into light fabrics or merely wound +them into skeins. In short, Chopin was not a thinker, not a +logician--his propositions are generally good, but his arguments +are poor and the conclusions often wanting. Liszt speaks +sometimes of Chopin's science. In doing this, however, he +misapplies the word. There was nothing scientific in Chopin's +mode of production, and there is nothing scientific in his works. +Substitute "ingenious" (in the sense of quick-witted and +possessed of genius, in the sense of the German geistreich) for +"scientific," and you come near to what Liszt really meant. If +the word is applicable at all to art, it can be applicable only +to works which manifest a sustained and dominating intellectual +power, such, for instance, as a fugue of Bach's, a symphony of +Beethoven's, that is, to works radically different from those of +Chopin. Strictly speaking, the word, however, is not applicable +to art, for art and science are not coextensive; nay, to some +extent, are even inimical to each other. Indeed, to call a work +of art purely and simply "scientific," is tantamount to saying +that it is dry and uninspired by the muse. In dwelling so long on +this point my object was not so much to elucidate Liszt's meaning +as Chopin's character as a composer. + +Notwithstanding their many shortcomings, the concertos may be +said to be the most satisfactory of Chopin's works in the larger +forms, or at least those that afford the greatest amount of +enjoyment. In some respects the concerto-form was more favourable +than the sonata-form for the exercise of Chopin's peculiar +talent, in other respects it was less so. The concerto-form +admits of a far greater and freer display of the virtuosic +capabilities of the pianoforte than the sonata-form, and does not +necessitate the same strictness of logical structure, the same +thorough working-out of the subject-matter. But, on the other +hand, it demands aptitude in writing for the orchestra and +appropriately solid material. Now, Chopin lacked such aptitude +entirely, and the nature of his material accorded little with the +size of the structure and the orchestral frame. And, then, are +not these confessions of intimate experiences, these moonlight +sentimentalities, these listless dreams, &c., out of place in the +gaslight glare of concert-rooms, crowded with audiences brought +together to a great extent rather by ennui, vanity, and idle +curiosity than by love of art? + +The concerto is the least perfect species of the sonata genus; +practical, not ideal, reasons have determined its form, which +owes its distinctive features to the calculations of the +virtuoso, not to the inspiration of the creative artist. +Romanticism does not take kindly to it. Since Beethoven the form +has been often modified, more especially the long introductory +tutti omitted or cut short. Chopin, however, adhered to the +orthodox form, taking unmistakably Hummel for his model. Indeed, +Hummel's concertos were Chopin's model not only as regards +structure, but also to a certain extent as regards the character +of the several movements. In the tutti's of the first movement, +and in the general complexion of the second (the slow) and the +third (Rondo) movement, this discipleship is most apparent. But +while noting the resemblance, let us not overlook the difference. +If the bones are Hummel's (which no doubt is an exaggeration of +the fact), the flesh, blood, and soul are Chopin's. In his case +adherence to the orthodox concerto-form was so much the more +regrettable as writing for the orchestra was one of his weakest +points. Indeed, Chopin's originality is gone as soon as he writes +for another instrument than the pianoforte. The commencement of +the first solo is like the opening of a beautiful vista after a +long walk through dreary scenery, and every new entry of the +orchestra precipitates you from the delectable regions of +imagination to the joyless deserts of the actual. Chopin's +inaptitude in writing for the orchestra is, however, most +conspicuous where he employs it conjointly with the pianoforte. +Carl Klindworth and Carl Tausig have rescored the concertos: the +former the one in F minor, the latter the one in E minor. +Klindworth wrote his arrangement of the F minor Concerto in 1867- +1868 in London, and published it ten years later at Moscow (P. +Jurgenson).[FOOTNOTE: The title runs: "Second Concerto de Chopin, +Op. 21, avec un nouvel accompagnement d'orchestre d'apres la +partition originale par Karl Klindworth. Dedie a Franz Lizt." It +is now the property of the Berlin publishers Bote and Bock.] A +short quotation from the preface will charactise his work:-- + + The principal pianoforte part has, notwithstanding the entire + remodelling of the score, been retained almost unchanged. + Only in some passages, which the orchestra, in consequence of + a richer instrumentation, accompanies with greater fulness, + the pianoforte part had, on that account, to be made more + effective by an increase of brilliance. By these divergences + from the original, from the so perfect and beautifully + effectuating [effectuirenden] pianoforte style of Chopin, + either the unnecessary doubling of the melody already + pregnantly represented by the orchestra was avoided, or--in + keeping with the now fuller harmonic support of the + accompaniment--some figurations of the solo instrument + received a more brilliant form. + +Of Tausig's labour [FOOTNOTE: "Grosses Concert in E moll. Op. 11." +Bearberet von Carl Tausig. Score, pianoforte, and orchestral +parts. Berlin: Ries and Erler.] I shall only say that his cutting- +down and patching-up of the introductory tutti, to mention only +one thing, are not well enough done to excuse the liberty taken +with a great composer's work. Moreover, your emendations cannot +reach the vital fault, which lies in the conceptions. A musician +may have mastered the mechanical trick of instrumentation, and +yet his works may not be at heart orchestral. Instrumentation +ought to be more than something that at will can be added or +withheld; it ought to be the appropriate expression of something +that appertains to the thought. The fact is, Chopin could not +think for the orchestra, his thoughts took always the form of the +pianoforte language; his thinking became paralysed when he made +use of another medium of expression. Still, there have been +critics who thought differently. The Polish composer Sowinski +declared without circumlocution that Chopin "wrote admirably for +the orchestra." Other countrymen of his dwelt at greater length, +and with no less enthusiasm, on what is generally considered a +weak point in the master's equipment. A Paris correspondent of +the Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik (1834) remarked a propos of the F +minor Concerto that there was much delicacy in the +instrumentation. But what do the opinions of those critics, if +they deserve the name, amount to when weighed against that of the +rest of the world, nay, even against that of Berlioz alone, who +held that "in the compositions of Chopin all the interest is +concentrated in the piano part, the orchestra of his concertos is +nothing but a cold and almost useless accompaniment"? + +All this and much more may be said against Chopin's concertos, +yet such is the charm, loveliness, delicacy, elegance, and +brilliancy of the details, that one again and again forgives and +forgets their shortcomings as wholes. But now let us look at +these works a little more closely. + +The first-composed and last-published Concerto, the one in F +minor, Op. 21 (dedicated to Madame la Comtesse Delphine Potocka), +opens with a tutti of about seventy bars. When, after this, the +pianoforte interrupts the orchestra impatiently, and then takes +up the first subject, it is as if we were transported into +another world and breathed a purer atmosphere. First, there are +some questions and expostulations, then the composer unfolds a +tale full of sweet melancholy in a strain of lovely, tenderly- +intertwined melody. With what inimitable grace he winds those +delicate garlands around the members of his melodic structure! +How light and airy the harmonic base on which it rests! But the +contemplation of his grief disturbs his equanimity more and more, +and he begins to fret and fume. In the second subject he seems to +protest the truthfulness and devotion of his heart, and concludes +with a passage half upbraiding, half beseeching, which is quite +captivating, nay more, even bewitching in its eloquent +persuasiveness. Thus far, from the entrance of the pianoforte, +all was irreproachable. How charming if Chopin had allowed +himself to drift on the current of his fancy, and had left rules, +classifications, &c., to others! But no, he had resolved to write +a concerto, and must now put his hand to the rudder, and have +done with idle dreaming, at least for the present--unaware, alas, +that the idle dreamings of some people are worth more than their +serious efforts. Well, what is unpoetically called the working- +out section--to call it free fantasia in this instance would be +mockery--reminds me of Goethe's "Zauberlehrling," who said to +himself in the absence of his master, "I noted his words, works, +and procedure, and, with strength of mind, I also shall do +wonders." How the apprentice conjured up the spirits, and made +them do his bidding; how, afterwards, he found he had forgotten +the formula with which to stop and banish them, and what were the +consequent sad results, the reader will, no doubt, remember. The +customary repetition of the first section of the movement calls +for no remark. Liszt cites the second movement (Larghetto, A flat +major) of this work as a specimen of the morceaux d'une +surprenante grandeur to be found in Chopin's concertos and +sonatas, and mentions that the composer had a marked predilection +for it, delighting in frequently playing it. And Schumann +exclaims: "What are ten editorial crowns compared to one such +Adagio as that in the second concerto!" The beautiful deep-toned, +love-laden cantilena, which is profusely and exquisitely +ornamented in Chopin's characteristic style, is interrupted by a +very impressive recitative of some length, after which the +cantilena is heard again. But criticism had better be silent, and +listen here attentively. And how shall I describe the last +movement (Allegro vivace F minor, 3-4)--its feminine softness and +rounded contours, its graceful, gyrating, dance-like motions, its +sprightliness and frolicsomeness? Unless I quote every part and +particle, I feel I cannot do justice to it. The exquisite ease +and grace, the subtle spirit that breathes through this movement, +defy description, and, more, defy the attempts of most performers +to reproduce the original. He who ventures to interpret Chopin +ought to have a soul strung with chords which the gentlest breath +of feeling sets in vibration, and a body of such a delicate and +supple organisation as to echo with equal readiness the music of +the soul. As to the listener, he is carried away in this movement +from one lovely picture to another, and no time is left him to +reflect and make objections with reference to the whole. + +The Concerto in E minor, Op. 11, dedicated to Mr. Fred +Kalkbrenner, shows more of volonte and less of inspiration than +the one in F minor. One can almost read in it the words of the +composer, "If I have only the Allegro and the Adagio completely +finished, I shall be in no anxiety about the Finale." The +elongated form of the first movement--the introductory tutti +alone extends to 138 bars--compares disadvantageously with the +greater compactness of the corresponding movement in the F minor +Concerto, and makes still more sensible the monotony resulting +from the key-relation of the constituent parts, the tonic being +the same in both subjects. The scheme is this:--First subject in +E minor, second subject in E major, working-out section in C +major, leading through various keys to the return of the first +subject in E minor and of the second subject in G major, followed +by a close in E minor. The tonic is not relieved till the +commencement of the working-out section. The re-entrance of the +second subject brings, at last, something of a contrast. How +little Chopin understood the importance or the handling of those +powerful levers, key-relation and contrast, may also be observed +in the Sonata, Op. 4, where the last movement brings the first +subject in C minor and the second in G minor. Here the composer +preserves the same mode (minor), there the same tonic, the result +being nearly the same in both instances. But, it may be asked, +was not this languid monotony which results from the employment +of these means just what Chopin intended? The only reply that can +be made to this otherwise unanswerable objection is, so much the +worse for the artist's art if he had such intentions. Chopin's +description of the Adagio quoted above--remember the beloved +landscape, the beautiful memories, the moonlit spring night, and +the muted violins--hits off its character admirably. Although +Chopin himself designates the first Allegro as "vigorous"--which +in some passages, at least from the composer's standpoint, we may +admit it to be--the fundamental mood of this movement is one +closely allied to that which he says he intended to express in +the Adagio. Look at the first movement, and judge whether there +are not in it more pale moonlight reveries than fresh morning +thoughts. Indeed, the latter, if not wholly absent, are confined +to the introductory bars of the first subject and some passage- +work. Still, the movement is certainly not without beauty, +although the themes appear somewhat bloodless, and the passages +are less brilliant and piquant than those in the F minor +Concerto. Exquisite softness and tenderness distinguish the +melodious parts, and Chopin's peculiar coaxing tone is heard in +the semiquaver passage marked tranquillo of the first subject. +The least palatable portion of the movement is the working-out +section. The pianoforte part therein reminds one too much of a +study, without having the beauty of Chopin's compositions thus +entitled; and the orchestra amuses itself meanwhile with +reminiscences of the principal motives. Chopin's procedure in +this and similar cases is pretty much the same (F minor Concerto, +Krakowiak, &c.), and recalls to my mind--may the manes of the +composer forgive me--a malicious remark of Rellstab's. Speaking of +the introduction to the Variations, Op. 2, he says: "The composer +pretends to be going to work out the theme." It is curious, and +sad at the same time, to behold with what distinction Chopin +treats the bassoon, and how he is repaid with mocking +ingratitude. But enough of the orchestral rabble. The Adagio is +very fine in its way, but such is its cloying sweetness that one +longs for something bracing and active. This desire the composer +satisfies only partially in the last movement (Rondo vivace, 2-4, +E major). Nevertheless, he succeeds in putting us in good humour +by his gaiety, pretty ways, and tricksy surprises (for instance, +the modulations from E major to E flat major, and back again to E +major). We seem, however, rather to look on the play of +fantoccini than the doings of men; in short, we feel here what we +have felt more or less strongly throughout the whole work--there +is less intensity of life and consequently less of human interest +in this than in the F minor Concerto. + +Almost all my remarks on the concertos run counter to those made +by W. von Lenz. The F minor Concerto he holds to be an +uninteresting work, immature and fragmentary in plan, and, +excepting some delicate ornamentation, without originality. Nay, +he goes even so far as to say that the passage-work is of the +usual kind met with in the compositions of Hummel and his +successors, and that the cantilena in the larghetto is in the +jejune style of Hummel; the last movement also receives but +scanty and qualified praise. On the other hand, he raves about +the E minor Concerto, confining himself, however, to the first +movement. The second movement he calls a "tiresome nocturne," the +Rondo "a Hummel." A tincture of classical soberness and self- +possession in the first movement explains Lenz's admiration of +this composition, but I fail to understand the rest of his +predilections and critical utterances. + +In considering these concertos one cannot help exclaiming--What a +pity that Chopin should have set so many beautiful thoughts and +fancies in such a frame and thereby marred them! They contain +passages which are not surpassed in any of his most perfect +compositions, yet among them these concertos cannot be reckoned. +It is difficult to determine their rank in concerto literature. +The loveliness, brilliancy, and piquancy of the details bribe us +to overlook, and by dazzling us even prevent us from seeing, the +formal shortcomings of the whole. But be their shortcomings ever +so great and many, who would dispense with these works? +Therefore, let us be thankful, and enjoy them without much +grumbling. + +Schumann in writing of the concertos said that Chopin introduced +Beethoven spirit [Beethovenischen Geist] into the concert-room, +dressing the master's thoughts, as Hummel had done Mozart's, in +brilliant, flowing drapery; and also, that Chopin had instruction +from the best, from Beethoven, Schubert, and Field--that the first +might be supposed to have educated his mind to boldness, the +second his heart to tenderness, the third his fingers to +dexterity. Although as a rule a wonderfully acute observer, +Schumann was not on this occasion very happy in the few critical +utterances which he vouchsafed in the course of the general +remarks of which his notice mainly consists. Without congeniality +there cannot be much influence, at least not in the case of so +exclusive and fastidious a nature as Chopin's. Now, what +congeniality could there be between the rugged German and the +delicate Pole? All accounts agree in that Chopin was far from +being a thorough-going worshipper of Beethoven--he objected to +much in his matter and manner, and, moreover, could not by any +means boast an exhaustive acquaintance with his works. That +Chopin assimilated something of Beethoven is of course more +likely than not; but, if a fact, it is a latent one. As to +Schubert, I think Chopin knew too little of his music to be +appreciably influenced by him. At any rate, I fail to perceive +how and where the influence reveals itself. Of Field, on the +other hand, traces are discoverable, and even more distinct ones +of Hummel. The idyllic serenity of the former and the Mozartian +sweetness of the latter were truly congenial to him; but no less, +if not more, so was Spohr's elegiac morbidezza. Chopin's +affection for Spohr is proved by several remarks in his letters: +thus on one occasion (October 3, 1829) he calls the master's +Octet a wonderful work; and on another occasion (September 18, +1830) he says that the Quintet for pianoforte, flute, clarinet, +bassoon, and horn (Op. 52) is a wonderfully beautiful work, but +not suitable for the pianoforte. How the gliding cantilena in +sixths and thirds of the minuet and the serpentining chromatic +passages in the last movement of the last-mentioned work must +have flattered his inmost soul! There can be no doubt that Spohr +was a composer who made a considerable impression upon Chopin. In +his music there is nothing to hurt the most fastidious +sensibility, and much to feed on for one who, like Jaques in "As +you like it", could "suck melancholy out of a song, as a weasel +eggs." + +Many other composers, notably the supremely-loved and +enthusiastically-admired Mozart and Bach, must have had a share +in Chopin's development; but it cannot be said that they left a +striking mark on his music, with regard to which, however, it has +to be remembered that the degree of external resemblance does not +always accurately indicate the degree of internal indebtedness. +Bach's influence on Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, and others of +their contemporaries, and its various effects on their styles, is +one of the curiosities of nineteenth century musical history; a +curiosity, however, which is fully disclosed only by subtle +analysis. Field and especially Hummel are those musicians who-- +more, however, as pianists than as composers (i.e., more by their +pianoforte language than by their musical thoughts)--set the most +distinct impress on Chopin's early virtuosic style, of which we +see almost the last in the concertos, where it appears in a +chastened and spiritualised form very different from the +materialism of the Fantasia (Op. 13) and the Krakowiak (Op. 14). +Indeed, we may say of this style that the germ, and much more +than the germ, of almost every one of its peculiarities is to be +found in the pianoforte works of Hummel and Field; and this +statement the concertos of these masters, more especially those +of the former, and their shorter pieces, more especially the +nocturnes of the latter, bear out in its entirety. The wide- +spread broken chords, great skips, wreaths of rhythmically +unmeasured ornamental notes, simultaneous combinations of unequal +numbers of notes (five or seven against four, for instance), &c., +are all to be found in the compositions of the two above-named +pianist-composers. Chopin's style, then, was not original? Most +decidedly it was. But it is not so much new elements as the +development and the different commixture, in degree and kind, of +known elements which make an individual style--the absolutely new +being, generally speaking, insignificant compared with the +acquired and evolved. The opinion that individuality is a +spontaneous generation is an error of the same kind as that +imagination has nothing to do with memory. Ex nihilo nihil fit. +Individuality should rather be regarded as a feminine +organisation which conceives and brings forth; or, better still, +as a growing thing which feeds on what is germane to it, a thing +with self-acting suctorial organs that operate whenever they come +in contact with suitable food. A nucleus is of course necessary +for the development of an individuality, and this nucleus is the +physical and intellectual constitution of the individual. Let us +note in passing that the development of the individuality of an +artistic style presupposes the development of the individuality +of the man's character. But not only natural dispositions, also +acquired dexterities affect the development of the individuality +of an artistic style. Beethoven is orchestral even in his +pianoforte works. Weber rarely ceases to be operatic. Spohr +cannot help betraying the violinist, nor Schubert the song- +composer. The more Schumann got under his command the orchestral +forces, the more he impressed on them the style which he had +formed previously by many years of playing and writing for the +pianoforte. Bach would have been another Bach if he had not been +an organist. Clementi was and remained all his life a pianist. +Like Clementi, so was also Chopin under the dominion of his +instrument. How the character of the man expressed itself in the +style of the artist will become evident when we examine Chopin's +masterpieces. Then will also be discussed the influence on his +style of the Polish national music. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + + +PARIS IN 1831.--LIFE IN THE STREETS.--ROMANTICISM AND LIBERALISM.- +-ROMANTICISM IN LITERATURE.--CHIEF LITERARY PUBLICATIONS OF THE +TIME.--THE PICTORIAL ARTS.--MUSIC AND MUSICIANS.--CHOPIN'S +OPINION OF THE GALAXY OF SINGERS THEN PERFORMING AT THE VARIOUS +OPERA-HOUSES. + + + +Chopin'S sensations on plunging, after his long stay in the +stagnant pool of Vienna, into the boiling sea of Paris might have +been easily imagined, even if he had not left us a record of +them. What newcomer from a place less populous and inhabited by a +less vivacious race could help wondering at and being entertained +by the vastness, variety, and bustle that surrounded him there? + + Paris offers anything you may wish [writes Chopin]. You can + amuse yourself, mope, laugh, weep, in short, do whatever you + like; no one notices it, because thousands do the same. + Everybody goes his own way....The Parisians are a peculiar + people. When evening sets in one hears nothing but the crying + of titles of little new books, which consist of from three to + four sheets of nonsense. The boys know so well how to + recommend their wares that in the end--willing or not--one + buys one for a sou. They bear titles such as these:--"L'art + de faire, des amours, et de les conserver ensuite"; "Les + amours des pretres"; "L'Archeveque de Paris avec Madame la + duchesse de Berry"; and a thousand similar absurdities which, + however, are often very wittily written. One cannot but be + astonished at the means people here make use of to earn a few + pence. + +All this and much more may be seen in Paris every day, but in +1831 Paris life was not an everyday life. It was then and there, +if at any time and anywhere, that the "roaring loom of Time" +might be heard: a new garment was being woven for an age that +longed to throw off the wornout, tattered, and ill-fitting one +inherited from its predecessors; and discontent and hopefulness +were the impulses that set the shuttle so busily flying hither +and thither. This movement, a reaction against the conventional +formalism and barren, superficial scepticism of the preceding +age, had ever since the beginning of the century been growing in +strength and breadth. It pervaded all the departments of human +knowledge and activity--politics, philosophy, religion, +literature, and the arts. The doctrinaire school in politics and +the eclectic school in philosophy were as characteristic products +of the movement as the romantic school in poetry and art. We +recognise the movement in Lamennais' attack on religious +indifference, and in the gospel of a "New Christianity" revealed +by Saint Simon and preached and developed by Bazard and Enfantin, +as well as in the teaching of Cousin, Villemain, and Guizot, and +in the works of V. Hugo, Delacroix, and others. Indeed, unless we +keep in view as far as possible all the branches into which the +broad stream divides itself, we shall not be able to understand +the movement aright either as a whole or in its parts. V. Hugo +defines the militant--i.e., negative side of romanticism as +liberalism in literature. The positive side of the liberalism of +the time might, on the other hand, not inaptly be described as +romanticism in speculation and practice. This, however, is matter +rather for a history of civilisation than for a biography of an +artist. Therefore, without further enlarging on it, I shall let +Chopin depict the political aspect of Paris in 1831 as he saw it, +and then attempt myself a slight outline sketch of the literary +and artistic aspect of the French capital, which signifies +France. + +Louis Philippe had been more than a year on the throne, but the +agitation of the country was as yet far from being allayed:-- + + There is now in Paris great want and little money in + circulation. One meets many shabby individuals with wild + physiognomies, and sometimes one hears an excited, menacing + discussion on Louis Philippe, who, as well as his ministers, + hangs only by a single hair. The populace is disgusted with + the Government, and would like to overthrow it, in order to + make an end of the misery; but the Government is too well on + its guard, and the least concourse of people is at once + dispersed by the mounted police. + +Riots and attentats were still the order of the day, and no +opportunity for a demonstration was let slip by the parties +hostile to the Government. The return of General Ramorino from +Poland, where he had taken part in the insurrection, offered such +an opportunity. This adventurer, a natural son of Marshal Lannes, +who began his military career in the army of Napoleon, and, after +fighting wherever fighting was going on, ended it on the Piazza +d'Armi at Turin, being condemned by a Piedmontese court-martial +to be shot for disobedience to orders, was hardly a worthy +recipient of the honours bestowed upon him during his journey +through Germany and France. But the personal merit of such +popular heroes of a day is a consideration of little moment; they +are mere counters, counters representative of ideas and transient +whims. + + The enthusiasm of the populace for our general is of course + known to you [writes Chopin to his friend Woyciechowski]. + Paris would not be behind in this respect. [Footnote: The + Poles and everything Polish were at that time the rage in + Paris; thus, for instance, at one of the theatres where + dramas were generally played, they represented now the whole + history of the last Polish insurrection, and the house was + every night crammed with people who wished to see the combats + and national costumes.] The Ecole de Medecine and the jeune + France, who wear their beards and cravats according to a + certain pattern, intend to honour him with a great + demonstration. Every political party--I speak of course only + of the ultras--has its peculiar badge: the Carlists have + green waistcoats, the Republicans and Napoleonists (and these + form the jeune France) [red], [Footnote: Chopin has omitted + this word, which seems to be necessary to complete the + sentence; at least, it is neither in the Polish nor German + edition of Karasowski's book.] the Saint-Simonians who + profess a new religion, wear blue, and so forth. Nearly a + thousand of these young people marched with a tricolour + through the town in order to give Ramorino an ovation. + Although he was at home, and notwithstanding the shouting of + "Vive les Polonais!" he did not show himself, not wishing to + expose himself to any unpleasantness on the part of the + Government. His adjutant came out and said that the general + was sorry he could not receive them and begged them to return + some other day. But the next day he took other lodgings. When + some days afterwards an immense mass of people--not only young + men, but also rabble that had congregated near the + Pantheon--proceeded to the other side of the Seine to + Ramorino's house, the crowd increased like an avalanche till + it was dispersed by several charges of the mounted police who + had stationed themselves at the Pont Neuf. Although many were + wounded, new masses of people gathered on the Boulevards + under my windows in order to join those who were expected + from the other side of the Seine. The police was now + helpless, the crowd increased more and more, till at last a + body of infantry and a squadron of hussars advanced; the + commandant ordered the municipal guard and the troops to + clear the footpaths and street of the curious and riotous mob + and to arrest the ringleaders. (This is the free nation!) The + panic spread with the swiftness of lightning: the shops were + closed, the populace flocked together at all the corners of + the streets, and the orderlies who galloped through the + streets were hissed. All windows were crowded by spectators, + as on festive occasions with us at home, and the excitement + lasted from eleven o'clock in the morning till eleven o'clock + at night. I thought that the affair would have a bad end; but + towards midnight they sang "Allons enfants de la patrie!" and + went home. I am unable to describe to you the impression + which the horrid voices of this riotous, discontented mob + made upon me! Everyone was afraid that the riot would be + continued next morning, but that was not the case. Only + Grenoble has followed the example of Lyons; however, one + cannot tell what may yet come to pass in the world! + +The length and nature of Chopin's account show what a lively +interest he took in the occurrences of which he was in part an +eye and ear-witness, for he lived on the fourth story of a house +(No. 27) on the Boulevard Poissonniere, opposite the Cite +Bergere, where General Ramorino lodged. But some of his remarks +show also that the interest he felt was by no means a pleasurable +one, and probably from this day dates his fear and horror of the +mob. And now we will turn from politics, a theme so distasteful +to Chopin that he did not like to hear it discussed and could not +easily be induced to take part in its discussion, to a theme more +congenial, I doubt not, to all of us. + +Literary romanticism, of which Chateaubriand and Madame de Stael +were the harbingers, owed its existence to a longing for a +greater fulness of thought, a greater intenseness of feeling, a +greater appropriateness and adequateness of expression, and, +above all, a greater truth to life and nature. It was felt that +the degenerated classicists were "barren of imagination and +invention," offered in their insipid artificialities nothing but +"rhetoric, bombast, fleurs de college, and Latin-verse poetry," +clothed "borrowed ideas in trumpery imagery," and presented +themselves with a "conventional elegance and noblesse than which +there was nothing more common." On the other hand, the works of +the master-minds of England, Germany, Spain, and Italy, which +were more and more translated and read, opened new, undreamt-of +vistas. The Bible, Homer, and Shakespeare began now to be +considered of all books the most worthy to be studied. And thus +it came to pass that in a short time a most complete revolution +was accomplished in literature, from abject slavery to unlimited +freedom. + + There are neither rules nor models [says V. Hugo, the leader + of the school, in the preface to his Cromwell (1827)], or + rather there are no other rules than the general laws of + nature which encompass the whole art, and the special laws + which for every composition result from the conditions of + existence peculiar to each subject. The former are eternal, + internal, and remain; the latter variable, external, and + serve only once. + +Hence theories, poetics, and systems were to be broken up, and +the old plastering which covered the fagade of art was to be +pulled down. From rules and theories the romanticists appealed to +nature and truth, without forgetting, however, that nature and +art are two different things, and that the truth of art can never +be absolute reality. The drama, for instance, must be "a +concentrating mirror which, so far from enfeebling, collects and +condenses the colouring rays and transforms a glimmer into a +light, a light into a flame." To pass from form to matter, the +attention given by the romanticists to history is particularly to +be noted. Pierre Dubois, the director of the philosophical and +literary journal "Le Globe," the organ of romanticism +(1824-1832), contrasts the poverty of invention in the works of +the classicists with the inexhaustible wealth of reality, "the +scenes of disorder, of passion, of fanaticism, of hypocrisy, and +of intrigue," recorded in history. What the dramatist has to do +is to perform the miracle "of reanimating the personages who +appear dead on the pages of a chronicle, of discovering by +analysis all the shades of the passions which caused these hearts +to beat, of recreating their language and costume." It is a +significant fact that Sainte-Beuve opened the campaign of +romanticism in "Le Globe" with a "Tableau de la poesie francaise +au seizieme siecle," the century of the "Pleiade," and of +Rabelais and Montaigne. It is a still more significant fact that +the members of the "Cenacle," the circle of kindred minds that +gathered around Victor Hugo--Alfred de Vigny, Emile Deschamps, +Sainte-Beuve, David d'Angers, and others--"studied and felt the +real Middle Ages in their architecture, in their chronicles, and +in their picturesque vivacity." Nor should we overlook in +connection with romanticism Cousin's aesthetic teaching, +according to which, God being the source of all beauty as well as +of all truth, religion, and morality, "the highest aim of art is +to awaken in its own way the feeling of the infinite." Like all +reformers the romanticists were stronger in destruction than in +construction. Their fundamental doctrines will hardly be +questioned by anyone in our day, but the works of art which they +reared on them only too often give just cause for objection and +even rejection. However, it is not surprising that, with the +physical and spiritual world, with time and eternity at their +arbitrary disposal, they made themselves sometimes guilty of +misrule. To "extract the invariable laws from the general order +of things, and the special from the subject under treatment," is +no easy matter. V. Hugo tells us that it is only for a man of +genius to undertake such a task, but he himself is an example +that even a man so gifted is fallible. In a letter written in the +French capital on January 14, 1832, Mendelssohn says of the "so- +called romantic school" that it has infected all the Parisians, +and that on the stage they think of nothing but the plague, the +gallows, the devil, childbeds, and the like. Nor were the +romances less extravagant than the dramas. The lyrical poetry, +too, had its defects and blemishes. But if it had laid itself +open to the blame of being "very unequal and very mixed," it also +called for the praise of being "rich, richer than any lyrical +poetry France had known up to that time." And if the +romanticists, as one of them, Sainte-Beuve, remarked, "abandoned +themselves without control and without restraint to all the +instincts of their nature, and also to all the pretensions of +their pride, or even to the silly tricks of their vanity," they +had, nevertheless, the supreme merit of having resuscitated what +was extinct, and even of having created what never existed in +their language. Although a discussion of romanticism without a +characterisation of its specific and individual differences is +incomplete, I must bring this part of my remarks to a close with +a few names and dates illustrative of the literary aspect of +Paris in 1831. I may, however, inform the reader that the subject +of romanticism will give rise to further discussion in subsequent +chapters. + +The most notable literary events of the year 1831 were the +publication of Victor Hugo's "Notre Dame de Paris," "Feuilles +d'automne," and "Marion Delorme"; Dumas' "Charles VII"; Balzac's +"La peau de chagrin"; Eugene Sue's "Ata Gull"; and George Sand's +first novel, "Rose et Blanche," written conjointly with Sandeau. +Alfred de Musset and Theophile Gautier made their literary debuts +in 1830, the one with "Contes d'Espagne et d'ltalie," the other +with "Poesies." In the course of the third decade of the century +Lamartine had given to the world "Meditations poetiques," +"Nouvelles Meditations poetiques," and "Harmonies poetiques et +religieuses"; Victor Hugo, "Odes et Ballades," "Les Orientales," +three novels, and the dramas "Cromwell" and "Hernani"; Dumas, +"Henri III et sa Cour," and "Stockholm, Fontainebleau et Rome"; +Alfred de Vigny, "Poemes antiques et modernes" and "Cinq-Mars"; +Balzac, "Scenes de la vie privee" and "Physiologie du Mariage." +Besides the authors just named there were at this time in full +activity in one or the other department of literature, Nodier, +Beranger, Merimee, Delavigne, Scribe, Sainte-Beuve, Villemain, +Cousin, Michelet, Guizot, Thiers, and many other men and women of +distinction. + +A glance at the Salon of 1831 will suffice to give us an idea of +the then state of the pictorial art in France. The pictures which +attracted the visitors most were: Delacroix's "Goddess of Liberty +on the barricades"; Delaroche's "Richelieu conveying Cinq-Mars +and De Thou to Lyons," "Mazarin on his death-bed," "The sons of +Edward in the Tower," and "Cromwell beside the coffin of diaries +I."; Ary Scheffer's "Faust and Margaret," "Leonore," +"Talleyrand," "Henri IV.," and "Louis Philippe"; Robert's +"Pifferari," "Burial," and "Mowers"; Horace Vernet's "Judith," +"Capture of the Princes Conde," "Conti, and Longueville," +"Camille Desmoulins," and "Pius VIII" To enumerate only a few +more of the most important exhibitors I shall yet mention +Decamps, Lessore, Schnetz, Judin, and Isabey. The dry list will +no doubt conjure up in the minds of many of my readers vivid +reproductions of the masterpieces mentioned or suggested by the +names of the artists. + +Romanticism had not invaded music to the same extent as the +literary and pictorial arts. Berlioz is the only French composer +who can be called in the fullest sense of the word a romanticist, +and whose genius entitles him to a position in his art similar to +those occupied by V. Hugo and Delacroix in literature and +painting. But in 1831 his works were as yet few in number and +little known. Having in the preceding year obtained the prix de +Rome, he was absent from Paris till the latter part of 1832, when +he began to draw upon himself the attention, if not the +admiration, of the public by the concerts in which he produced +his startlingly original works. Among the foreign musicians +residing in the French capital there were many who had adopted +the principles of romanticism, but none of them was so thoroughly +imbued with its spirit as Liszt--witness his subsequent +publications. But although there were few French composers who, +strictly speaking, could be designated romanticists, it would be +difficult to find among the younger men one who had not more or +less been affected by the intellectual atmosphere. + +An opera, "La Marquise de Brinvilliers," produced in 1831 at the +Opera-Comique, introduces to us no less than nine dramatic +composers, the libretto of Scribe and Castil-Blaze being set to +music by Cherubini, Auber, Batton, Berton, Boieldieu, Blangini, +Carafa, Herold, and Paer. [Footnote: Chopin makes a mistake, +leaving out of account Boieldieu, when he says in speaking of "La +Marquise de Brinvilliers" that the opera was composed by eight +composers.] Cherubini, who towers above all of them, was indeed +the high-priest of the art, the grand-master of the craft. +Although the Nestor of composers, none equalled him in manly +vigour and perennial youth. When seventy-six years of age (in +1836) he composed his fine Requiem in D minor for three-part male +chorus, and in the following year a string quartet and quintet. +Of his younger colleagues so favourable an account cannot be +given. The youngest of them, Batton, a grand prix, who wrote +unsuccessful operas, then took to the manufacturing of artificial +flowers, and died as inspector at the Conservatoire, need not +detain us. Berton, Paer, Blangini, Carafa (respectively born in +1767, 1771, 1781, and 1785), once composers who enjoyed the +public's favour, had lost or were losing their popularity at the +time we are speaking of; Rossini, Auber, and others having now +come into fashion. They present a saddening spectacle, these +faded reputations, these dethroned monarchs! What do we know of +Blangini, the "Musical Anacreon," and his twenty operas, one +hundred and seventy two-part "Notturni," thirty-four "Romances," +&c.? Where are Paer's oratorios, operas, and cantatas performed +now? Attempts were made in later years to revive some of Carafa's +earlier works, but the result was on each occasion a failure. And +poor Berton? He could not bear the public's neglect patiently, +and vented his rage in two pamphlets, one of them entitled "De la +musique mecanique et de la musique philosophique," which neither +converted nor harmed anyone. Boieldieu, too, had to deplore the +failure of his last opera, "Les deux nuits" (1829), but then his +"La Dame blanche," which had appeared in 1825, and his earlier +"Jean de Paris" were still as fresh as ever. Herold had only in +this year (1831) scored his greatest success with "Zampa." As to +Auber, he was at the zenith of his fame. Among the many operas he +had already composed, there were three of his best--"Le Macon," +"La Muette," and "Fra Diavolo"--and this inimitable master of the +genre sautillant had still a long series of charming works in +petto. To exhaust the list of prominent men in the dramatic +department we have to add only a few names. Of the younger +masters I shall mention Halevy, whose most successful work, "La +Juive," did not come out till 1835, and Adam, whose best opera, +"Le postilion de Longjumeau," saw the foot-lights in 1836. Of the +older masters we must not overlook Lesueur, the composer of "Les +Bardes," an opera which came out in 1812, and was admired by +Napoleon. Lesueur, distinguished as a composer of dramatic and +sacred music, and a writer on musical matters, had, however, +given up all professional work with the exception of teaching +composition at the Conservatoire. In fact, almost all the above- +named old gentlemen, although out of fashion as composers, +occupied important positions in the musical commonwealth as +professors at that institution. Speaking of professors I must not +forget to mention old Reicha (born in 1770), the well-known +theorist, voluminous composer of instrumental music, and esteemed +teacher of counterpoint and composition. + +But the young generation did not always look up to these +venerable men with the reverence due to their age and merit. +Chopin, for instance, writes:-- + + Reicha I know only by sight. You can imagine how curious I am + to make his personal acquaintance. I have already seen some + of his pupils, but from them I have not obtained a favourable + opinion of their teacher. He does not love music, never + frequents the concerts of the Conservatoire, will not speak + with anyone about music, and, when he gives lessons, looks + only at his watch. Cherubini behaves in a similar manner; he + is always speaking of cholera and the revolution. These + gentlemen are mummies; one must content one's self with + respectfully lookingat them from afar, and studying their + works for instruction. + +In these remarks of Chopin the concerts of the Conservatoire are +made mention of; they were founded in 1828 by Habeneck and others +and intended for the cultivation of the symphonic works of the +great masters, more especially of Beethoven. Berlioz tells us in +his Memoires, with his usual vivacity and causticity, what +impressions the works of Beethoven made upon the old gentlemen +above-named. Lesueur considered instrumental music an inferior +genre, and although the C minor Symphony quite overwhelmed him, +he gave it as his opinion that "one ought not to write such +music." Cherubini was profoundly irritated at the success of a +master who undermined his dearest theories, but he dared not +discharge the bile that was gathering within him. That, however, +he had the courage of his opinion may be gathered from what, +according to Mendelssohn, he said of Beethoven's later works: "Ca +me fait eternuer." Berton looked down with pity on the whole +modern German school. Boieldieu, who hardly knew what to think of +the matter, manifested "a childish surprise at the simplest +harmonic combinations which departed somewhat from the three +chords which he had been using all his life." Paer, a cunning +Italian, was fond of letting people know that he had known +Beethoven, and of telling stories more or less unfavourable to +the great man, and flattering to the narrator. The critical young +men of the new generation were, however, not altogether fair in +their judgments; Cherubini, at least, and Boieldieu too, deserved +better treatment at their hands. + +In 1830 Auber and Rossini (who, after his last opera "Guillaume +Tell," was resting on his laurels) were the idols of the +Parisians, and reigned supreme on the operatic stage. But in 1831 +Meyerbeer established himself as a third power beside them, for +it was in that year that "Robert le Diable" was produced at the +Academic Royale de Musique. Let us hear what Chopin says of this +event. Speaking of the difficulties with which composers of +operas have often to contend he remarks:-- + + Even Meyerbeer, who for ten years had been favourably known + in the musical world, waited, worked, and paid in Paris for + three years in vain before he succeeded in bringing about the + performance of his opera "Robert le Diable," which now causes + such a furore. Auber had got the start of Meyerbeer with his + works, which are very pleasing to the taste of the people, + and he did not readily make room for the foreigner at the + Grand Opera. + +And again:-- + + If there was ever a brilliant mise en scene at the Opera- + Italien, I cannot believe that it equalled that of Robert le + Diable, the new five-act opera of Meyerbeer, who has also + written "Il Crociato." "Robert" is a masterpiece of the new + school, where the devils sing through speaking-trumpets and + the dead rise from their graves, but not as in "Szarlatan" + [an opera of Kurpinski's], only from fifty to sixty persons + all at once! The stage represents the interior of a convent + ruin illuminated by the clear light of the full moon whose + rays fall on the graves of the nuns. In the last act appear + in brilliant candle-light monks with ancense, and from behind + the scene are heard the solemn tones of the organ. Meyerbeer + has made himself immortal by this work; but he had to wait + more than three years before he could get it performed. + People say that he has spent more than 20,000 francs for the + organ and other things made use of in the opera. + + [Footnote: This was the current belief at the time, which + Meyerbeer, however, declares to be false in a letter + addressed to Veron, the director of the Opera:--"L'orgue a + ete paye par vous, fourni par vous, comme toutes les choses + que reclamait la mise en scene de Robert, et je dois declarer + que loin de vous tenir au strict neccessaire, vous avez + depasse de bcaucoup les obligations ordinaires d'un directeur + envers les auteurs et le public."] + +The creative musicians having received sufficient attention, let +us now turn for a moment to the executive ones. Of the pianists +we shall hear enough in the next chapter, and therefore will pass +them by for the present. Chopin thought that there were in no +town more pianists than in Paris, nor anywhere more asses and +virtuosos. Of the many excellent virtuosos on stringed and wind- +instruments only a few of the most distinguished shall be +mentioned. Baillot, the veteran violinist; Franchomme, the young +violoncellist; Brod, the oboe-player; and Tulou, the flutist. +Beriot and Lafont, although not constant residents like these, +may yet be numbered among the Parisian artists. The French +capital could boast of at least three first-rate orchestras--that +of the Conservatoire, that of the Academic Royale, and that of +the Opera-Italien. Chopin, who probably had on December 14 not +yet heard the first of these, takes no notice of it, but calls +the orchestra of the theatre Feydeau (Opera-Comique) excellent. +Cherubini seems to have thought differently, for on being asked +why he did not allow his operas to be performed at that +institution, he answered:--"Je ne fais pas donner des operas sans +choeur, sans orchestre, sans chanteurs, et sans decorations." The +Opera-Comique had indeed been suffering from bankruptcy; still, +whatever its shortcomings were, it was not altogether without +good singers, in proof of which assertion may be named the tenor +Chollet, Madame Casimir, and Mdlle. Prevost. But it was at the +Italian Opera that a constellation of vocal talent was to be +found such as has perhaps at no time been equalled: Malibran- +Garcia, Pasta, Schroder-Devrient, Rubini, Lablache, and Santini. +Nor had the Academic, with Nourrit, Levasseur, Derivis, Madame +Damoreau-Cinti, and Madame Dorus, to shrink from a comparison. +Imagine the treat it must have been to be present at the concert +which took place at the Italian Opera on December 25, 1831, and +the performers at which comprised artists such as Malibran, +Rubini, Lablache, Santini, Madame Raimbaux, Madame Schroder- +Devrient, Madame Casadory, Herz, and De Beriot! + +Chopin was so full of admiration for what he had heard at the +three operatic establishments that he wrote to his master +Elsner:-- + + It is only here that one can learn what singing is. I believe + that not Pasta, but Malibran-Garcia is now the greatest + singer in Europe. Prince Valentin Radziwill is quite + enraptured by her, and we often wish you were here, for you + would be charmed with her singing. + +The following extracts from a letter to his friend Woyciechowski +contain some more of Chopin's criticism:-- + + As regards the opera, I must tell you that I never heard so + fine a performance as I did last week, when the "Barber of + Seville" was given at the Italian Opera, with Lablache, + Rubini, and Malibran-Garcia in the principal parts. Of + "Othello" there is likewise an excellent rendering in + prospect, further also of "L'Italiana in Algeri." Paris has + in this respect never offered so much as now. You can have no + idea of Lablache. People say that Pasta's voice has somewhat + failed, but I never heard in all my life such heavenly + singing as hers. Malibran embraces with her wonderful voice a + compass of three octaves; her singing is quite unique in its + way, enchanting! Rubini, an excellent tenor, makes endless + roulades, often too many colorature, vibrates and trills + continually, for which he is rewarded with the greatest + applause. His mezza voce is incomparable. A Schroder-Devrient + is now making her appearance, but she does not produce such a + furore here as in Germany. Signora Malibran personated + Othello, Schroder-Devrient Desdemona. Malibran is little, the + German lady taller. One thought sometimes that Desdemona was + going to strangle Othello. It was a very expensive + performance; I paid twenty-four francs for my seat, and did + so because I wished to see Malibran play the part of the + Moor, which she did not do particularly well. The orchestra + was excellent, but the mise en scene in the Italian Opera is + nothing compared with that of the French Academie + Royale...Madame Damoreau-Cinti sings also very beautifully; I + prefer her singing to that of Malibran. The latter astonishes + one, but Cinti charms. She sings the chromatic scales and + colorature almost more perfectly than the famous flute-player + Tulou plays them. It is hardly possible to find a more + finished execution. In Nourrit, the first tenor of the Grand + Opera, [Footnote: It may perhaps not be superfluous to point + out that Academie Royale (Imperial, or Nationale, as the case + may be) de Musique, or simply Academie de Musique, and Grand + Opera, or simply Opera, are different names for one and the + same thing--namely, the principal opera-house in France, the + institution whose specialties are grand opera and ballet.] + one admires the warmth of feeling which speaks out of his + singing. Chollet, the first tenor of the Opera-Comique, the + best performer of Fra Diavolo, and excellent in the operas + "Zampa" and "Fiancee," has a manner of his own in conceiving + the parts. He captivates all with his beautiful voice, and is + the favourite of the public. + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + + +1831-1832. + + + +ACQUAINTANCES AND FRIENDS: CHERUBINI, BAILLOT, FRANCHOMME, LISZT, +MILLER, OSBORNE, MENDELSSOHN.--CHOPIN AND KALKBRENNER.--CHOPIN'S +AIMS AS AN ARTIST.--KALKBRENNER'S CHARACTER AS A MAN AND ARTIST.- +-CHOPIN'S FIRST PARIS CONCERT.--FETIS.--CHOPIN PLAYS AT A +CONCERT GIVEN BY THE PRINCE DE LA MOSKOWA.--HIS STATE OF MIND.-- +LOSS OF HIS POLISH LETTERS.--TEMPORARILY STRAITENED CIRCUMSTANCES +AND BRIGHTENING PROSPECTS.--PATRONS AND WELL-WISHERS.--THE +"IDEAL."--A LETTER TO HILLER. + + + +Chopin brought only a few letters of introduction with him to +Paris: one from Dr. Malfatti to Paer, and some from others to +music-publishers. Through Paer he was made acquainted with +Cherubini, Rossini, Baillot, and Kalkbrenner. Although Chopin in +one of his early Paris letters calls Cherubini a mummy, he seems +to have subsequently been more favourably impressed by him. At +any rate, Ferdinand Hiller--who may have accompanied the new- +comer, if he did not, as he thinks he did, introduce him, which +is not reconcilable with his friend's statement that Paer made +him acquainted with Cherubini--told me that Chopin conceived a +liking for the burbero maestro, of whom Mendelssohn remarked that +he composed everything with his head without the help of his +heart. + + The house of Cherubini [writes Veron in his "Memoires d'un + Bourgeois de Paris"] was open to artists, amateurs, and + people of good society; and every Monday a numerous assembly + thronged his salons. All foreign artists wished to be + presented to Cherubini. During these last years one met often + at his house Hummel, Liszt, Chopin, Moscheles, Madame + Grassini, and Mademoiselle Falcon, then young and brilliant + in talent and beauty; Auber and Halevy, the favourite pupils + of the master; and Meyerbeer and Rossini. + +As evidence of the younger master's respect for the older one may +be adduced a copy made by Chopin of one of Cherubini's fugues. +This manuscript, which I saw in the possession of M. Franchomme, +is a miracle of penmanship, and surpasses in neatness and +minuteness everything I have seen of Chopin's writing, which is +always microscopic. + +From Dr. Hiller I learnt also that Chopin went frequently to +Baillot's house. It is very probable that he was present at the +soirees which Mendelssohn describes with his usual charming ease +in his Paris letters. Baillot, though a man of sixty, still knew +how to win the admiration of the best musicians by his fine, +expressive violin-playing. Chopin writes in a letter to Elsner +that Baillot was very amiable towards him, and had promised to +take part with him in a quintet of Beethoven's at his concert; +and in another letter Chopin calls Baillot "the rival of +Paganini." + +As far as I can learn there was not much intercourse between +Chopin and Rossini. Of Kalkbrenner I shall have presently to +speak at some length; first, however, I shall say a few words +about some of the most interesting young artists whose +acquaintance Chopin made. + +One of these young artists was the famous violoncellist +Franchomme, who told me that it was Hiller who first spoke to him +of the young Pole and his unique compositions and playing. Soon +after this conversation, and not long after the new-comer's +arrival in Paris, Chopin, Liszt, Hiller, and Franchomme dined +together. When the party broke up, Chopin asked Franchomme what +he was going to do. Franchomme replied he had no particular +engagement. "Then," said Chopin, "come with me and spend an hour +or two at my lodgings." "Well," was the answer of Franchomme, +"but if I do you will have to play to me." Chopin had no +objection, and the two walked off together. Franchomme thought +that Chopin was at that time staying at an hotel in the Rue +Bergere. Be this as it may, the young Pole played as he had +promised, and the young Frenchman understood him at once. This +first meeting was the beginning of a life-long friendship, a +friendship such as is rarely to be met with among the fashionable +musicians of populous cities. + +Mendelssohn, who came to Paris early in December, 1831, and +stayed there till about the middle of April, 1832, associated a +good deal with this set of striving artists. The diminutive +"Chopinetto," which he makes use of in his letters to Hiller, +indicates not only Chopin's delicate constitution of body and +mind and social amiability, but also Mendelssohn's kindly feeling +for him. [Footnote: Chopin is not mentioned in any of +Mendelssohn's Paris letters. But the following words may refer to +him; for although Mendelssohn did not play at Chopin's concert, +there may have been some talk of his doing so. January 14, 1832: +"Next week a Pole gives a concert; in it I have to play a piece +for six performers with Kalkbrenner, Hiller and Co." Osborne +related in his "Reminiscences of Frederick Chopin," a paper read +before a meeting of the Musical Association (April 5, 1880), that +he, Chopin, Hiller, and Mendelssohn, during the latter's stay in +Paris, frequently dined together at a restaurant. They ordered +and paid the dinner in turn. One evening at dessert they had a +very animated conversation about authors and their manuscripts. +When they were ready to leave Osborne called the waiter, but +instead of asking for la note a payer, he said "Garcon, apportez- +moi votre manuscrit." This sally of the mercurial Irishman was +received with hearty laughter, Chopin especially being much +tickled by the profanation of the word so sacred to authors. From +the same source we learn also that Chopin took delight in +repeating the criticisms on his performances which he at one time +or other had chanced to overhear. + +Not the least interesting and significant incident in Chopin's +life was his first meeting and early connection with Kalkbrenner, +who at that time--when Liszt and Thalberg had not yet taken +possession of the commanding positions they afterwards +occupied--enjoyed the most brilliant reputation of all the +pianists then living. On December 16, 1831, Chopin writes to his +friend Woyciechowski:-- + + You may easily imagine how curious I was to hear Herz and + Hiller play; they are ciphers compared with Kalkbrenner. + Honestly speaking, I play as well as Herz, but I wish I could + play as well as Kalkbrenner. If Paganini is perfect, so also + is he, but in quite another way. His repose, his enchanting + touch, the smoothness of his playing, I cannot describe to + you, one recognises the master in every note--he is a giant + who throws all other artists into the shade. When I visited + him, he begged me to play him something. What was I to do? As + I had heard Herz, I took courage, seated myself at the + instrument, and played my E minor Concerto, which charmed the + people of the Bavarian capital so much. Kalkbrenner was + astonished, and asked me if I were a pupil of Field's. He + remarked that I had the style of Cramer, but the touch of + Field. It amused me that Kalkbrenner, when he played to me, + made a mistake and did not know how to go on; but it was + wonderful to hear how he found his way again. Since this + meeting we see each other daily, either he calls on me or I + on him. He proposed to teach me for three years and make a + great artist of me. I told him that I knew very well what I + still lacked; but I will not imitate him, and three years are + too much for me. He has convinced me that I play well only + when I am in the right mood for it, but less well when this + is not the case. This cannot be said of Kalkbrenner, his + playing is always the same. When he had watched me for a long + time, he came to the conclusion that I had no method; that I + was indeed on a very good path, but might easily go astray; + and that when he ceased to play, there would no longer be a + representative of the grand pianoforte school left. I cannot + create a new school, however much I may wish to do so, + because I do not even know the old one; but I know that my + tone-poems have some individuality in them, and that I always + strive to advance. + + If you were here, you would say "Learn, young man, as long as + you have an opportunity to do so!" But many dissuade me from + taking lessons, are of opinion that I play as well as + Kalkbrenner, and that it is only vanity that makes him wish + to have me for his pupil. That is nonsense. Whoever knows + anything of music must think highly of Kalkbrenner's talent, + although he is disliked as a man because he will not + associate with everybody. But I assure you there is in him + something higher than in all the virtuosos whom I have as yet + heard. I have said this in a letter to my parents, who quite + understand it. Elsner, however, does not comprehend it, and + regards it as jealousy on Kalkbrenner's part that he not only + praises me, but also wishes that my playing were in some + respects different from what it is. In spite of all this I + may tell you confidentially that I have already a + distinguished name among the artists here. + +Elsner expressed his astonishment that Kalkbrenner should require +three years to reveal to Chopin the secrets of his art, and +advised his former pupil not to confine the exercise of his +musical talent to pianoforte-playing and the composition of +pianoforte music. Chopin replies to this in a letter written on +December 14, 1831, as follows:-- + + In the beginning of last year, although I knew what I yet + lacked, and how very far I still was from equalling the model + I have in you, I nevertheless ventured to think, "I will + approach him, and if I cannot produce, a Lokietek ["the + short," surname of a king of Poland; Elsner had composed an + opera of that name], I may perhaps give to the world a + Laskonogi ["the thin-legged," surname of another king of + Poland]." To-day all such hopes are annihilated; I am forced + to think of making my way in the world as a pianist. For some + time I must keep in the background the higher artistic aim of + which you wrote to me. In order to be a great composer one + must possess, in addition to creative power, experience and + the faculty of self-criticism, which, as you have taught me, + one obtains not only by listening to the works of others, but + still more by means of a careful critical examination of + one's own. + +After describing the difficulties which lie in the way of the +opera composer, he proceeds:-- + + It is my conviction that he is the happier man who is able to + execute his compositions himself. I am known here and there + in Germany as a pianist; several musical journals have spoken + highly of my concerts, and expressed the hope of seeing me + soon take a prominent position among the first pianoforte- + virtuosos. I had to-day anopportunity or fulfilling the + promise I had made to myself. Why should I not embrace it?... + I should not like to learn pianoforte-playing in Germany, for + there no one could tell me precisely what it was that I + lacked. I, too, have not seen the beam in my eye. Three + years' study is far too much. Kalkbrenner, when he had heard + me repeatedly, came to see that himself. From this you may + see that a true meritorious virtuoso does not know the + feeling of envy. I would certainly make up my mind to study + for three years longer if I were certain that I should then + reach the aim which I have kept in view. So much is clear to + me, I shall never become a copy of Kalkbrenner; he will not + be able to break my perhaps bold but noble resolve--TO CREATE + A NEW ART-ERA. If I now continue my studies, I do so only in + order to stand at some future time on my own feet. It was not + difficult for Ries, who was then already recognised as a + celebrated pianist, to win laurels at Berlin, Frankfort-on- + the-Main, Dresden, &c., by his opera Die Rauberbraut. And how + long was Spohr known as an excellent violinist before he had + written Faust, Jessonda, and other works? I hope you will not + deny me your blessing when you see on what grounds and with + what intentions I struggle onwards. + +This is one of the most important letters we have of Chopin; it +brings before us, not the sighing lover, the sentimental friend, +but the courageous artist. On no other occasion did he write so +freely and fully of his views and aims. What heroic self- +confidence, noble resolves, vast projects, flattering dreams! And +how sad to think that most of them were doomed to end in failure +and disappointment! But few are the lives of true artists that +can really be called happy! Even the most successful have, in +view of the ideally conceived, to deplore the quantitative and +qualitative shortcomings of the actually accomplished. But to +return to Kalkbrenner. Of him Chopin said truly that he was not a +popular man; at any rate, he was not a popular man with the +romanticists. Hiller tells us in his "Recollections and Letters +of Mendelssohn" how little grateful he and his friends, +Mendelssohn included, were for Kalkbrenner's civilities, and what +a wicked pleasure they took in worrying him. Sitting one day in +front of a cafe on the Boulevard des Italiens, Hiller, Liszt, and +Chopin saw the prim master advancing, and knowing how +disagreeable it would be to him to meet such a noisy company, +they surrounded him in the friendliest manner, and assailed him +with such a volley of talk that he was nearly driven to despair, +which, adds Hiller, "of course delighted us." It must be +confessed that the great Kalkbrenner, as M. Marmontel in his +"Pianistes celebres" remarks, had "certaines etroitesses de +caractere," and these "narrownesses" were of a kind that +particularly provokes the ridicule of unconventional and +irreverent minds. Heine is never more biting than when he speaks +of Kalkbrenner. He calls him a mummy, and describes him as being +dead long ago and having lately also married. This, however, was +some years after the time we are speaking of. On another occasion +Heine writes that Kalkbrenner is envied + + for his elegant manners, for his polish and sweetishness, and + for his whole marchpane-like appearance, in which, however, + ihe calm observer discovers a shabby admixture of involuntary + Berlinisms of the lowest class, so that Koreff could say of + the man as wittily as correctly: "He looks like a bon-bon + that has been in the mud." + +A thorough belief in and an unlimited admiration of himself form +the centre of gravity upon which the other qualities of +Kalkbrenner's character balance themselves. He prided himself on +being the pattern of a fine gentleman, and took upon him to teach +even his oldest friends how to conduct themselves in society and +at table. In his gait he was dignified, in his manners +ceremonious, and in his speech excessively polite. He was +addicted to boasting of honours offered him by the King, and of +his intimacy with the highest aristocracy. That he did not +despise popularity with the lower strata of society is evidenced +by the anecdote (which the virtuoso is credited with having told +himself to his guests) of the fish-wife who, on reading his card, +timidly asks him to accept as a homage to the great Kalkbrenner a +splendid fish which he had selected for his table. The artist was +the counterpart of the man. He considered every success as by +right his due, and recognised merit only in those who were formed +on his method or at least acknowledged its superiority. His +artistic style was a chastened reflex of his social demeanour. + +It is difficult to understand how the Kalkbrenner-Chopin affair +could be so often misrepresented, especially since we are in +possession of Chopin's clear statements of the facts. [FOOTNOTE: +Statements which are by no means invalidated by the following +statement of Lenz:--"On my asking Chopin 'whether Kalkbrenner had +understood much about it' [i.e. the art of pianoforte-playing], +followed the answer: 'It was at the beginning of my stay in +Paris.'"]. There are no grounds whatever to justify the +assumption that Kalkbrenner was actuated by jealousy, artfulness, +or the like, when he proposed that the wonderfully-gifted and +developed Chopin should become his pupil for three years. His +conceit of himself and his method account fully for the +strangeness of the proposal. Moreover, three years was the +regulation time of Kalkbrenner's course, and it was much that he +was willing to shorten it in the case of Chopin. Karasowski, +speaking as if he had the gift of reading the inmost thoughts of +men, remarks: "Chopin did not suspect what was passing in +Kalkbrenner's mind when he was playing to him." After all, I +should like to ask, is there anything surprising in the fact that +the admired virtuoso and author of a "Methode pour apprendre le +Piano a l'aide du Guide-mains; contenant les principes de +musique; un systems complet de doigter; des regles sur +l'expression," &c., found fault with Chopin's strange fingering +and unconventional style? Kalkbrenner could not imagine anything +superior to his own method, anything finer than his own style. +And this inability to admit the meritoriousness or even the +legitimacy of anything that differed from what he was accustomed +to, was not at all peculiar to this great pianist; we see it +every day in men greatly his inferiors. Kalkbrenner's lament that +when he ceased to play there would be no representative left of +the grand pianoforte school ought to call forth our sympathy. +Surely we cannot blame him for wishing to perpetuate what he held +to be unsurpassable! According to Hiller, Chopin went a few times +to the class of advanced pupils which Kalkbrenner had advised him +to attend, as he wished to see what the thing was like. +Mendelssohn, who had a great opinion of Chopin and the reverse of +Kalkbrenner, was furious when he heard of this. But were Chopin's +friends correct in saying that he played better than Kalkbrenner, +and could learn nothing from him? That Chopin played better than +Kalkbrenner was no doubt true, if we consider the emotional and +intellectual qualities of their playing. But I think it was not +correct to say that Chopin could learn nothing from the older +master. Chopin was not only a better judge of Kalkbrenner than +his friends, who had only sharp eyes for his short-comings, and +overlooked or undervalued his good qualities, but he was also a +better judge of himself and his own requirements. He had an ideal +in his mind, and he thought that Kalkbrenner's teaching would +help him to realise it. Then there is also this to be considered: +unconnected with any school, at no time guided by a great master +of the instrument, and left to his own devices at a very early +age, Chopin found himself, as it were, floating free in the air +without a base to stand on, without a pillar to lean against. The +consequent feeling of isolation inspires at times even the +strongest and most independent self-taught man--and Chopin, as a +pianist, may almost be called one--with distrust in the adequacy +of his self-acquired attainments, and an exaggerated idea of the +advantages of a school education. "I cannot create a new school, +because I do not even know the old one." This may or may not be +bad reasoning, but it shows the attitude of Chopin's mind. It is +also possible that he may have felt the inadequacy and +inappropriateness of his technique and style for other than his +own compositions. And many facts in the history of his career as +an executant would seem to confirm the correctness of such a +feeling. At any rate, after what we have read we cannot attribute +his intention of studying under Kalkbrenner to undue self- +depreciation. For did he not consider his own playing as good as +that of Herz, and feel that he had in him the stuff to found a +new era in music? But what was it then that attracted him to +Kalkbrenner, and made him exalt this pianist above all the +pianists he had heard? If the reader will recall to mind what I +said in speaking of Mdlles. Sontag and Belleville of Chopin's +love of beauty of tone, elegance, and neatness, he cannot be +surprised at the young pianist's estimate of the virtuoso of whom +Riehl says: "The essence of his nature was what the philologists +call elegantia--he spoke the purest Ciceronian Latin on the +piano." As a knowledge of Kalkbrenner's artistic personality will +help to further our acquaintance with Chopin, and as our +knowledge of it is for the most part derived from the libels and +caricatures of well-intentioned critics, who in their zeal for a +nobler and more glorious art overshoot the mark of truth, it will +be worth our while to make inquiries regarding it. + +Kalkbrenner may not inaptly be called the Delille of pianist- +composers, for his nature and fate remind us somewhat of the +poet. As to his works, although none of them possessed stamina +enough to be long-lived, they would have insured him a fairer +reputation if he had not published so many that were written +merely for the market. Even Schumann confessed to having in his +younger days heard and played Kalkbrenner's music often and with +pleasure, and at a maturer age continued to acknowledge not only +the master's natural virtuoso amiability and clever manner of +writing effectively for fingers and hands, but also the genuinely +musical qualities of his better works, of which he held the +Concerto in D minor to be the "bloom," and remarks that it shows +the "bright sides" of Kalkbrenner's "pleasing talent." We are, +however, here more concerned with the pianist than with the +composer. One of the best sketches of Kalkbrenner as a pianist is +to be found in a passage which I shall presently quote from M. +Marmontel's collection of "Silhouettes et Medaillons" of "Les +Pianistes celebres." The sketch is valuable on account of its +being written by one who is himself a master, one who does not +speak from mere hearsay, and who, whilst regarding Kalkbrenner as +an exceptional virtuoso, the continuator of Clementi, the founder +("one of the founders" would be more correct) of modern +pianoforte-playing, and approving of the leading principle of his +method, which aims at the perfect independence of the fingers and +their preponderant action, does not hesitate to blame the +exclusion of the action of the wrist, forearm, and arm, of which +the executant should not deprive himself "dans les accents de +legerete, d'expression et de force." But here is what M. +Marmontel says:-- + + The pianoforte assumed under his fingers a marvellous and + never harsh sonorousness, for he did not seek forced effects. + His playing, smooth, sustained, harmonious, and of a perfect + evenness, charmed even more than it astonished; moreover, a + faultless neatness in the most difficult passages, and a left + hand of unparalleled bravura, made Kalkbrenner an + extraordinary virtuoso. Let us add that the perfect + independence of the fingers, the absence of the in our day so + frequent movements of the arms, the tranquillity of the hands + and body, a perfect bearing--all these qualities combined, + and many others which we forget, left the auditor free to + enjoy the pleasure of listening without having his attention + diverted by fatiguing gymnastics. Kalkbrenner's manner of + phrasing was somewhat lacking in expression and communicative + warmth, but the style was always noble, true, and of the + grand school. + +We now know what Chopin meant when he described Kalkbrenner as +"perfect and possessed of something that raised him above all +other virtuosos"; we now know also that Chopin's admiration was +characteristic and not misplaced. Nevertheless, nobody will think +for a moment of disagreeing with those who advised Chopin not to +become a pupil of this master, who always exacted absolute +submission to his precepts; for it was to be feared that he would +pay too dear for the gain of inferior accomplishments with the +loss of his invaluable originality. But, as we have seen, the +affair came to nothing, Chopin ceasing to attend the classes +after a few visits. What no doubt influenced his final decision +more than the advice of his friends was the success which his +playing and compositions met with at the concert of which I have +now to tell the history. Chopin's desertion as a pupil did not +terminate the friendly relation that existed between the two +artists. When Chopin published his E minor Concerto he dedicated +it to Kalkbrenner, and the latter soon after composed "Variations +brillantes (Op. 120) pour le piano sur une Mazourka de Chopin," +and often improvised on his young brother-artist's mazurkas. +Chopin's friendship with Camille Pleyel helped no doubt to keep +up his intercourse with Kalkbrenner, who was a partner of the +firm of Pleyel & Co. + +The arrangements for his concert gave Chopin much trouble, and +had they not been taken in hand by Paer, Kalkbrenner, and +especially Norblin, he would not have been able to do anything in +Paris, where one required at least two months to get up a +concert. This is what Chopin tells Elsner in the letter dated +December 14, 1831. Notwithstanding such powerful assistance he +did not succeed in giving his concert on the 25th of December, as +he at first intended. The difficulty was to find a lady vocalist. +Rossini, the director of the Italian Opera, was willing to help +him, but Robert, the second director, refused to give permission +to any of the singers in his company to perform at the concert, +fearing that, if he did so once, there would be no end of +applications. As Veron, the director of the Academie Royale +likewise refused Chopin's request, the concert had to be put off +till the 15th of January, 1832, when, however, on account of +Kalkbrenner's illness or for some other reason, it had again to +be postponed. At last it came off on February 26, 1832. Chopin +writes on December 16, 1831, about the arrangements for the +concert:-- + + Baillot, the rival of Paganini, and Brod, the celebrated oboe- + player, will assist me with their talent. I intend to play my + F minor Concerto and the Variations in B flat...I shall play + not only the concerto and the variations, but also with + Kalkbrenner his duet "Marche suivie d'une Polonaise" for two + pianos, with the accompaniment of four others. Is this not an + altogether mad idea? One of the grand pianos is very large, + and is for Kalkbrenner; the other is small (a so-called mono- + chord), and is for me. On the other large ones, which are as + loud as an orchestra, Hiller, Osborne, Stamati, and Sowinski + are to play. Besides these performers, Norblin, Vidal, and + the celebrated viola-player Urban will take part in the + concert. + +The singers of the evening were Mdlles. Isambert and Tomeoni, and +M. Boulanger. I have not been able to discover the programme of +the concert. Hiller says that Chopin played his E minor Concerto +and some of his mazurkas and nocturnes. Fetis, in the Revue +musicale (March 3, 1832), mentions only in a general way that +there were performed a concerto by Chopin, a composition for six +pianos by Kalkbrenner, some vocal pieces, an oboe solo, and "a +quintet for violin [sic], executed with that energy of feeling +and that variety of inspiration which distinguish the talent of +M. Baillot." The concert, which took place in Pleyel's rooms, was +financially a failure; the receipts did not cover the expenses. +The audience consisted chiefly of Poles, and most of the French +present had free tickets. Hiller says that all the musical +celebrities of Paris were there, and that Chopin's performances +took everybody by storm. "After this," he adds, "nothing more was +heard of want of technique, and Mendelssohn applauded +triumphantly." Fetis describes this soiree musicale as one of the +most pleasant that had been given that year. His criticism +contains such interesting and, on the whole, such excellent +remarks that I cannot resist the temptation to quote the more +remarkable passages:-- + + Here is a young man who, abandoning himself to his natural + impressions and without taking a model, has found, if not a + complete renewal of pianoforte music, at least a part of what + has been sought in vain for a long time--namely, an abundance + of original ideas of which the type is to be found nowhere. + We do not mean by this that M. Chopin is endowed with a + powerful organisation like that of Beethoven, nor that there + are in his music such powerful conceptions as one remarks in + that of this great man. Beethoven has composed pianoforte + music, but I speak here of pianists' music, and it is by + comparison with the latter that I find in M. Chopin's + inspirations the indication of a renewal of forms which may + exercise in time much influence over this department of the + art. + +Of Chopin's concerto Fetis remarks that it:-- + + equally astonished and surprised his audience, as much by the + novelty of the melodic ideas as by the figures, modulations, + and general disposition of the movements. There is soul in + these melodies, fancy in these figures, and originality in + everything. Too much luxuriance in the modulations, disorder + in the linking of the phrases, so that one seems sometimes to + hear an improvisation rather than written music, these are + the defects which are mixed with the qualities I have just + now pointed out. But these defects belong to the age of the + artist; they will disappear when experience comes. If the + subsequent works of M. Chopin correspond to his debut, there + can be no doubt but that he will acquire a brilliant and + merited reputation. + + As an executant also the young artist deserves praise. His + playing is elegant, easy, graceful, and possesses brilliance + and neatness. He brings little tone out of the instrument, + and resembles in this respect the majority of German + pianists. But the study which he is making of this part of + his art, under the direction of M. Kalkbrenner, cannot fail + to give him an important quality on which the nerf of + execution depends, and without which the accents of the + instrument cannot be modified. + +Of course dissentient voices made themselves heard who objected +to this and that; but an overwhelming majority, to which belonged +the young artists, pronounced in favour of Chopin. Liszt says +that he remembers his friend's debut:-- + + The most vigorous applause seemed not to suffice to our + enthusiasm in the presence of this talented musician, who + revealed a new phase of poetic sentiment combined with such + happy innovations in the form of his art. + +The concluding remark of the above-quoted criticism furnishes an +additional proof that Chopin went for some time to Kalkbrenner's +class. As Fetis and Chopin were acquainted with each other, we +may suppose that the former was well informed on this point. In +passing, we may take note of Chopin's account of the famous +historian and theorist's early struggles:-- + + Fetis [Chopin writes on December 14, 1831], whom I know, and + from whom one can learn much, lives outside the town, and + comes to Paris only to give his lessons. They say he is + obliged to do this because his debts are greater than the + profits from his "Revue musicale." He is sometimes in danger + of making intimate acquaintance with the debtors' prison. You + must know that according to the law of the country a debtor + can only be arrested in his dwelling. Fetis has, therefore, + left the town and lives in the neighbourhood of Paris, nobody + knows where. + +On May 20, 1832, less than three months after his first concert, +Chopin made his second public appearance in Paris, at a concert +given by the Prince de la Moskowa for the benefit of the poor. +Among the works performed was a mass composed by the Prince. +Chopin played the first movement of:-- + + the concerto, which had already been heard at Pleyel's rooms, + and had there obtained a brilliant success. On this occasion + it was not so well received, a fact which, no doubt, must be + attributed to the instrumentation, which is lacking in + lightness, and to the small volume of tone which M. Chopin + draws from the piano. However, it appears to us that the + music of this artist will gain in the public opinion when it + becomes better known. [FOOTNOTE: From the "Revue musicale."] + +The great attraction of the evening was not Chopin, but Brod, who +"enraptured" the audience. Indeed, there were few virtuosos who +were as great favourites as this oboe-player; his name was absent +from the programme of hardly any concert of note. + +In passing we will note some other musical events of interest +which occurred about the same time that Chopin made his debut. On +March 18 Mendelssohn played Beethoven's G major Concerto with +great success at one of the Conservatoire concerts, [FOOTNOTE: It +was the first performance of this work in Paris.] the younger +master's overture to the "Midsummer Night's Dream" had been heard +and well received at the same institution in the preceding month, +and somewhat later his "Reformation Symphony" was rehearsed, but +laid aside. In the middle of March Paganini, who had lately +arrived, gave the first of a series of concerts, with what +success it is unnecessary to say. Of Chopin's intercourse with +Zimmermann, the distinguished pianoforte-professor at the +Conservatoire, and his family we learn from M. Marmontel, who was +introduced to Chopin and Liszt, and heard them play in 1832 at +one of his master's brilliant musical fetes, and gives a charming +description of the more social and intimate parties at which +Chopin seems to have been occasionally present. + + Madame Zimmermann and her daughters did the honours to a + great number of artists. Charades were acted; the forfeits + that were given, and the rebuses that were not guessed, had + to be redeemed by penances varying according to the nature of + the guilty ones. Gautier, Dumas, and Musset were condemned to + recite their last poem. Liszt or Chopin had to improvise on a + given theme, Mesdames Viardot, Falcon, and Euggnie Garcia had + also to discharge their melodic debts, and I myself remember + having paid many a forfeit. + +The preceding chapter and the foregoing part of this chapter set +forth the most important facts of Chopin's social and artistic +life in his early Paris days. The following extract from a letter +of his to Titus Woyciechowski, dated December 25, 1831, reveals +to us something of his inward life, the gloom of which contrasts +violently with the outward brightness:-- + + Ah, how I should like to have you beside me!...You cannot + imagine how sad it is to have nobody to whom I can open my + troubled heart. You know how easily I make acquaintances, how + I love human society--such acquaintances I make in great + numbers--but with no one, no one can I sigh. My heart beats + as it were always "in syncopes," therefore I torment myself + and seek for a rest--for solitude, so that the whole day + nobody may look at me and speak to me. It is too annoying to + me when there is a pull at the bell, and a tedious visit is + announced while I am writing to you. At the moment when I was + going to describe to you the ball, at which a divine being + with a rose in her black hair enchanted me, arrives your + letter. All the romances of my brain disappear? my thoughts + carry me to you, I take your hand and weep...When shall we + see each other again?...Perhaps never, because, seriously, my + health is very bad. I appear indeed merry, especially when I + am among my fellow-countrymen; but inwardly something + torments me--a gloomy presentiment, unrest, bad dreams, + sleeplessness, yearning, indifference to everything, to the + desire to live and the desire to die. It seems to me often as + if my mind were benumbed, I feel a heavenly repose in my + heart, in my thoughts I see images from which I cannot tear + myself away, and this tortures me beyond all measure. In + short, it is a combination of feelings that are difficult to + describe...Pardon me, dear Titus, for telling you of all + this; but now I have said enough...I will dress now and go, + or rather drive, to the dinner which our countrymen give to- + day to Ramorino and Langermann...Your letter contained much + that was news to me; you have written me four pages and + thirty-seven lines--in all my life you have never been so + liberal to me, and I stood in need of something of the kind, + I stood indeed very much in need of it. + + What you write about my artistic career is very true, and I + myself am convinced of it. + + I drive in my own equipage, only the coachman is hired. + + I shall close, because otherwise I should be too late for the + post, for I am everything in one person, master and servant. + Take pity on me and write as often as possible!--Yours unto + death, + + FREDERICK. + +In the postscript of this letter Chopin's light fancy gets the +better of his heavy heart; in it all is fun and gaiety. First he +tells his friend of a pretty neighbour whose husband is out all +day and who often invites him to visit and comfort her. But the +blandishments of the fair one were of no avail; he had no taste +for adventures, and, moreover, was afraid to be caught and beaten +by the said husband. A second love-story is told at greater +length. The dramatis personae are Chopin, John Peter Pixis, and +Francilla Pixis, a beautiful girl of sixteen, a German orphan +whom the pianist-composer, then a man of about forty-three, had +adopted, and who afterwards became known as a much-admired +singer. Chopin made their acquaintance in Stuttgart, and remarks +that Pixis said that he intended to marry her. On his return to +Paris Pixis invited Chopin to visit him; the latter, who had by +this time forgotten pretty Francilla, was in no hurry to call. +What follows must be given in Chopin's own words:-- + + Eight days after the second invitation I went to his house, + and accidentally met his pet on the stairs. She invited me to + come in, assuring me it did not matter that Mr. Pixis was not + at home; meanwhile I was to sit down, he would return soon, + and so on. A strange embarrassment seized both of us. I made + my excuses--for I knew the old man was very jealous--and said + I would rather return another time. While we were talking + familiarly and innocently on the staircase, Pixis came up, + looking over his spectacles in order to see who was speaking + above to his bella. He may not have recognised us at once, + quickened his steps, stopped before us, and said to her + harshly: "Qu'est-ce que vous faites ici?" and gave her a + severe lecture for receiving young men in his absence, and so + on. I addressed Pixis smilingly, and said to her that it was + somewhat imprudent to leave the room in so thin a silk dress. + At last the old man became calm--he took me by the arm and + led me into the drawing-room. He was in such a state of + excitement that he did not know what seat to offer me; for he + was afraid that, if he had offended me, I would make better + use of his absence another time. When I left he accompanied + me down stairs, and seeing me smile (for I could not help + doing so when I found I was thought capable of such a thing), + he went to the concierge and asked how long it was since I + had come. The concierge must have calmed his fears, for since + that time Pixis does not know how to praise my talent + sufficiently to all his acquaintances. What do you think of + this? I, a dangerous seducteur! + +The letters which Chopin wrote to his parents from Paris passed, +after his mother's death, into the hands of his sister, who +preserved them till September 19, 1863. On that day the house in +which she lived in Warsaw--a shot having been fired and some +bombs thrown from an upper story of it when General Berg and his +escort were passing--was sacked by Russian soldiers, who burned +or otherwise destroyed all they could lay hands on, among the +rest Chopin's letters, his portrait by Ary Scheffer, the +Buchholtz piano on which he had made his first studies, and other +relics. We have now also exhausted, at least very nearly +exhausted, Chopin's extant correspondence with his most intimate +Polish friends, Matuszynski and Woyciechowski, only two +unimportant letters written in 1849 and addressed to the latter +remaining yet to be mentioned. That the confidential +correspondence begins to fail us at this period (the last letter +is of December 25, 1831) is particularly inopportune; a series of +letters like those he wrote from Vienna would have furnished us +with the materials for a thoroughly trustworthy history of his +settlement in Paris, over which now hangs a mythical haze. +Karasowski, who saw the lost letters, says they were tinged with +melancholy. + +Besides the thought of his unhappy country, a thought constantly +kept alive by the Polish refugees with whom Paris was swarming, +Chopin had another more prosaic but not less potent cause of +disquietude and sadness. His pecuniary circumstances were by no +means brilliant. Economy cannot fill a slender purse, still less +can a badly-attended concert do so, and Chopin was loath to be a +burden on his parents who, although in easy circumstances, were +not wealthy, and whose income must have been considerably +lessened by some of the consequences of the insurrection, such as +the closing of schools, general scarcity of money, and so forth. +Nor was Paris in 1831, when people were so busy with politics, El +Dorado for musicians. Of the latter, Mendelssohn wrote at the +time that they did not, like other people, wrangle about +politics, but lamented over them. "One has lost his place, +another his title, and a third his money, and they say this all +proceeds from the 'juste milieu.'" As Chopin saw no prospect of +success in Paris he began to think, like others of his +countrymen, of going to America. His parents, however, were +against this project, and advised him either to stay where he was +and wait for better things, or to return to Warsaw. Although he +might fear annoyances from the Russian government on account of +his not renewing his passport before the expiration of the time +for which it was granted, he chose the latter alternative. +Destiny, however, had decided the matter otherwise.[FOOTNOTE: +Karasowski says that Liszt, Hiller, and Sowinski dissuaded him +from leaving Paris. Liszt and Hiller both told me, and so did +also Franchomme, that they knew nothing of Chopin having had any +such intention; and Sowinski does not mention the circumstance in +his Musiciens polonais.] +One day, or, as some will have it, on the very day when he was +preparing for his departure, Chopin met in the street Prince +Valentine Radziwill, and, in the course of the conversation which +the latter opened, informed him of his intention of leaving +Paris. The Prince, thinking, no doubt, of the responsibility he +would incur by doing so, did not attempt to dissuade him, but +engaged the artist to go with him in the evening to Rothschild's. +Chopin, who of course was asked by the hostess to play something, +charmed by his wonderful performance, and no doubt also by his +refined manners, the brilliant company assembled there to such a +degree that he carried off not only a plentiful harvest of praise +and compliments, but also some offers of pupils. Supposing the +story to be true, we could easily believe that this soiree was +the turning-point in Chopin's career, but nevertheless might +hesitate to assert that it changed his position "as if by +enchantment." I said "supposing the story to be true," because, +although it has been reported that Chopin was fond of alluding to +this incident, his best friends seem to know nothing of it: Liszt +does not mention it, Hiller and Franchomme told me they never +heard of it, and notwithstanding Karasowski's contrary statement +there is nothing to be found about it in Sowinski's Musiciens +polonais. Still, the story may have a substratum of truth, to +arrive at which it has only to be shorn of its poetical +accessories and exaggerations, of which, however, there is little +in my version. + +But to whatever extent, or whether to any extent at all, this or +any similar soiree may have served Chopin as a favourable +introduction to a wider circle of admirers and patrons, and as a +stepping-stone to success, his indebtedness to his countrymen, +who from the very first befriended and encouraged him, ought not +to be forgotten or passed over in silence for the sake of giving +point to a pretty anecdote. The great majority of the Polish +refugees then living in Paris would of course rather require than +be able to afford help and furtherance, but there was also a not +inconsiderable minority of persons of noble birth and great +wealth whose patronage and influence could not but be of immense +advantage to a struggling artist. According to Liszt, Chopin was +on intimate terms with the inmates of the Hotel Lambert, where +old Prince Adam Czartoryski and his wife and daughter gathered +around them "les debris de la Pologne que la derniere guerre +avait jetes au loin." Of the family of Count Plater and other +compatriots with whom the composer had friendly intercourse we +shall speak farther on. Chopin's friends were not remiss in +exerting themselves to procure him pupils and good fees at the +same time. They told all inquirers that he gave no lesson for +less than twenty francs, although he had expressed his +willingness to be at first satisfied with more modest terms. +Chopin had neither to wait in vain nor to wait long, for in about +a year's time he could boast of a goodly number of pupils. + +The reader must have noticed with surprise the absence of any +mention of the "Ideal" from Chopin's letters to his friend Titus +Woyciechowski, to whom the love-sick artist was wont to write so +voluminously on this theme. How is this strange silence to be +accounted for? Surely this passionate lover could not have +forgotten her beneath whose feet he wished his ashes to be spread +after his death? But perhaps in the end of 1831 he had already +learnt what was going to happen in the following year. The sad +fact has to be told: inconstant Constantia Gladkowska married a +merchant of the name of Joseph Grabowski, at Warsaw, in 1832; +this at least is the information given in Sowinski's biographical +dictionary Les musiciens polonais et slaves.[FOOTNOTE: According +to Count Wodzinski she married a country gentleman, and +subsequently became blind.] As the circumstances of the case and +the motives of the parties are unknown to me, and as a biographer +ought not to take the same liberties as a novelist, I shall +neither expatiate on the fickleness and mercenariness of woman, +nor attempt to describe the feelings of our unfortunate hero +robbed of his ideal, but leave the reader to make his own +reflections and draw his own moral. + +On August 2, 1832, Chopin wrote a letter to Hiller, who had gone +in the spring of the year to Germany. What the young Pole thought +of this German brother-artist may be gathered from some remarks +of his in the letter to Titus Woyciechowski dated December 16, +1831:-- + + The concert of the good Hiller, who is a pupil of Hummel and + a youth of great talent, came off very successfully the day + before yesterday. A symphony of his was received with much + applause. He has taken Beethoven for his model, and his work + is full of poesy and inspiration. + +Since then the two had become more intimate, seeing each other +almost every day, Chopin, as Osborne relates, being always in +good spirits when Hiller was with him. The bearer of the said +letter was Mr. Johns, to whom the five Mazurkas, Op. 7, are +dedicated, and whom Chopin introduced to Hiller as "a +distinguished amateur of New Orleans." After warmly recommending +this gentleman, he excuses himself for not having acknowledged +the receipt of his friend's letter, which procured him the +pleasure of Paul Mendelssohn's acquaintance, and then proceeds:-- + + Your trios, my dear friend, have been finished for a long + time, and, true to my character of a glutton, I have gulped + down your manuscripts into my repertoire. Your concerto will + be performed this month by Adam's pupils at the examination + of the Conservatoire. Mdlle. Lyon plays it very well. La + Tentation, an opera-ballet by Halevy and Gide, has not + tempted any one of good taste, because it has just as little + interest as your German Diet harmony with the spirit of the + age. Maurice, who has returned from London, whither he had + gone for the mise en scene of Robert (which has not had a + very great success), has assured us that Moscheles and Field + will come to Paris for the winter. This is all the news I + have to give you. Osborne has been in London for the last two + months. Pixis is at Boulogne. Kalkbrenner is at Meudon, + Rossini at Bordeaux. All who know you await you with open + arms. Liszt will add a few words below. Farewell, dear + friend. + + Yours most truly, + + F. CHOPIN. + + Paris, 2/8/32 + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + + +1832-1834. + + + +CHOPIN'S SUCCESS IN SOCIETY AND AS A TEACHER.--VARIOUS CONCERTS +AT WHICH HE PLAYED.--A LETTER FROM CHOPIN AND LISZT TO HILLER.-- +SOME OF HIS FRIENDS.--STRANGE BEHAVIOUR.--A LETTER TO FRANCHOMME.- +-CHOPIN'S RESERVE.--SOME TRAITS OF THE POLISH CHARACTER.--FIELD.- +-BERLIOZ.--NEO-ROMANTICISM AND CHOPIN'S RELATION TO IT.--WHAT +INFLUENCE HAD LISZT ON CHOPIN'S DEVELOPMENT--PUBLICATION OF +WORKS.--THE CRITICS.--INCREASING POPULARITY.--JOURNEY IN THE +COMPANY OF HILLER TO AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.--A DAY AT DUSSELDORF WITH +MENDELSSOHN. + + + +IN the season 1832-1833 Chopin took his place as one of the +acknowledged pianistic luminaries of the French capital, and +began his activity as a professor par excellence of the +aristocracy. "His distinguished manners, his exquisite +politeness, his studied and somewhat affected refinement in all +things, made Chopin the model professor of the fashionable +nobility." Thus Chopin is described by a contemporary. Now he +shall describe himself. An undated letter addressed to his friend +Dominic Dziewanowski, which, judging from an allusion to the +death of the Princess Vaudemont, [FOOTNOTE: In a necrology +contained in the Moniteur of January 6, 1833, she is praised for +the justesse de son esprit, and described as naive et vraie comme +une femme du peuple, genereuse comme une grande dame. There we +find it also recorded that she saved M. de Vitrolles pendant les +Cent-jours, et M. de Lavalette sous la Restoration.] must have +been written about the second week of January, 1833, gives much +interesting information concerning the writer's tastes and +manners, the degree of success he had obtained, and the kind of +life he was leading. After some jocular remarks on his long +silence--remarks in which he alludes to recollections of +Szafarnia and the sincerity of their friendship, and which he +concludes with the statement that he is so much in demand on all +sides as to betorn to pieces--Chopin proceeds thus:-- + + I move in the highest society--among ambassadors, princes, + and ministers; and I don't know how I got there, for I did + not thrust myself forward at all. But for me this is at + present an absolute necessity, for thence comes, as it were, + good taste. You are at once credited with more talent if you + are heard at a soiree of the English or Austrian + Ambassador's. Your playing is finer if the Princess Vaudemont + patronises you. "Patronises" I cannot properly say, for the + good old woman died a week ago. She was a lady who reminded + me of the late Kasztelanowa Polaniecka, received at her house + the whole Court, was very charitable, and gave refuge to many + aristocrats in the days of terror of the first revolution. + She was the first who presented herself after the days of + July at the Court of Louis Philippe, although she belonged to + the Montmorency family (the elder branch), whose last + descendant she was. She had always a number of black and + white pet dogs, canaries, and parrots about her; and + possessed also a very droll little monkey, which was + permitted even to...bite countesses and princesses. + + Among the Paris artists I enjoy general esteem and + friendship, although I have been here only a year. A proof of + this is that men of great reputation dedicate their + compositions to me, and do so even before I have paid them + the same compliment--for instance, Pixis his last Variations + for orchestra. He is now even composing variations on a theme + of mine. Kalkbrenner improvises frequently on my mazurkas. + Pupils of the Conservatoire, nay, even private pupils of + Moscheles, Herz, and Kalkbrenner (consequently clever + artists), still take lessons from me, and regard me as the + equal of Field. Really, if I were somewhat more silly than I + am, I might imagine myself already a finished artist; + nevertheless, I feel daily how much I have still to learn, + and become the more conscious of it through my intercourse + with the first artists here, and my perception of what every + one, even of them, is lacking in. But I am quite ashamed of + myself for what I have written just now, having praised + myself like a child. I would erase it, but I have no time to + write another letter. Moreover, you will remember my + character as it formerly was; indeed, I have remained quite + the same, only with this one difference, that I have now + whiskers on one side--unfortunately they won't grow at all on + the other side. To-day I have to give five lessons; you will + imagine that I must soon have made a fortune, but the + cabriolet and the white gloves eat the earnings almost up, + and without these things people would deny my bon ton. I love + the Carlists, hate the Philippists, and am myself a + revolutionist; therefore I don't care for money, but only for + friendship, for the preservation of which I earnestly entreat + you. + +This letter, and still more the letters which I shall presently +transcribe, afford irrefragable evidence of the baselessness of +the often-heard statement that Chopin's intercourse was in the +first years of his settlement in Paris confined to the Polish +salons. The simple unexaggerated truth is that Chopin had always +a predilection for, and felt more at home among, his compatriots. + +In the winter 1832-1833 Chopin was heard frequently in public. At +a concert of Killer's (December 15, 1832) he performed with Liszt +and the concert-giver a movement of Bach's Concerto for three +pianos, the three artists rendering the piece "avec une +intelligence de son caractere et une delicatesse parfaite." Soon +after Chopin and Liszt played between the acts of a dramatic +performance got up for the benefit of Miss Smithson, the English +actress and bankrupt manager, Berlioz's flame, heroine of his +"Episode de la vie d'un artiste," and before long his wife. On +April 3, 1833, Chopin assisted at a concert given by the brothers +Herz, taking part along with them and Liszt in a quartet for +eight hands on two pianos. M. Marmontel, in his silhouette of the +pianist and critic Amedee de Mereaux, mentions that in 1832 this +artist twice played with Chopin a duo of his own on "Le Pre aux +Clercs," but leaves us in uncertainty as to whether they +performed it at public concerts or private parties. M. Franchomme +told me that he remembered something about a concert given by +Chopin in 1833 at the house of one of his aristocratic friends, +perhaps at Madame la Marechale de Lannes's! In summing up, as it +were, Chopin's activity as a virtuoso, I may make use of the +words of the Paris correspondent of the "Allgemeine musikalische +Zeitung," who reports in April, 1833, that "Chopin and Osborne, +as well as the other celebrated masters, delight the public +frequently." In short, Chopin was becoming more and more of a +favourite, not, however, of the democracy of large concert-halls, +but of the aristocracy of select salons. + +The following letter addressed to Hiller, written by Chopin and +Liszt, and signed by them and Franchomme, brings together +Chopin's most intimate artist friends, and spreads out before us +a vivid picture of their good fellowship and the society in which +they moved. I have put the portions written by Liszt within +brackets [within parentheses in this e-text]. Thus the reader +will see what belongs to each of the two writers, and how they +took the pen out of each other's hand in the middle of a phrase +and even of a word. With regard to this letter I have further to +remark that Hiller, who was again in Germany, had lately lost his +father:-- + + {This is at least the twentieth time that we have made + arrangements to meet, sometimes at my house, sometimes here, + [Footnote: At Chopin's lodgings mentioned farther on.] with + the intention of writing to you, and some visit, or other + unexpected hindrance, has always prevented us from doing + so!...I don't know whether Chopin will be able to make any + excuses to you; as regards myself it seems to me that we have + been so excessively rude and impertinent that excuses are no + longer either admissible or possible. + + We have sympathised deeply with you in your sorrow, and + longed to be with you in order to alleviate as much as + possible the pangs of your heart.} + + He has expressed himself so well that I have nothing to add + in excuse of my negligence or idleness, influenza or + distraction, or, or, or--you know I explain myself better in + person; and when I escort you home to your mother's house + this autumn, late at night along the boulevards, I shall try + to obtain your pardon. I write to you without knowing what my + pen is scribbling, because Liszt is at this moment playing my + studies and transports me out of my proper senses. I should + like to rob him of his way of rendering my own studies. As to + your friends who are in Paris, I have seen the Leo family and + their set [Footnote: Chopin's words are et qui s'en suit.' He + refers, no doubt, to the Valentin family, relations of the + Leos, who lived in the same house with them.] frequently this + winter and spring. There have been some soirees at the houses + of certain ambassadresses, and there was not one in which + mention was not made of some one who is at Frankfort. Madame + Eichthal sends you a thousand compliments. The whole Plater + family were much grieved at your departure, and asked me to + express to you their sympathy. (Madame d'Appony has quite a + grudge against me for not having taken you to her house + before your departure; she hopes that when you return you + will remember the promise you made me. I may say as much from + a certain lady who is not an ambassadress. [Footnote: This + certain lady was the Countess d'Agoult.] + + Do you know Chopin's wonderful studies?) They are admirable-- + and yet they will only last till the moment yours appear (a + little bit of authorial modesty!!!). A little bit of rudeness + on the part of the tutor--for, to explain the matter better + to you, he corrects my orthographical mistakes (after the + fashion of M. Marlet. + + You will come back to us in the month of September, will you + not? Try to let us know the day as we have resolved to give + you a serenade (or charivari). The most distinguished artists + of the capital--M. Franchomme (present), Madame Petzold, and + the Abbe Bardin, the coryphees of the Rue d'Amboise (and my + neighbours), Maurice Schlesinger, uncles, aunts, nephews, + nieces, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, &c., &c.) en plan du + troisieme, &c. [Footnote: I give the last words in the + original French, because I am not sure of their meaning. + Hiller, to whom I applied for an explanation, was unable to + help me. Perhaps Chopin uses here the word plan in the + pictorial sense (premier plan, foreground; second plan, + middle distance).] + + The responsible editors, + + (F. LISZT.) F. CHOPIN. (Aug. FRANCHOMME.) + + A Propos, I met Heine yesterday, who asked me to grussen you + herzlich und herzlich. [Footnote: To greet you heartily and + heartily.] A propos again, pardon me for all the "you's"--I + beg you to forgive me them. If you have a moment to spare let + us have news of you, which is very precious to us. + + Paris: Rue de la Chaussee d'Antin, No. 5. + + At present I occupy Franck's lodgings--he has set out for + London and Berlin; I feel quite at home in the rooms which + were so often our place of meeting. Berlioz embraces you. As + to pere Baillot, he is in Switzerland, at Geneva, and so you + will understand why I cannot send you Bach's Concerto. + + June 20, 1833. + +Some of the names that appear in this letter will give occasion +for comment. Chopin, as Hiller informed me, went frequently to +the ambassadors Appony and Von Kilmannsegge, and still more +frequently to his compatriots, the Platers. At the house of the +latter much good music was performed, for the countess, the Pani +Kasztelanowa (the wife of the castellan), to whom Liszt devotes +an eloquent encomium, "knew how to welcome so as to encourage all +the talents that then promised to take their upward flight and +form une lumineuse pleiade," being + + in turn fairy, nurse, godmother, guardian angel, delicate + benefactress, knowing all that threatens, divining all that + saves, she was to each of us an amiable protectress, equally + beloved and respected, who enlightened, warmed, and elevated + his [Chopin's] inspiration, and left a blank in his life when + she was no more. + +It was she who said one day to Chopin: "Si j'etais jeune et +jolie, mon petit Chopin, je te prendrais pour mari, Hiller pour +ami, et Liszt pour amant." And it was at her house that the +interesting contention of Chopin with Liszt and Hiller took +place. The Hungarian and the German having denied the assertion +of the Pole that only he who was born and bred in Poland, only he +who had breathed the perfume of her fields and woods, could fully +comprehend with heart and mind Polish national music, the three +agreed to play in turn, by way of experiment, the mazurka "Poland +is not lost yet." Liszt began, Hiller followed, and Chopin came +last and carried off the palm, his rivals admitting that they had +not seized the true spirit of the music as he had done. Another +anecdote, told me by Hiller, shows how intimate the Polish artist +was with this family of compatriots, the Platers, and what +strange whims he sometimes gave way to. One day Chopin came into +the salon acting the part of Pierrot, and, after jumping and +dancing about for an hour, left without having spoken a single +word. + +Abbe Bardin was a great musical amateur, at whose weekly +afternoon gatherings the best artists might be seen and heard, +Mendelssohn among the rest when he was in Paris in 1832-1833. In +one of the many obituary notices of Chopin which appeared in +French and other papers, and which are in no wise distinguished +by their trustworthiness, I found the remark that the Abbe Bardin +and M.M. Tilmant freres were the first to recognise Chopin's +genius. The notice in question is to be found in the Chronique +Musicale of November 3, 1849. + +In Franck, whose lodgings Chopin had taken, the reader will +recognise the "clever [geistreiche], musical Dr. Hermann Franck," +the friend of many musical and other celebrities, the same with +whom Mendelssohn used to play at chess during his stay in Paris. +From Hiller I learned that Franck was very musical, and that his +attainments in the natural sciences were considerable; but that +being well-to-do he was without a profession. In the fifth decade +of this century he edited for a year Brockhaus's Deutsche +allgemeine Zeitung. + +In the following letter which Chopin wrote to Franchomme--the +latter thinks in the autumn of 1833--we meet with some new names. +Dr. Hoffmann was a good friend of the composer's, and was +frequently found at his rooms smoking. I take him to have been +the well-known litterateur Charles Alexander Hoffmann, [Footnote: +This is the usual German, French, and English spelling. The +correct Polish spelling is Hofman. The forms Hoffman and Hofmann +occur likewise.] the husband of Clementina Tanska, a Polish +refugee who came to Paris in 1832 and continued to reside there +till 1848. Maurice is of course Schlesinger the publisher. Of +Smitkowski I know only that he was one of Chopin's Polish +friends, whose list is pretty long and comprised among others +Prince Casimir Lubomirski, Grzymala, Fontana, and Orda. + +[Footnote: Of Grzymala and Fontana more will be heard in the +sequel. Prince Casimir Lubomirski was a passionate lover of +music, and published various compositions. Liszt writes that +Orda, "who seemed to command a future," was killed at the age of +twenty in Algiers. Karasowski gives the same information, +omitting, however, the age. My inquiries about Orda among French +musicians and Poles have had no result. Although the data do not +tally with those of Liszt and Karasowski, one is tempted to +identify Chopin's friend with the Napoleon Orda mentioned in +Sowinski's Musiciens polonais et slaves--"A pianist-composer who +had made himself known since the events of 1831. One owes to him +the publication of a Polish Album devoted to the composers of +this nation, published at Paris in 1838. M. Orda is the author of +several elegantly-written pianoforte works." In a memoir prefixed +to an edition of Chopin's mazurkas and waltzes (Boosey & Co.), +J.W. Davison mentions a M. Orda (the "M." stands, I suppose, for +Monsieur) and Charles Filtsch as pupils of Chopin.] + +It was well for Chopin that he was so abundantly provided with +friends, for, as Hiller told me, he could not do without company. +But here is Chopin's letter to Franchomme:-- + + Begun on Saturday, the 14th, and finished on Wednesday, the + 18th. + + DEAR FRIEND,--It would be useless to excuse myself for my + silence. If my thoughts could but go without paper to the + post-office! However, you know me too well not to know that + I, unfortunately, never do what I ought to do. I got here + very comfortably (except for a little disagreeable episode, + caused by an excessively odoriferous gentleman who went as + far as Chartres--he surprised me in the night-time). I have + found more occupation in Paris than I left behind me, which + will, without doubt, hinder me from visiting you at Coteau. + Coteau! oh Coteau! Say, my child, to the whole family at + Coteau that I shall never forget my stay in Touraine--that so + much kindness has made me for ever grateful. People think I + am stouter and look very well, and I feel wonderfully well, + thanks to the ladies that sat beside me at dinner, who + bestowed truly maternal attentions upon me. When I think of + all this the whole appears to me such an agreeable dream that + I should like to sleep again. And the peasant-girls of + Pormic! [FOOTNOTE: A village near the place where Chopin had + been staying.] and the flour! or rather your graceful nose + which you were obliged to plunge into it. + + [FOOTNOTE: The remark about the "flour" and Franchomme's "nez + en forme gracieuse" is an allusion to some childish game in + which Chopin, thanks to his aquiline nose, got the better of + his friend, who as regards this feature was less liberally + endowed.] + + A very interesting visit has interrupted my letter, which was + begun three days ago, and which I have not been able to + finish till to-day. + + Hiller embraces you, Maurice, and everybody. I have delivered + your note to his brother, whom I did not find at home. + + Paer, whom I saw a few days ago, spoke to me of your return. + Come back to us stout and in good health like me. Again a + thousand messages to the estimable Forest family. I have + neither words nor powers to express all I feel for them. + Excuse me. Shake hands with me--I pat you on the shoulder--I + hug you--I embrace you. My friend--au revoir. + + Hoffmann, the stout Hoffmann, and the slim Smitkowski also, + embrace you. + + [FOOTNOTE: The orthography of the French original is very + careless. Thus one finds frequent omissions and misplacements + of accents and numerous misspellings, such as trouvais + instead of trouve, engresse instead of engraisse, plonge + instead of plonger. Of course, these mistakes have to be + ascribed to negligence not to ignorance. I must mention yet + another point which the English translation does not bring + out--namely, that in addressing Franchomme Chopin makes use + of the familiar form of the second person singular.] + +The last-quoted letter adds a few more touches to the portraiture +of Chopin which has been in progress in the preceding pages. The +insinuating affectionateness and winning playfulness had hitherto +not been brought out so distinctly. There was then, and there +remained to the end of his life, something of a woman and of a +boy in this man. The sentimental element is almost wholly absent +from Chopin's letters to his non-Polish friends. Even to +Franchomme, the most intimate among these, he shows not only less +of his inmost feelings and thoughts than to Titus Woyciechowski +and John Matuszyriski, the friends of his youth, but also less +than to others of his countrymen whose acquaintance he made later +in life, and of whom Grzymala may be instanced. Ready to give +everything, says Liszt, Chopin did not give himself-- + + his most intimate acquaintances did not penetrate into the + sacred recess where, apart from the rest of his life, dwelt + the secret spring of his soul: a recess so well concealed + that one hardly suspected its existence. + +Indeed, you could as little get hold of Chopin as, to use L. +Enault's expression, of the scaly back of a siren. Only after +reading his letters to the few confidants to whom he freely gave +his whole self do we know how little of himself he gave to the +generality of his friends, whom he pays off with affectionateness +and playfulness, and who, perhaps, never suspected, or only +suspected, what lay beneath that smooth surface. This kind of +reserve is a feature of the Slavonic character, which in Chopin's +individuality was unusually developed. + + The Slavonians [says Enault pithily] lend themselves, they do + not give themselves; and, as if Chopin had wished to make his + country-men pardon him the French origin of his family, he + showed himself more Polish than Poland. + +Liszt makes some very interesting remarks on this point, and as +they throw much light on the character of the race, and on that +of the individual with whom we are especially concerned in this +book, I shall quote them:-- + + With the Slavonians, the loyalty and frankness, the + familiarity and captivating desinvoltura of their manners, do + not in the least imply trust and effusiveness. Their feelings + reveal and conceal themselves like the coils of a serpent + convoluted upon itself; it is only by a very attentive + examination that one discovers the connection of the rings. + It would be naive to take their complimentary politeness, + their pretended modesty literally. The forms of this + politeness and this modesty belong to their manners, which + bear distinct traces of their ancient relations with the + East. Without being in the least infected by Mussulmanic + taciturnity, the Slavonians have learned from it a defiant + reserve on all subjects which touch the intimate chords of + the heart. One may be almost certain that, in speaking of + themselves, they maintain with regard to their interlocutor + some reticence which assures them over him an advantage of + intelligence or of feeling, leaving him in ignorance of some + circumstance or some secret motive by which they would be the + most admired or the least esteemed; they delight in hiding + themselves behind a cunning interrogatory smile of + imperceptible mockery. Having on every occasion a taste for + the pleasure of mystification, from the most witty and droll + to the most bitter and lugubrious kinds, one would say that + they see in this mocking deceit a form of disdain for the + superiority which they inwardly adjudge to themselves, but + which they veil with the care and cunning of the oppressed. + +And now we will turn our attention once more to musical matters. +In the letter to Hiller (August 2, 1832) Chopin mentioned the +coming of Field and Moscheles, to which, no doubt, he looked +forward with curiosity. They were the only eminent pianists whom +he had not yet heard. Moscheles, however, seems not to have gone +this winter to Paris; at any rate, his personal acquaintance with +the Polish artist did not begin till 1839. Chopin, whose playing +had so often reminded people of Field's, and who had again and +again been called a pupil of his, would naturally take a +particular interest in this pianist. Moreover, he esteemed him +very highly as a composer. Mikuli tells us that Field's A flat +Concerto and nocturnes were among those compositions which he +delighted in playing (spielte mit Vorliebe). Kalkbrenner is +reported [FOOTNOTE: In the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung of +April 3, 1833.] to have characterised Field's performances as +quite novel and incredible; and Fetis, who speaks of them in the +highest terms, relates that on hearing the pianist play a +concerto of his own composition, the public manifested an +indescribable enthusiasm, a real delirium. Not all accounts, +however, are equally favourable. + +[FOOTNOTE: In the Revue musicale of December 29, 1832. The +criticism is worth reproducing:--"Quiconque n'a point entendu ce +grand pianiste ne peut se faire d'idee du mecanisme admirable de +ses doigts, mecanisme tel que les plus grandes difficultes +semblent etre des choses fort simples, et que sa main n'a point +l'air de se mouvoir. Il n'est d'ailleurs pas mains etonnant dans +l'art d'attaquer la note et de varier a l'infini les diverses +nuances de force, de douceur et d'accent. Un enthousiasme +impossible a decrire, un veritable delire s'est manifeste dans le +public a l'audition de ce concerto plein de charme rendu avec une +perfection de fini, de precision, de nettete et d'expression +qu'il serait impossible de surpasser et que bien peu de pianistes +pourraient egaler." Of a MS. concerto played by Field at his +second concert, given on February 3, 1833, Fetis says that it is +"diffus, peu riche en motifs heureux, peu digne, en un mot, de la +renommee de son auteur," but "la delicieuse execution de M. Field +nous a tres-heureusement servi de compensation"] + +Indeed, the contradictory criticisms to be met with in books and +newspapers leave on the reader the impression that Field +disappointed the expectations raised by his fame. The fact that +the second concert he gave was less well attended than the first +cannot but confirm this impression. He was probably no longer +what he had been; and the reigning pianoforte style and musical +taste were certainly no longer what they had been. "His elegant +playing and beautiful manner of singing on the piano made people +admire his talent," wrote Fetis at a later period (in his +"Biographie universelle des Musiciens"), "although his execution +had not the power of the pianists of the modern school." It is +not at all surprising that the general public and the younger +generation of artists, more especially the romanticists, were not +unanimously moved to unbounded enthusiasm by "the clear limpid +flow" and "almost somnolent tranquillity" of Field's playing, +"the placid tenderness, graceful candour, and charming +ingenuousness of his melodious reveries." This characterisation +of Field's style is taken from Liszt's preface to the nocturnes. +Moscheles, with whom Field dined in London shortly before the +latter's visit to Paris, gives in his diary a by no means +flattering account of him. Of the man, the diarist says that he +is good-natured but not educated and rather droll, and that there +cannot be a more glaring contrast than that between Field's +nocturnes and Field's manners, which were often cynical. Of the +artist, Moscheles remarks that while his touch was admirable and +his legato entrancing, his playing lacked spirit and accent, +light and shadow, and depth of feeling. M. Marmontel was not far +wrong when, before having heard Field, he regarded him as the +forerunner of Chopin, as a Chopin without his passion, sombre +reveries, heart-throes, and morbidity. The opinions which the two +artists had of each other and the degree of their mutual sympathy +and antipathy may be easily guessed. We are, however, not put to +the trouble of guessing all. Whoever has read anything about +Chopin knows of course Field's criticism of him--namely, that he +was "un talent de chambre de malade," which, by the by, reminds +one of a remark of Auber's, who said that Chopin was dying all +his life (il se meurt tonte sa vie). It is a pity that we have +not, as a pendant to Field's criticism on Chopin, one of Chopin +on Field. But whatever impression Chopin may have received from +the artist, he cannot but have been repelled by the man. And yet +the older artist's natural disposition was congenial to that of +the younger one, only intemperate habits had vitiated it. Spohr +saw Field in 1802-1803, and describes him as a pale, overgrown +youth, whose dreamy, melancholy playing made people forget his +awkward bearing and badly-fitting clothes. One who knew Field at +the time of his first successes portrays him as a young man with +blonde hair, blue eyes, fair complexion, and pleasing features, +expressive of the mood of the moment--of child-like +ingenuousness, modest good-nature, gentle roguishness, and +artistic aspiration. M. Marmontel, who made his acquaintance in +1832, represents him as a worn-out, vulgar-looking man of fifty, +whose outward appearance contrasted painfully with his artistic +performances, and whose heavy, thick-set form in conjunction with +the delicacy and dreaminess of his musical thoughts and execution +called to mind Rossini's saying of a celebrated singer, "Elle a +l'air d'un elephant qui aurait avale un rossignol." One can +easily imagine the surprise and disillusion of the four pupils of +Zimmermann--MM. Marmontel, Prudent, A. Petit, and Chollet--who, +provided with a letter of introduction by their master, called on +Field soon after his arrival in Paris and beheld the great +pianist-- + + in a room filled with tobacco smoke, sitting in an easy + chair, an enormous pipe in his mouth, surrounded by large and + small bottles of all sorts [entoure de chopes et bouteilles + de toutes provenances]. His rather large head, his highly- + coloured cheeks, his heavy features gave a Falstaff-like + appearance to his physiognomy. + +Notwithstanding his tipsiness, he received the young gentlemen +kindly, and played to them two studies by Cramer and Clementi +"with rare perfection, admirable finish, marvellous agility, and +exquisiteness of touch." Many anecdotes might be told of Field's +indolence and nonchalance; for instance, how he often fell asleep +while giving his lessons, and on one occasion was asked whether +he thought he was paid twenty roubles for allowing himself to be +played to sleep; or, how, when his walking-stick had slipped out +of his hand, he waited till some one came and picked it up; or, +how, on finding his dress-boots rather tight, he put on slippers, +and thus appeared in one of the first salons of Paris and was led +by the mistress of the house, the Duchess Decazes, to the piano-- +but I have said enough of the artist who is so often named in +connection with Chopin. + +From placid Field to volcanic Berlioz is an enormous distance, +which, however, we will clear at one leap, and do it too without +hesitation or difficulty. For is not leaping the mind's natural +mode of locomotion, and walking an artificially-acquired and rare +accomplishment? Proceeding step by step we move only with more or +less awkwardness, but aided by ever so slight an association of +ideas we bound with the greatest ease from any point to any other +point of infinitude. Berlioz returned to Paris in the latter part +of 1832, and on the ninth of December of that year gave a concert +at which he produced among other works his "Episode de la vie +d'un artiste" (Part I.--"Symphonic fantastique," for the second +time; Part II--"Lelio, ou le retour a la vie," for the first +time), the subject of which is the history of his love for Miss +Smithson. Chopin, no doubt, made Berlioz's acquaintance through +Liszt, whose friendship with the great French symphonic composer +dated from before the latter's departure for Italy. The +characters of Chopin and Berlioz differed too much for a deep +sympathy to exist between them; their connection was indeed +hardly more than a pleasant social companionship. Liszt tells us +that the constant intercourse with Berlioz, Hiller, and other +celebrities who were in the habit of saying smart things, +developed Chopin's natural talent for incisive remarks, ironical +answers, and ambiguous speeches. Berlioz. I think, had more +affection for Chopin than the latter for Berlioz. + +But it is much more the artistic than the social attitude taken +up by Chopin towards Berlioz and romanticism which interests us. +Has Liszt correctly represented it? Let us see. It may be +accepted as in the main true that the nocturnes of Field, +[Footnote: In connection with this, however, Mikuli's remark has +to be remembered.] the sonatas of Dussek, and the "noisy +virtuosities and decorative expressivities" of Kalkbrenner were +either insufficient for or antipathetic to Chopin; and it is +plainly evident that he was one of those who most perseveringly +endeavoured to free themselves from the servile formulas of the +conventional style and repudiated the charlatanisms that only +replace old abuses by new ones. On the other hand, it cannot be +said that he joined unreservedly those who, seeing the fire of +talent devour imperceptibly the old worm-eaten scaffolding, +attached themselves to the school of which Berlioz was the most +gifted, valiant, and daring representative, nor that, as long as +the campaign of romanticism lasted, he remained invariable in his +predilections and repugnances. The promptings of his genius +taught Chopin that the practice of any one author or set of +authors, whatever their excellence might be, ought not to be an +obligatory rule for their successors. But while his individual +requirements led him to disregard use and wont, his individual +taste set up a very exclusive standard of his own. He adopted the +maxims of the romanticists, but disapproved of almost all the +works of art in which they were embodied. Or rather, he adopted +their negative teaching, and like them broke and threw off the +trammels of dead formulas; but at the same time he rejected their +positive teaching, and walked apart from them. Chopin's +repugnance was not confined only to the frantic side and the +delirious excesses of romanticism as Liszt thinks. He presents to +us the strange spectacle of a thoroughly romantic and +emphatically unclassical composer who has no sympathy either with +Berlioz and Liszt, or with Schumann and other leaders of +romanticism, and the object of whose constant and ardent love and +admiration was Mozart, the purest type of classicism. But the +romantic, which Jean Paul Richter defined as "the beautiful +without limitation, or the beautiful infinite" [das Schone ohne +Begrenzung, oder das schone Unendliche], affords more scope for +wide divergence, and allows greater freedom in the display of +individual and national differences, than the classical. + +Chopin's and Berlioz's relative positions may be compared to +those of V. Hugo and Alfred de Musset, both of whom were +undeniably romanticists, and yet as unlike as two authors can be. +For a time Chopin was carried away by Liszt's and Killer's +enthusiasm for Berlioz, but he soon retired from his +championship, as Musset from the Cenacle. Franchomme thought this +took place in 1833, but perhaps he antedated this change of +opinion. At any rate, Chopin told him that he had expected better +things from Berlioz, and declared that the latter's music +justified any man in breaking off all friendship with him. Some +years afterwards, when conversing with his pupil Gutmann about +Berlioz, Chopin took up a pen, bent back the point of it, and +then let it rebound, saying: "This is the way Berlioz composes-- +he sputters the ink over the pages of ruled paper, and the result +is as chance wills it." Chopin did not like the works of Victor +Hugo, because he felt them to be too coarse and violent. And this +may also have been his opinion of Berlioz's works. No doubt he +spurned Voltaire's maxim, "Le gout n'est autre chose pour la +poesie que ce qu'il est pour les ajustements des femmes," and +embraced V. Hugo's countermaxim, "Le gout c'est la raison du +genie"; but his delicate, beauty-loving nature could feel nothing +but disgust at what has been called the rehabilitation of the +ugly, at such creations, for instance, as Le Roi s'amuse and +Lucrece Borgia, of which, according to their author's own +declaration, this is the essence:-- + + Take the most hideous, repulsive, and complete physical + deformity; place it where it stands out most prominently, in + the lowest, most subterraneous and despised story of the + social edifice; illuminate this miserable creature on all + sides by the sinister light of contrasts; and then give it a + soul, and place in that soul the purest feeling which is + bestowed on man, the paternal feeling. What will be the + result? This sublime feeling, intensified according to + certain conditions, will transform under your eyes the + degraded creature; the little being will become great; the + deformed being will become beautiful.--Take the most hideous, + repulsive, and complete moral deformity; place it where it + stands out most prominently, in the heart of a woman, with + all the conditions of physical beauty and royal grandeur + which give prominence to crime; and now mix with all this + moral deformity a pure feeling, the purest which woman can + feel, the maternal feeling; place a mother in your monster + and the monster will interest you, and the monster will make + you weep, and this creature which caused fear will cause + pity, and this deformed soul will become almost beautiful in + your eyes. Thus we have in Le Roi s'amuse paternity + sanctifying physical deformity; and in Lucrece Borgia + maternity purifying moral deformity. [FOOTNOTE: from Victor + Hugo's preface to "Lucrece Borgia."] + +In fact, Chopin assimilated nothing or infinitely little of the +ideas that were surging around him. His ambition was, as he +confided to his friend Hiller, to become to his countrymen as a +musician what Uhland was to the Germans as a poet. Nevertheless, +the intellectual activity of the French capital and its +tendencies had a considerable influence on Chopin. They +strengthened the spirit of independence in him, and were potent +impulses that helped to unfold his individuality in all its width +and depth. The intensification of thought and feeling, and the +greater fulness and compactness of his pianoforte style in his +Parisian compositions, cannot escape the attentive observer. The +artist who contributed the largest quotum of force to this +impulse was probably Liszt, whose fiery passions, indomitable +energy, soaring enthusiasm, universal tastes, and capacity of +assimilation, mark him out as the very opposite of Chopin. But, +although the latter was undoubtedly stimulated by Liszt's style +of playing the piano and of writing for this instrument, it is +not so certain as Miss L. Ramann, Liszt's biographer, thinks, +that this master's influence can be discovered in many passages +of Chopin's music which are distinguished by a fiery and +passionate expression, and resemble rather a strong, swelling +torrent than a gently-gliding rivulet. She instances Nos. 9 and +12 of "Douze Etudes," Op. 10; Nos. 11 and 12 of "Douze Etudes," +Op. 25; No. 24 of "Vingt-quatre Preludes," Op. 28; "Premier +Scherzo," Op. 20; "Polonaise" in A flat major, Op. 53; and the +close of the "Nocturne" in A flat major, Op. 32. All these +compositions, we are told, exhibit Liszt's style and mode of +feeling. Now, the works composed by Chopin before he came to +Paris and got acquainted with Liszt comprise not only a sonata, a +trio, two concertos, variations, polonaises, waltzes, mazurkas, +one or more nocturnes, &c., but also--and this is for the +question under consideration of great importance--most of, if not +all, the studies of Op. 10, [FOOTNOTE: Sowinski says that Chopin +brought with him to Paris the MS. of the first book of his +studies.] and some of Op. 25; and these works prove decisively +the inconclusiveness of the lady's argument. The twelfth study of +Op. 10 (composed in September, 1831) invalidates all she says +about fire, passion, and rushing torrents. In fact, no cogent +reason can be given why the works mentioned by her should not be +the outcome of unaided development.[FOONOTE: That is to say, +development not aided in the way indicated by Miss Ramann. +Development can never be absolutely unaided; it always +presupposes conditions--external or internal, physical or +psychical, moral or intellectual--which induce and promote it. +What is here said may be compared with the remarks about style +and individuality on p. 214.] The first Scherzo alone might make +us pause and ask whether the new features that present themselves +in it ought not to be fathered on Liszt. But seeing that Chopin +evolved so much, why should he not also have evolved this? +Moreover, we must keep in mind that Liszt had, up to 1831, +composed almost nothing of what in after years was considered +either by him or others of much moment, and that his pianoforte +style had first to pass through the state of fermentation into +which Paganini's, playing had precipitated it (in the spring of +1831) before it was formed; on the other hand, Chopin arrived in +Paris with his portfolios full of masterpieces, and in possession +of a style of his own, as a player of his instrument as well as a +writer for it. That both learned from each other cannot be +doubted; but the exact gain of each is less easily determinable. +Nevertheless, I think I may venture to assert that whatever be +the extent of Chopin's indebtedness to Liszt, the latter's +indebtedness to the former is greater. The tracing of an +influence in the works of a man of genius, who, of course, +neither slavishly imitates nor flagrantly appropriates, is one of +the most difficult tasks. If Miss Ramann had first noted the +works produced by the two composers in question before their +acquaintance began, and had carefully examined Chopin's early +productions with a view to ascertain his capability of growth, +she would have come to another conclusion, or, at least, have +spoken less confidently. [FOOTNOTE: Schumann, who in 1839 +attempted to give a history of Liszt's development (in the "Neue +Zeitschrift fur Musik"), remarked that when Liszt, on the one +hand, was brooding over the most gloomy fancies, and indifferent, +nay, even blase, and, on the other hand, laughing and madly +daring, indulged in the most extravagant virtuoso tricks, "the +sight of Chopin, it seems, first brought him again to his +senses."] + +It was not till 1833 that Chopin became known to the musical +world as a composer. For up to that time the "Variations," Op. 2, +published in 1830, was the only work in circulation; the +compositions previously published in Warsaw--the "Rondo," Op. 1, +and the "Rondeau a la Mazur," Op. 5--may be left out of account, +as they did not pass beyond the frontier of Poland till several +years afterwards, when they were published elsewhere. After the +publication, in December, 1832, of Op. 6, "Quatre Mazurkas," +dedicated to Mdlle. la Comtesse Pauline Plater, and Op. 7, "Cinq +Mazurkas," dedicated to Mr. Johns, Chopin's compositions made +their appearance in quick succession. In the year 1833 were +published: in January, Op. 9, "Trois Nocturnes," dedicated to +Mdme. Camille Pleyel; in March, Op. 8, "Premier Trio," dedicated +to M. le Prince Antoine Radziwill; in July, Op. 10, "Douze +Grandes Etudes," dedicated to Mr. Fr. Liszt; and Op. 11, "Grand +Concerto" (in E minor), dedicated to Mr. Fr. Kalkbrenner; and in +November, Op. 12, "Variations brillantes" (in B flat major), +dedicated to Mdlle. Emma Horsford. In 1834 were published: in +January, Op. 15, "Trois Nocturnes," dedicated to Mr. Ferd. +Hiller; in March, Op. 16, "Rondeau" (in E flat major), dedicated +to Mdlle. Caroline Hartmann; in April, Op. 13, "Grande Fantaisie +sur des airs polonais," dedicated to Mr. J. P. Pixis; and in May, +Op. 17, "Quatre Mazurkas," dedicated to Mdme. Lina Freppa; in +June, Op. 14, "Krakowiak, grand Rondeau de Concert," dedicated to +Mdme. la Princesse Adam Czartoryska; and Op. 18, "Grande Valse +brillante," dedicated to Mdlle. Laura Horsford; and in October, +Op. 19, "Bolero" (in C major), dedicated to Mdme. la Comtesse E. +de Flahault. [FOOTNOTE: The dates given are those when the +pieces, as far as I could ascertain, were first heard of as +published. For further information see "List of Works" at the end +of the second volume, where my sources of information are +mentioned, and the divergences of the different original +editions, as regards time of publication, are indicated.] + +The "Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung" notices several of Chopin's +compositions with great praise in the course of 1833; in the year +after the notices became more frequent. But the critic who +follows Chopin's publications with the greatest attention and +discusses them most fully is Rellstab, the editor of the Iris. +Unfortunately, he is not at all favourably inclined towards the +composer. He occasionally doles out a little praise, but usually +shows himself a spendthrift in censure and abuse. His most +frequent complaints are that Chopin strives too much after +originality, and that his music is unnecessarily difficult for +the hands. A few specimens of Rellstab's criticism may not be out +of place here. Of the "Mazurkas," Op. 7, he says:-- + + In the dances before us the author satisfies the passion [of + writing affectedly and unnaturally] to a loathsome excess. He + is indefatigable, and I might say inexhaustible [sic], in his + search for ear-splitting discords, forced transitions, harsh + modulations, ugly distortions of melody and rhythm. + Everything it is possible to think of is raked up to produce + the effect of odd originality, but especially strange keys, + the most unnatural positions of chords, the most perverse + combinations with regard to fingering. + +After some more discussion of the same nature, he concludes thus:- +- + + If Mr. Chopin had shown this composition to a master, the + latter would, it is to be hoped, have torn it and thrown it + at his feet, which we hereby do symbolically. + +In his review of the "Trois Nocturnes," Op. 9, occurs the +following pretty passage:-- + + Where Field smiles, Chopin makes a grinning grimace: where + Field sighs, Chopin groans; where Field shrugs his shoulders, + Chopin twists his whole body; where Field puts some seasoning + into the food, Chopin empties a handful of Cayenne + pepper...In short, if one holds Field's charming romances + before a distorting concave mirror, so that every delicate + expression becomes coarse, one gets Chopin's work...We + implore Mr. Chopin to return to nature. + +I shall quote one more sentence; it is from a notice of the +"Douze Etudes," Op. 10:-- + + Those who have distorted fingers may put them right by + practising these studies; but those who have not, should not + play them, at least, not without having a surgeon at hand. + + [FOOTNOTE: In the number of the Iris in which this criticism + appeared (No. 5 of Vol. V., 1834 Rellstab inserts the + following letter, which he says he received from Leipzig:-- + + "P. P. + + "You are really a very bad man, and not worthy that God's + earth either knows (sic) or bears you. The King of Prussia + should have imprisoned you in a fortress; in that case he + would have removed from the world a rebel, a disturber of the + peace, and an infamous enemy of humanity, who probably will + yet be choked in his own blood. I have noticed a great number + of enemies, not only in Berlin, but in all towns which I + visited last summer on my artistic tour, especially very many + here in Leipzig, where I inform you of this, in order--that + you may in future change your disposition, and not act so + uncharitably towards others. Another bad, bad trick, and you + are done for! Do you understand me, you little man, you + loveless and partial dog of a critic, you musical snarler + [Schnurrbart], you Berlin wit-cracker [Witzenmacher], &c. + + "Your most obedient Servant, + + "CHOPIN." + + To this Rellstab adds: "Whether Mr. Chopin has written this + letter himself, I do not know, and will not assert it, but + print the document that he may recognise or repudiate it." + The letter was not repudiated, but I do not think that it was + written by Chopin. Had he written a letter, he surely would + have written a less childish one, although the German might + not have been much better than that of the above. But my + chief reasons for doubting its genuineness are that Chopin + made no artistic tour in Germany after 1831, and is not known + to have visited Leipzig either in 1833 or 1834.] + +However, we should not be too hard upon Rellstab, seeing that one +of the greatest pianists and best musicians of the time made in +the same year (in 1833, and not in 1831, as we read in +Karasowski's book) an entry in his diary, which expresses an +opinion not very unlike his. Moscheles writes thus:-- + + I like to employ some free hours in the evening in making + myself acquainted with Chopin's studies and his other + compositions, and find much charm in the originality and + national colouring of their motivi; but my fingers always + stumble over certain hard, inartistic, and to me + incomprehensible modulations, and the whole is often too + sweetish for my taste, and appears too little worthy of a man + and a trained musician. + +And again-- + + I am a sincere admirer of Chopin's originality; he has + furnished pianists with matter of the greatest novelty and + attractiveness. But personally I dislike the artificial, + often forced modulations; my fingers stumble and fall over + such passages; however much I may practise them, I cannot + execute them without tripping. + +The first criticism on Chopin's publications which I met with in +the French musical papers is one on the "Variations," Op. 12. It +appeared in the "Revue musicale" of January 26, 1834. After this +his new works are pretty regularly noticed, and always +favourably. From what has been said it will be evident that +Karasowski made a mistake when he wrote that Chopin's +compositions began to find a wide circulation as early as the +year 1832. + +Much sympathy has been undeservedly bestowed on the composer by +many, because they were under the impression that he had had to +contend with more than the usual difficulties. Now just the +reverse was the case. Most of his critics were well-disposed +towards him, and his fame spread fast. In 1834 (August 13) a +writer in the "Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung" remarks that +Chopin had the good fortune to draw upon himself sooner than +others the attention not only of the pianists, although of these +particularly, but also of a number of the musicians generally. +And in 1836 even Rellstab, Chopin's most adverse critic, says: +"We entertain the hope of hearing a public performance of the +Concerto [the second, Op. 21] in the course of the winter, for +now it is a point of honour for every pianist to play Chopin." +The composer, however, cannot be said to have enjoyed popularity; +his works were relished only by the few, not by the many. +Chopin's position as a pianist and composer at the point we have +reached in the history of his life (1833-1834) is well described +by a writer in the "Revue musicale" of May 15, 1834:-- + + Chopin [he says] has opened up for himself a new route, and + from the first moment of his appearance on the scene he has + taken so high a stand, both by his pianoforte-playing and by + his compositions for this instrument, that he is to the + multitude an inexplicable phenomenon which it looks on in + passing with astonishment, and which stupid egoism regards + with a smile of pity, while the small number of connoisseurs, + led by a sure judgment, rather by an instinct of progress + than by a reasoned sentiment of enjoyment, follow this artist + in his efforts and in his creations, if not closely, at least + at a distance, admiring him, learning from him, and trying to + imitate him. For this reason Chopin has not found a critic, + although his works are already known everywhere. They have + either excited equivocal smiles and have been disparaged, or + have provoked astonishment and an overflow of unlimited + praise; but nobody has as yet come forward to say in what + their peculiar character and merit consists, by what they are + distinguished from so many other compositions, what assigns + to them a superior rank, &c. + +No important events are to be recorded of the season 1833-1834, +but that Chopin was making his way is shown by a passage from a +letter which Orlowski wrote to one of his friends in Poland:-- + + Chopin [he says] is well and strong; he turns the heads of + all the Frenchwomen, and makes the men jealous of him. He is + now the fashion, and the elegant world will soon wear gloves + a la Chopin, Only the yearning after his country consumes + him. + +In the spring of 1834 Chopin took a trip to Aix-la-Chapelle, +where at Whitsuntide the Lower Rhenish Music Festival was held. +Handel's "Deborah," Mozart's Jupiter Symphony, and part of +Beethoven's Ninth were on the programme, and the baton was in the +hand of Ferdinand Ries. Hiller, who had written additional +accompaniments to the oratorio and translated the English words +into German, had received an invitation from the committee, and +easily persuaded Chopin to accompany him. But this plan very +nearly came to naught. While they were making preparations for +the journey, news reached them that the festival was postponed; +and when a few days later they heard that it would take place +after all, poor Chopin was no longer able to go, having in the +meantime spent the money put aside for travelling expenses, +probably given it away to one of his needy countrymen, to whom, +as Hiller says, his purse was always open. But what was to be +done now? Hiller did not like to depart without his friend, and +urged him to consider if he could not contrive in one way or +another to procure the requisite pecuniary outfit. At last Chopin +said he thought he could manage it, took the manuscript of the +Waltz in E flat (Op. 18), went with it to Pleyel, and returned +with 500 francs. [FOOTNOTE: I repeat Hiller's account without +vouching for its literal correctness, confining myself to the +statement that the work was in print on the 1st of June,1834, and +published by Schlesinger, of Paris, not by Pleyel.] Thus the +barrier was removed, and the friends set out for Aix-la-Chapelle. +There Hiller was quartered in the house of the burgomaster, and +Chopin got a room close by. They went without much delay to the +rehearsal of "Deborah," where they met Mendelssohn, who describes +their meeting in a letter addressed to his mother (Dusseldorf, +May 23, 1834):-- + + On the first tier sat a man with a moustache reading the + score, and as he was coming downstairs after the rehearsal, + and I was going up, we met in the side-scenes, and Ferdinand + Hiller stumbled right into my arms, almost crushing me in his + joyful embrace. He had come from Paris to hear the oratorio, + and Chopin had left his pupils in the lurch and come with + him, and thus we met again. Now I had my full share of + pleasure in the musical festival, for we three now remained + together, got a box in the theatre (where the performances + are given) to ourselves, and as a matter of course betook + ourselves next morning to a piano, where I enjoyed myself + greatly. They have both still further developed their + execution, and Chopin is now one of the very first pianoforte- + players; he produces as novel effects as Paganini does on the + violin, and performs wonders which one would never have + imagined possible. Hiller, too, is an excellent player, + powerful and coquettish enough. Both are a little infected by + the Parisian mania for despondency and straining after + emotional vehemence [Verzweif-lungssucht und + Leidenschaftssucherei], and often lose sight of time and + repose and the really musical too much. I, on the other hand, + do so perhaps too little. Thus we made up for each other's + deficiencies, and all three, I think, learned something, + while I felt rather like a schoolmaster, and they like + mirliflores or incroyables. + +After the festival the three musicians travelled together to +Dusseldorf, where since the preceding October Mendelssohn was +settled as musical director. They passed the morning of the day +which Chopin and Hiller spent in the town at Mendelssohn's piano, +and in the afternoon took a walk, at the end of which they had +coffee and a game at skittles. In this walk they were accompanied +by F. W. Schadow, the director of the Academy of Art and founder +of the Dusseldorf School, and some of his pupils, among whom may +have been one or more of its brightest stars--Lessing, Bendemann, +Hildebrandt, Sohn, and Alfred Rethel. Hiller, who furnishes us +with some particulars of what Mendelssohn calls "a very agreeable +day passed in playing and discussing music," says that Schadow +and his pupils appeared to him like a prophet surrounded by his +disciples. But the dignified manner and eloquent discourse of the +prophet, the humble silence of the devoutly-listening disciples, +seem to have prevented Chopin from feeling quite at ease. + + Chopin [writes Hiller], who was not known to any of them, and + extremely reserved, kept close to me during the walk, + observing everything and making remarks to me in a low, low + tone. For the later part of the evening we were invited to + the Schadows', who were never wanting in hospitality. We + found there some of the most eminent young painters. The + conversation soon became very animated, and all would have + been right if poor Chopin had not sat there so reserved--not + to say unnoticed. However, Mendelssohn and I knew that he + would have his revenge, and were secretly rejoicing at the + thought. At last the piano was opened; I began, Mendelssohn + followed; then we asked Chopin to play, and rather doubtful + looks were cast at him and us. But he had hardly played a few + bars when all present, especially Schadow, looked at him with + altogether different eyes. Nothing like it had ever been + heard. They were all in the greatest delight, and begged for + more and more. Count Almaviva had dropped his disguise, and + all were speechless. + +The following day Chopin and Hiller set out per steamer for +Coblenz, and Mendelssohn, although Schadow had asked him what was +to become of "St. Paul," at which he was working, accompanied +them as far as Cologne. There, after a visit to the Apostles' +church, they parted at the Rhine bridge, and, as Mendelssohn +wrote to his mother, "the pleasant episode was over." + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + + +1834-1835. + + + +MATUSZYNSKI SETTLES IN PARIS.--MORE ABOUT CHOPIN'S WAY OF LIFE.-- +OP. 25.--HE IS ADVISED TO WRITE AN OPERA.--HIS OWN IDEAS IN +REGARD TO THIS, AND A DISCUSSION OF THE QUESTION.--CHOPIN'S +PUBLIC APPEARANCES.--BERLIOZ'S CONCERT.--STOEPEL's CONCERT.--A +CONCERT AT PLEYEL'S ROOMS.--A CONCERT AT THE THEATRE-ITALIEN FOR +THE BENEFIT OF THE INDIGENT POLISH REFUGEES.--A CONCERT OF THE +SOCIETE DES CONCERTS.--CHOPIN AS A PUBLIC PERFORMER.--CHOUQUET, +LISZT, ETC., ON THE CHARACTER OF HIS PLAYING.--BELLINI AND HIS +RELATION TO CHOPIN.--CHOPIN GOES TO CARLSBAD.--AT DRESDEN.--HIS +VISIT TO LEIPZIG: E. F. WENZEL'S REMINISCENCES; MENDELSSOHN'S AND +SCHUMANN'S REMARKS ON THE SAME EVENT.--CHOPIN'S STAY AT +HEIDELBERG AND RETURN TO PARIS. + + + +The coming to Paris and settlement there of his friend +Matuszynski must have been very gratifying to Chopin, who felt so +much the want of one with whom he could sigh. Matuszynski, who, +since we heard last of him, had served as surgeon-major in the +Polish insurrectionary army, and taken his doctor's degree at +Tubingen in 1834, proceeded in the same year to Paris, where he +was appointed professor at the Ecole de Medecine. The latter +circumstance testifies to his excellent professional qualities, +and Chopin's letters do not leave us in doubt concerning the +nature of his qualities as a friend. Indeed, what George Sand +says of his great influence over Chopin only confirms what these +letters lead one to think. In 1834 Matuszynski wrote in a letter +addressed to his brother-in-law:-- + + The first thing I did in Paris was to call on Chopin. I + cannot tell you how great our mutual happiness was on meeting + again after a separation of five years. He has grown strong + and tall; I hardly recognised him. Chopin is now the first + pianist here; he gives a great many lessons, but none under + twenty francs. He has composed much, and his works are in + great request. I live with him: Rue Chaussee d'Antin, No. 5. + This street is indeed rather far from the Ecole de Medecine + and the hospitals; but I have weighty reasons for staying + with him--he is my all! We spend the evenings at the theatre + or pay visits; if we do not do one or the other, we enjoy + ourselves quietly at home. + +Less interesting than this letter of Matuszynski's, with its +glimpses of Chopin's condition and habits, are the reminiscences +of a Mr. W., now or till lately a music-teacher at Posen, who +visited Paris in 1834, and was introduced to Chopin by Dr. A. +Hofman. [FOONOTE: See p. 257.] But, although less interesting, +they are by no means without significance, for instance, with +regard to the chronology of the composer's works. Being asked to +play something, Mr. W. chose Kalkbrenner's variations on one of +Chopin's mazurkas (the one in B major, Op. 7, No. 1). Chopin +generously repaid the treat which Kalkbrenner's variations and +his countryman's execution may have afforded him, by playing the +studies which he afterwards published as Op. 25. + +Elsner, like all Chopin's friends, was pleased with the young +artist's success. The news he heard of his dear Frederick filled +his heart with joy, nevertheless he was not altogether satisfied. +"Excuse my sincerity," he writes, on September 14, 1834, "but +what you have done hitherto I do not yet consider enough." +Elsner's wish was that Chopin should compose an opera, if +possible one with a Polish historical subject; and this he +wished, not so much for the increase of Chopin's fame as for the +advantage of the art. Knowing his pupil's talents and +acquirements he was sure that what a critic pointed out in +Chopin's mazurkas would be fully displayed and obtain a lasting +value only in an opera. The unnamed critic referred to must be +the writer in the "Gazette musicale," who on June 29, 1834, in +speaking of the "Quatre Mazurkas," Op. 17, says-- + + Chopin has gained a quite special reputation by the clever + spirituelle and profoundly artistic manner in which he knows + how to treat the national music of Poland, a genre of music + which was to us as yet little known...here again he appears + poetical, tender, fantastic, always graceful, and always + charming, even in the moments when he abandons himself to the + most passionate inspiration. + +Karasowski says that Elsner's letter made Chopin seriously think +of writing an opera, and that he even addressed himself to his +friend Stanislas Kozmian with the request to furnish him with a +libretto, the subject of which was to be taken from Polish +history. I do not question this statement. But if it is true, +Chopin soon abandoned the idea. In fact, he thoroughly made up +his mind, and instead of endeavouring to become a Shakespeare he +contented himself with being an Uhland. The following +conversations will show that Chopin acquired the rarest and most +precious kind of knowledge, that is, self-knowledge. His +countryman, the painter Kwiatkowski, calling one day on Chopin +found him and Mickiewicz in the midst of a very excited +discussion. The poet urged the composer to undertake a great +work, and not to fritter away his power on trifles; the composer, +on the other hand, maintained that he was not in possession of +the qualities requisite for what he was advised to undertake. G. +Mathias, who studied under Chopin from 1839 to 1844, remembers a +conversation between his master and M. le Comte de Perthuis, one +of Louis Philippe's aides-de-camp. The Count said-- + + "Chopin, how is it that you, who have such admirable ideas, + do not compose an opera?" [Chopin, avec vos idees admirables, + pourquoi ne nous faites-vous pas un opera?] "Ah, Count, let + me compose nothing but music for the pianoforte; I am not + learned enough to compose operas!" [Ah, Monsieur le Comte, + laissez-moi ne faire que de la musique de piano; pour faire + des operas je ne suis pas assez savant.] + +Chopin, in fact, knew himself better than his friends and teacher +knew him, and it was well for him and it is well for us that he +did, for thereby he saved himself much heart-burning and +disappointment, and us the loss of a rich inheritance of charming +and inimitable pianoforte music. He was emphatically a +Kleinmeister--i.e. a master of works of small size and minute +execution. His attempts in the sonata-form were failures, +although failures worth more--some of them at least--than many a +clever artist's most brilliant successes. Had he attempted the +dramatic form the result would in all probability have been still +less happy; for this form demands not only a vigorous +constructive power, but in addition to it a firm grasp of all the +vocal and instrumental resources--qualities, in short, in which +Chopin was undeniably deficient, owing not so much to inadequate +training as to the nature of his organisation. Moreover, he was +too much given to express his own emotions, too narrow in his +sympathies, in short, too individual a composer, to successfully +express the emotions of others, to objectively conceive and set +forth the characters of men and women unlike himself. Still, the +master's confidence in his pupil, though unfounded in this +particular, is beautiful to contemplate; and so also is his +affection for him, which even the pedantic style of his letters +cannot altogether hide. Nor is it possible to admire in a less +degree the reciprocation of these sentiments by the great +master's greater pupil:-- + + What a pity it is [are the concluding words of Elsner's + letter of September 14, 1834] that we can no longer see each + other and exchange our opinions! I have got so much to tell + you. I should like also to thank you for the present, which + is doubly precious to me. I wish I were a bird, so that I + might visit you in your Olympian dwelling, which the + Parisians take for a swallow's nest. Farewell, love me, as I + do you, for I shall always remain your sincere friend and + well-wisher. + +In no musical season was Chopin heard so often in public as in +that of 1834-35; but it was not only his busiest, it was also his +last season as a virtuoso. After it his public appearances ceased +for several years altogether, and the number of concerts at which +he was subsequently heard does not much exceed half-a-dozen. The +reader will be best enabled to understand the causes that led to +this result if I mention those of Chopin's public performances in +this season which have come under my notice. On December 7, 1834, +at the third and last of a series of concerts given by Berlioz at +the Conservatoire, Chopin played an "Andante" for the piano with +orchestral accompaniments of his own composition, which, placed +as it was among the overtures to "Les Francs-Juges" and "King +Lear," the "Harold" Symphony, and other works of Berlioz, no +doubt sounded at the concert as strange as it looks on the +programme. The "Andante" played by Chopin was of course the +middle movement of one of his concertos. [Footnote: Probably the +"Larghetto" from the F minor Concerto. See Liszt's remark on p. +282.] + +On December 25 of the same year, Dr. Francois Stoepel gave a +matinee musicale at Pleyel's rooms, for which he had secured a +number of very distinguished artists. But the reader will ask-- +"Who is Dr. Stoepel?" An author of several theoretical works, +instruction books, and musical compositions, who came to Paris in +1829 and founded a school on Logier's system, as he had done in +Berlin and other towns, but was as unsuccessful in the French +capital as elsewhere. Disappointed and consumptive he died in +1836 at the age of forty-two; his income, although the proceeds +of teaching were supplemented by the remuneration for +contributions to the "Gazette musicale," having from first to +last been scanty. Among the artists who took part in this matinee +musicale were Chopin, Liszt, the violinist Ernst, and the singers +Mdlle. Heinefetter, Madame Degli-Antoni, and M. Richelmi. The +programme comprised also an improvisation on the orgue expressif +(harmonium) by Madame de la Hye, a grand-niece of J.J. +Rousseau's. Liszt and Chopin opened the matinee with a +performance of Moscheles' "Grand duo a quatre mains," of which +the reporter of the "Gazette musicale" writes as follows:-- + + We consider it superfluous to say that this piece, one of the + masterworks of the composer, was executed with a rare + perfection of talent by the two greatest pianoforte-virtuosos + of our epoch. Brilliancy of execution combined with perfect + delicacy, sustained elevation, and the contrast of the most + spirited vivacity and calmest serenity, of the most graceful + lightness and gravest seriousness--the clever blending of all + the nuances can only be expected from two artists of the same + eminence and equally endowed with deep artistic feeling. The + most enthusiastic applause showed MM. Liszt and Chopin better + than we can do by our words how much they charmed the + audience, which they electrified a second time by a Duo for + two pianos composed by Liszt. + +This work of Liszt's was no doubt the Duo for two pianos on a +theme of Mendelssohn's which, according to Miss Ramann, was +composed in 1834 but never published, and is now lost. + +The "Menestrel" of March 22, 1835, contains a report of a concert +at Pleyel's rooms, without, however, mentioning the concert- +giver, who was probably the proprietor himself:-- + + The last concert at Pleyel's rooms was very brilliant. Men of + fashion, litterateurs, and artists had given each other + rendez-vous there to hear our musical celebrities--MM. Herz, + Chopin, Osborne, Hiller, Reicha, Mesdames Camille Lambert and + Leroy, and M. Hamati [read Stamati], a young pianist who had + not yet made a public appearance in our salons. These artists + performed various pieces which won the approval of all. + +And now mark the dying fall of this vague report: "Kalkbrenner's +Variations on the cavatina 'Di tanti palpiti' were especially +applauded." + +We come now to the so much talked-of concert at the Italian +Opera, which became so fateful in Chopin's career as a virtuoso. +It is generally spoken of as a concert given by Chopin, and +Karasowski says it took place in February, 1834. I have, however, +been unable to find any trace of a concert given by Chopin in +1834. On the other hand, Chopin played on April 5, 1835, at a +concert which in all particulars except that of date answers to +the description of the one mentioned by Karasowski. The "Journal +des Debats" of April 4, 1835, draws the public's attention to it +by the following short and curious article:-- + + The concert for the benefit of the indigent Poles [i.e., + indigent Polish refugees] will take place to-morrow, + Saturday, at the Theatre-Italien, at eight o'clock in the + evening. Mdlle. Falcon and Nourrit, MM. Ernst, Dorus, Schopin + [sic], Litz [sic], and Pantaleoni, will do the honours of + this soiree, which will be brilliant. Among other things + there will be heard the overtures to "Oberon" and "Guillaume + Tell," the duet from the latter opera, sung by Mdlle. Falcon + and Nourrit, and romances by M. Schubert, sung by Nourrit and + accompanied by Litz, &c. + +To this galaxy of artistic talent I have yet to add Habeneck, who +conducted the orchestra. Chopin played with the orchestra his E +minor Concerto and with Liszt a duet for two pianos by Hiller. + + As you may suppose [says a writer of a notice in the "Gazette + musicale"] M. Chopin was not a stranger to the composition of + the programme of this soiree in behalf of his unhappy + countrymen. Accordingly the fete was brilliant. + +In the same notice may also be read the following:-- + + Chopin's Concerto, so original, of so brilliant a style, so + full of ingenious details, so fresh in its melodies, obtained + a very great success. It is very difficult not to be + monotonous in a pianoforte concerto; and the amateurs could + not but thank Chopin for the pleasure he had procured them, + while the artists admired the talent which enabled him to do + so [i.e., to avoid monotony], and at the same time to + rejuvenate so antiquated a form. + +The remark on the agedness of the concerto-form and the +difficulty of not being monotonous is naive and amusing enough to +be quoted for its own sake, but what concerns us here is the +correctness of the report. Although the expressions of praise +contained in it are by no means enthusiastic, nay, are not even +straightforward, they do not tally with what we learn from other +accounts. This discrepancy may be thus explained. Maurice +Schlesinger, the founder and publisher of the "Gazette musicale," +was on friendly terms with Chopin and had already published some +of his compositions. What more natural, therefore, than that, if +the artist's feelings were hurt, he should take care that they +should not be further tortured by unpleasant remarks in his +paper. Indeed, in connection with all the Chopin notices and +criticisms in the "Gazette musicale" we must keep in mind the +relations between the publisher and composer, and the fact that +several of the writers in the paper were Chopin's intimate +friends, and many of them were of the clique, or party, to which +he also belonged. Sowinski, a countryman and acquaintance of +Chopin's, says of this concert that the theatre was crowded and +all went well, but that Chopin's expectations were disappointed, +the E minor Concerto not producing the desired effect. The +account in Larousse's "Grand Dictionnaire" is so graphic that it +makes one's flesh creep. After remarking that Chopin obtained +only a demi-success, the writer of the article proceeds thus: +"The bravos of his friends and a few connoisseurs alone disturbed +the cold and somewhat bewildered attitude of the majority of the +audience." According to Sowinski and others Chopin's repugnance +to play in public dates from this concert; but this repugnance +was not the outcome of one but of many experiences. The concert +at the Theatre-Italien may, however, have brought it to the +culminating point. Liszt told me that Chopin was most deeply hurt +by the cold reception he got at a concert at the Conservatoire, +where he played the Larghetto from the F minor Concerto. This +must have been at Berlioz's concert, which I mentioned on one of +the foregoing pages of this chapter. + +Shortly after the concert at the Theatre-Italien, Chopin ventured +once more to face that terrible monster, the public. On Sunday, +April 26, 1835, he played at a benefit concert of Habeneck's, +which is notable as the only concert of the Societe des Concerts +du Conservatoire in which he took part. The programme was as +follows:--1. The "Pastoral Symphony," by Beethoven; 2. "The Erl- +King," by Schubert, sung by M. Ad. Nourrit; 3. Scherzo from the +"Choral Symphony," by Beethoven; 4. "Polonaise avec introduction" +[i.e., "Polonaise brillante precedee d'un Andante spianato"], +composed and played by M. Chopin; 5. Scena, by Beethoven, sung by +Mdlle. Falcon; 6. Finale from the C minor Symphony, by Beethoven. +The writer of the article Chopin in Larousse's "Grand +Dictionnaire" says that Chopin had no reason to repent of having +taken part in the concert, and others confirm this statement. In +Elwart's "Histoire des Concerts du Conservatoire" we read:--"Le +compositeur reveur, l'elegiaque pianiste, produisit a ce concert +un effet delicieux." To the author of the "Histoire dramatique en +France" and late curator of the Musee du Conservatoire I am +indebted for some precious communications. M. Gustave Chouquet, +who at the time we are speaking of was a youth and still at the +College, informed me in a charming letter that he was present at +this concert at which Chopin played, and also at the preceding +one (on Good Friday) at which Liszt played Weber's +"Concertstuck," and that he remembered very well "the fiery +playing of Liszt and the ineffable poetry of Chopin's style." In +another letter M. Chouquet gave a striking resume of the vivid +reminiscences of his first impressions:-- + + Liszt, in 1835 [he wrote], represented a merveilleux the + prototype of the virtuoso; while in my opinion Chopin + personified the poet. The first aimed at effect and posed as + the Paganini of the piano; Chopin, on the other hand, seemed + never to concern himself [se preuccuper] about the public, + and to listen only to the inner voices. He was unequal; but + when inspiration took hold of him [s'emparait de hit] he made + the keyboard sing in an ineffable manner. I owe him some + poetic hours which I shall never forget. + +One of the facts safely deducible from the often doubtful and +contradictory testimonies relative to Chopin's public +performances is, that when he appeared before a large and mixed +audience he failed to call forth general enthusiasm. He who +wishes to carry the multitude away with him must have in him a +force akin to the broad sweep of a full river. Chopin, however, +was not a Demosthenes, Cicero, Mirabeau, or Pitt. Unless he +addressed himself to select conventicles of sympathetic minds, +the best of his subtle art remained uncomprehended. How well +Chopin knew this may be gathered from what he said to Liszt:-- + + I am not at all fit for giving concerts, the crowd + intimidates me, its breath suffocates me, I feel paralysed by + its curious look, and the unknown faces make me dumb. But you + are destined for it, for when you do not win your public, you + have the power to overwhelm it. + +Opposition and indifference, which stimulate more vigorous +natures, affected Chopin as touch does the mimosa pudica, the +sensitive plant--they made him shrink and wither. Liszt observes +correctly that the concerts did not so much fatigue Chopin's +physical constitution as provoke his irritability as a poet; +that, in fact, his delicate constitution was less a reason than a +pretext for abstention, he wishing to avoid being again and again +made the subject of debate. But it is more difficult for one in +similar circumstances not to feel as Chopin did than for a +successful virtuoso like Liszt to say:-- + + If Chopin suffered on account of his not being able to take + part in those public and solemn jousts where popular + acclamation salutes the victor; if he felt depressed at + seeing himself excluded from them, it was because he did not + esteem highly enough what he had, to do gaily without what he + had not. + +To be sure, the admiration of the best men of his time ought to +have consoled him for the indifference of the dull crowd. But do +we not all rather yearn for what we have not than enjoy what we +have? Nay, do we not even often bewail the unattainableness of +vain bubbles when it would be more seasonable to rejoice in the +solid possessions with which we are blessed? Chopin's discontent, +however, was caused by the unattainableness not of a vain bubble, +but of a precious crown. There are artists who pretend to despise +the great public, but their abuse of it when it withholds its +applause shows their real feeling. No artist can at heart be +fully satisfied with the approval of a small minority; Chopin, at +any rate, was not such a one. Nature, who had richly endowed him +with the qualities that make a virtuoso, had denied him one, +perhaps the meanest of all, certainly the least dispensable, the +want of which balked him of the fulfilment of the promise with +which the others had flattered him, of the most brilliant reward +of his striving. In the lists where men much below his worth won +laurels and gold in abundance he failed to obtain a fair share of +the popular acclamation. This was one of the disappointments +which, like malignant cancers, cruelly tortured and slowly +consumed his life. + +The first performance of Bellini's "I Puritani" at the Theatre- +Italien (January 24, 1835), which as well as that of Halevy's "La +Juive" at the Academic (February 23, 1835), and of Auber's "Le +cheval de bronze" at the Opera-Comique (March 23, 1835), was one +of the chief musico-dramatic events of the season 1834-1835, +reminds me that I ought to say a few words about the relation +which existed between the Italian and the Polish composer. Most +readers will have heard of Chopin's touching request to be buried +by the side of Bellini. Loath though I am to discredit so +charming a story, duty compels me to state that it is wholly +fictitious. Chopin's liking for Bellini and his music, how ever, +was true and real enough. Hiller relates that he rarely saw him +so deeply moved as at a performance of Norma, which they attended +together, and that in the finale of the second act, in which +Rubini seemed to sing tears, Chopin had tears in his eyes. A +liking for the Italian operatic music of the time, a liking which +was not confined to Bellini's works, but, as Franchomme, Wolff, +and others informed me, included also those of Rossini, appears +at first sight rather strange in a musician of Chopin's +complexion; the prevalent musical taste at Warsaw, and a kindred +trait in the national characters of the Poles and Italians, +however, account for it. With regard to Bellini, Chopin's +sympathy was strengthened by the congeniality of their individual +temperaments. Many besides Leon Escudier may have found in the +genius of Chopin points of resemblance with Bellini as well as +with Raphael--two artists who, it is needless to say, were +heaven-wide apart in the mastery of the craft of their arts, +and in the width, height, and depth of their conceptions. The +soft, rounded Italian contours and sweet sonorousness of some +of Chopin's cantilene cannot escape the notice of the observer. +Indeed, Chopin's Italicisms have often been pointed out. Let me +remind the reader here only of some remarks of Schumann's, made +apropos of the Sonata in B flat minor, Op. 35:-- + + It is known that Bellini and Chopin were friends, and that + they, who often made each other acquainted with their + compositions, may perhaps have had some artistic influence on + each other. But, as has been said, there is [on the part of + Chopin] only a slight leaning to the southern manner; as soon + as the cantilena is at an end the Sarmatian flashes out + again. + +To understand Chopin's sympathy we have but to picture to +ourselves Bellini's personality--the perfectly well-proportioned, +slender figure, the head with its high forehead and scanty blonde +hair, the well-formed nose, the honest, bright look, the +expressive mouth; and within this pleasing exterior, the amiable, +modest disposition, the heart that felt deeply, the mind that +thought acutely. M. Charles Maurice relates a characteristic +conversation in his "Histoire anecdotique du Theatre." Speaking +to Bellini about "La Sonnambula," he had remarked that there was +soul in his music. This expression pleased the composer +immensely. "Oui, n'est-ce pas? De l'ame!" he exclaimed in his +soft Italian manner of speaking, "C'est ce que je veux...De +L'ame! Oh! je suis sensible! Merci!...C'est que l'ame, c'est +toute la musique!" "And he pressed my hands," says Charles +Maurice, "as if I had discovered a new merit in his rare talent." +This specimen of Bellini's conversation is sufficient to show +that his linguistic accomplishments were very limited. Indeed, as +a good Sicilian he spoke Italian badly, and his French was +according to Heine worse than bad, it was frightful, apt to make +people's hair stand on end. + +When one was in the same salon with him, his vicinity inspired +one with a certain anxiety mingled with the fascination of terror +which repelled and attracted at the same time. His puns were not +always of an amusing kind. Hiller also mentions Bellini's bad +grammar and pronunciation, but he adds that the contrast between +what he said and the way he said it gave to his gibberish a charm +which is often absent from the irreproachable language of trained +orators. It is impossible to conjecture what Bellini might have +become as a musician if, instead of dying before the completion +of his thirty-third year (September 24, 1835), he had lived up to +the age of fifty or sixty; thus much, however, is certain, that +there was still in him a vast amount of undeveloped capability. +Since his arrival in Paris he had watched attentively the new +musical phenomena that came there within his ken, and the +"Puritani" proves that he had not done so without profit. This +sweet singer from sensuous Italy was not insensible even to the +depth and grandeur of German music. After hearing Beethoven's +Pastoral Symphony, for instance, he said to Hiller, his eyes +glistening as if he had himself done a great deed: "E bel comme +la nature!" [Footnote: I give the words literally as they are +printed in Hiller's Kimmerleben. The mixture of Italian and +French was no doubt intended, but hardly the spelling.] In short, +Bellini was a true artist, and therefore a meet companion for a +true artist like Chopin, of whose music it can be said with +greater force than of that of most composers that "it is all +soul." Chopin, who of course met Bellini here and there in the +salons of the aristocracy, came also in closer contact with him +amidst less fashionable but more congenial surroundings. I shall +now let Hiller, the pleasant story-teller, speak, who, after +remarking that Bellini took a great interest in piano-forte +music, even though it was not played by a Chopin, proceeds +thus:-- + + I can never forget some evenings which I spent with him + [Bellini] and Chopin and a few other guests at Madame + Freppa's. Madame Freppa, an accomplished and exceedingly + musical woman, born at Naples, but of French extraction, had, + in order to escape from painful family circumstances, settled + in Paris, where she taught singing in the most distinguished + circles. She had an exceedingly sonorous though not powerful + voice, and an excellent method, and by her rendering of + Italian folk-songs and other simple vocal compositions of the + older masters charmed even the spoiled frequenters of the + Italian Opera. We cordially esteemed her, and sometimes went + together to visit her at the extreme end of the Faubourg St. + Germain, where she lived with her mother on a troisieme au + dessus de l'entresol, high above all the noise and tumult of + the ever-bustling city. There music was discussed, sung, and + played, and then again discussed, played, and sung. Chopin + and Madame Freppa seated themselves by turns at the + pianoforte; I, too, did my best; Bellini made remarks, and + accompanied himself in one or other of his cantilene, rather + in illustration of what he had been saying than for the + purpose of giving a performance of them. He knew how to sing + better than any German composer whom I have met, and had a + voice less full of sound than of feeling. His pianoforte- + playing sufficed for the reproduction of his orchestra, + which, indeed, is not saying much. But he knew very well what + he wanted, and was far from being a kind of natural poet, as + some may imagine him to have been. + +In the summer of 1835, towards the end of July, Chopin journeyed +to Carlsbad, whither his father had been sent by the Warsaw +physicians. The meeting of the parents and their now famous son +after a separation of nearly five years was no doubt a very +joyous one; but as no accounts have come down to us of Chopin's +doings and feelings during his sojourn in the Bohemian watering- +place, I shall make no attempt to fill up the gap by a gushing +description of what may have been, evolved out of the omniscience +of my inner consciousness, although this would be an +insignificant feat compared with those of a recent biographer +whose imaginativeness enabled her to describe the appearance of +the sky and the state of the weather in the night when her hero +became a free citizen of this planet, and to analyse minutely the +characters of private individuals whose lives were passed in +retirement, whom she had never seen, and who had left neither +works nor letters by which they might be judged. + +From Carlsbad Chopin went to Dresden. His doings there were of +great importance to him, and are of great interest to us. In +fact, a new love-romance was in progress. But the story had +better be told consecutively, for which reason I postpone my +account of his stay in the Saxon capital till the next chapter. + +Frederick Wieck, the father and teacher of Clara, who a few years +later became the wife of Robert Schumann, sent the following +budget of Leipzig news to Nauenburg, a teacher of music in Halle, +in the autumn of 1835:-- + + The first subscription concert will take place under the + direction of Mendelssohn on October 4, the second on October + 4. To-morrow or the day after to-morrow Chopin will arrive + here from Dresden, but will probably not give a concert, for + he is very lazy. He could stay here for some time, if false + friends (especially a dog of a Pole) did not prevent him from + making himself acquainted with the musical side of Leipzig. + But Mendelssohn, who is a good friend of mine and Schumann's, + will oppose this. Chopin does not believe, judging from a + remark he made to a colleague in Dresden, that there is any + lady in Germany who can play his compositions--we will see + what Clara can do. + +The Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik, Schumann's paper, of September +29, 1835, contained the following announcement:-- + + Leipzig will soon be able to show a Kalisz [Footnote: An + allusion to the encampment of Russian and Prussian troops and + friendly meeting of princes which took place there in 1835.] + as regards musical crowned heads. Herr Mendelssohn has + already arrived. Herr Moscheles comes this week; and besides + him there will be Chopin, and later, Pixis and Franzilla. + [Footnote: Franzilla (or Francilla) Pixis, the adopted + daughter of Peter Pixis, whose acquaintance the reader made + in one of the preceding chapters (p. 245).] + +The details of the account of Chopin's visit to Leipzig which I +am now going to give, were communicated to me by Ernst Ferdinand +Wenzel, the well-known professor of pianoforte-playing at the +Leipzig Conservatorium, who died in 1880. + +In the middle of the year 1835 the words "Chopin is coming" were +passing from mouth to mouth, and caused much stir in the musical +circles of Leipzig. Shortly after this my informant saw +Mendelssohn in the street walking arm in arm with a young man, +and he knew at once that the Polish musician had arrived, for +this young man could be no other than Chopin. From the direction +in which the two friends were going, he guessed whither their +steps were tending. He, therefore, ran as fast as his legs would +carry him to his master Wieck, to tell him that Chopin would be +with him in another moment. The visit had been expected, and a +little party was assembled, every one of which was anxious to see +and hear the distinguished artist. Besides Wieck, his wife, +daughter, and sister-in-law, there were present Robert Schumann +and Wieck's pupils Wenzel, Louis Rakemann, and Ulex. But the +irascible pedagogue, who felt offended because Chopin had not +come first to him, who had made such efforts for the propagation +of his music, would not stay and welcome his visitor, but +withdrew sulkily into the inner apartments. Wieck had scarcely +left the room when Mendelssohn and Chopin entered. The former, +who had some engagement, said, "Here is Chopin!" and then left, +rightly thinking this laconic introduction sufficient. Thus the +three most distinguished composers of their time were at least +for a moment brought together in the narrow space of a room. +[Footnote: This dictum, like all superlatives and sweeping +assertions, will no doubt raise objectors; but, I think, it may +be maintained, and easily maintained with the saving clause +"apart from the stage."] Chopin was in figure not unlike +Mendelssohn, but the former was more lightly built and more +graceful in his movements. He spoke German fluently, although +with a foreign accent. The primary object of Chopin's visit was +to make the acquaintance of Clara Wieck, who had already acquired +a high reputation as a pianist. She played to him among other +things the then new and not yet published Sonata in F sharp minor +(Op. 11) by Schumann, which she had lately been studying. The +gentlemen dared not ask Chopin to play because of the piano, the +touch of which was heavy and which consequently would not suit +him. But the ladies were bolder, and did not cease entreating him +till he sat down and played his Nocturne in E flat (Op. 9, No. +2). After the lapse of forty-two years Wenzel was still in +raptures about the wonderful, fairy-like lightness and delicacy +of Chopin's touch and style. The conversation seems to have +turned on Schubert, one of Schumann's great favourites, for +Chopin, in illustration of something he said, played the +commencement of Schubert's Alexander March. Meanwhile Wieck was +sorely tried by his curiosity when Chopin was playing, and could +not resist the temptation of listening in the adjoining room, and +even peeping through the door that stood slightly ajar. When the +visit came to a close; Schumann conducted Chopin to the house of +his friend Henrietta Voigt, a pupil of Louis Berger's, and +Wenzel, who accompanied them to the door, heard Schumann say to +Chopin: "Let us go in here where we shall find a thorough, +intelligent pianist and a good piano." They then entered the +house, and Chopin played and also stayed for dinner. No sooner +had he left, than the lady, who up to that time had been +exceedingly orthodox in her musical opinions and tastes, sent to +Kistner's music-shop, and got all the compositions by Chopin +which were in stock. + +The letter of Mendelssohn which I shall quote presently and an +entry in Henrietta Voigt's diary of the year 1836, which will be +quoted in the next chapter, throw some doubt on the latter part +of Herr Wenzel's reminiscences. Indeed, on being further +questioned on the subject, he modified his original information +to this, that he showed Chopin, unaccompanied by Schumann, the +way to the lady's house, and left him at the door. As to the +general credibility of the above account, I may say that I have +added nothing to my informant's communications, and that in my +intercourse with him I found him to be a man of acute observation +and tenacious memory. What, however, I do not know, is the extent +to which the mythopoeic faculty was developed in him. + +[Footnote: Richard Pohl gave incidentally a characterisation of +this exceedingly interesting personality in the Signale of +September, 1886, No. 48. Having been personally acquainted with +Wenzel and many of his friends and pupils, I can vouch for its +truthfulness. He was "one of the best and most amiable men I have +known," writes R. Pohl, "full of enthusiasm for all that is +beautiful, obliging, unselfish, thoroughly kind, and at the same +time so clever, so cultured, and so many-sided as--excuse me, +gentlemen--I have rarely found a pianoforte-teacher. He gave +pianoforte lessons at the Conservatorium and in many private +houses; he worked day after day, year after year, from morning +till night, and with no other outcome as far as he himself was +concerned than that all his pupils--especially his female +pupils--loved him enthusiastically. He was a pupil of Friedrich +Wieck and a friend of Schumann."] + +In a letter dated October 6, 1835, and addressed to his family, +Mendelssohn describes another part of Chopin's sojourn in Leipzig +and gives us his opinion of the Polish artist's compositions and +playing:-- + + The day after I accompanied the Hensels to Delitzsch, Chopin + was here; he intended to remain only one day, so we spent + this entirely together and had a great deal of music. I + cannot deny, dear Fanny, that I have lately found that you do + not do him justice in your judgment [of his talents]; perhaps + he was not in a right humour for playing when you heard him, + which may not unfrequently be the case with him. But his + playing has enchanted me anew, and I am persuaded that if you + and my father had heard some of his better pieces played as + he played them to me, you would say the same. There is + something thoroughly original and at the same time so very + masterly in his piano-forte-playing that he may be called a + really perfect virtuoso; and as every kind of perfection is + welcome and gratifying to me, that day was a most pleasant + one, although so entirely different from the previous ones + spent with you Hensels. + + I was glad to be once more with a thorough musician, not with + those half-virtuosos and half-classics who would gladly + combine in music les honneurs de la vertu et les plaisirs du + vice, but with one who has his perfect and well-defined genre + [Richtung]. To whatever extent it may differ from mine, I can + get on with it famously; but not with those half-men. The + Sunday evening was really curious when Chopin made me play + over my oratorio to him, while curious Leipzigers stole into + the room to see him, and how between the first and second + parts he dashed off his new Etudes and a new Concerto, to the + astonishment of the Leipzigers, and I afterwards resumed my + St. Paul, just as if a Cherokee and a Kaffir had met and + conversed. He has such a pretty new notturno, several parts + of which I have retained in my memory for the purpose of + playing it for Paul's amusement. Thus we passed the time + pleasantly together, and he promised seriously to return in + the course of the winter if I would compose a new symphony + and perform it in honour of him. We vowed these things in the + presence of three witnesses, and we shall see whether we both + keep our word. My works of Handel [Footnote: A present from + the Committee of the Cologne Musical Festival of 1835.] + arrived before Chopin's departure, and were a source of quite + childish delight to him; but they are really so beautiful + that I cannot sufficiently rejoice in their possession. + +Although Mendelssohn never played any of Chopin's compositions in +public, he made his piano pupils practise some of them. +Karasowski is wrong in saying that Mendelssohn had no such +pupils; he had not many, it is true, but he had a few. A remark +which Mendelssohn once made in his peculiar naive manner is very +characteristic of him and his opinion of Chopin. What he said was +this: "Sometimes one really does not know whether Chopin's music +is right or wrong." On the whole, however, if one of the two had +to complain of the other's judgment, it was not Chopin but +Mendelssohn, as we shall see farther on. + +To learn what impression Chopin made on Schumann, we must once +more turn to the Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik, where we find the +Polish artist's visit to Leipzig twice mentioned:-- + + October 6, 1835. Chopin was here, but only for a few hours, + which he passed in private circles. He played just as he + composes, that is, uniquely. + +The second mention is in the P.S. of a transcendental +Schwarmerbrief addressed by Eusebius (the personification of the +gentle, dreamy side of Schumann's character) to Chiara (Clara +Wieck):-- + + October 20, 1835. Chopin was here. Florestan [the + personification of the strong, passionate side of Schumann's + character] rushed to him. I saw them arm in arm glide rather + than walk. I did not speak with him, was quite startled at + the thought. + +On his way to Paris, Chopin stopped also at Heidelberg, where he +visited the father of his pupil Adolph Gutmann, who treated him, +as one of his daughters remarked, not like a prince or even a +king, but like somebody far superior to either. The children were +taught to look up to Chopin as one who had no equal in his line. +And the daughter already referred to wrote more than thirty years +afterwards that Chopin still stood out in her memory as the most +poetical remembrance of her childhood and youth. + +Chopin must have been back in Paris in the first half or about +the middle of October, for the Gazette musicale of the 18th of +that month contains the following paragraph:-- + + One of the most eminent pianists of our epoch, M. Chopin, has + returned to Paris, after having made a tour in Germany which + has been for him a real ovation. Everywhere his admirable + talent obtained the most flattering reception and excited + enthusiasm. It was, indeed, as if he had not left our capital + at all. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + + +1835--1837. + + + +PUBLICATIONS IN 1835 AND 1836.--FIRST PERFORMANCE OF LES +HUGUENOTS.-- GUSIKOW, LIPINSKI, THALBERG.--CHOPIN'S +IMPRESSIONABLENESS AND FICKLENESS IN REGARD TO THE FAIR SEX.--THE +FAMILY WODZINSKI.--CHOPIN'S LOVE FOR MARIA WODZINSKA (DRESDEN, +1835; MARIENBAD, 1836).--ANOTHER VISIT TO LEIPZIG (1836).-- +CHARACTER OF THE CHIEF EVENTS IN 1837.--MENTION OF HIS FIRST +MEETING WITH GEORGE SAND.--HIS VISIT TO LONDON.--NEWSPAPER +ANNOUNCEMENT OF ANOTHER VISIT TO MARIENBAD.--STATE OF HIS HEALTH +IN 1837. + + + +IF we leave out of account his playing in the salons, Chopin's +artistic activity during the period comprised in this chapter was +confined to teaching and composition. [Footnote: A Paris +correspondent wrote in the Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik of May 17, +1836, that Chopin had not been heard at all that winter, meaning, +of course, that he had not been heard in public.] The publication +of his works enables us to form an approximate idea of how he was +occupied as a creative musician. In the year 1835 were published: +in February, Op. 20, Premier Scherzo (in B minor), dedicated to +Mr. T. Albrecht, and in November, Op. 24, Quatre Mazurkas, +dedicated to M. le Comte de Perthuis. In 1836 appeared: in April, +Op. 21, Second Concerto (in F minor), dedicated to Madame la +Comtesse Delphine Potocka: in May, Op. 27, Deux Nocturnes (in C +sharp minor and D flat major), dedicated to Madame la Comtesse +d'Appony; in June, Op. 23, Ballade (in G minor), dedicated to M. +le Baron de Stockhausen; in July, Op. 22, Grande Polonaise +brillante (E flat major) precedee d'un Andante spianato for +pianoforte and orchestra, dedicated to Madame la Baronne d'Est; +and Op. 26, Deux Polonaises (in C sharp minor and E flat minor), +dedicated to Mr. J. Dessauer. It is hardly necessary to point out +that the opus numbers do not indicate the order of succession in +which the works were composed. The Concerto belongs to the year +1830; the above notes show that Op. 24 and 27 were sooner in +print than Op. 23 and 26; and Op. 25, although we hear of its +being played by the composer in 1834 and 1835, was not published +till 1837. + +The indubitably most important musical event of the season 1835- +1836, was the production of Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots, which took +place on February 29, 1836, and had an extraordinary success. The +concert-rooms, however, concern us more than the opera-houses. +This year brought to Paris two Polish musicians: Lipinski, the +violinist, and Gusikow, the virtuoso on the Strohfiedel, +[FOOTNOTE: "Straw-fiddle," Gigelira, or Xylophone, an instrument +consisting of a graduated series of bars of wood that lie on +cords of twisted straw and are struck with sticks.] whom +Mendelssohn called "a true genius," and another contemporary +pointed out as one of the three great stars (Paganini and +Malibran were the two others) at that time shining in the musical +heavens. The story goes that Lipinski asked Chopin to prepare the +ground for him in Paris. The latter promised to do all in his +power if Lipinski would give a concert for the benefit of the +Polish refugees. The violinist at first expressed his willingness +to do so, but afterwards drew back, giving as his reason that if +he played for the Polish refugees he would spoil his prospects in +Russia, where he intended shortly to make an artistic tour. +Enraged at this refusal, Chopin declined to do anything to +further his countryman's plans in Paris. But whether the story is +true or not, Lipinski's concert at the Hotel de Ville, on March +3, was one of the most brilliant and best-attended of the season. +[FOOTNOTE: Revue et Gazette musicale of March 13, 1836. Mainzer +had a report to the same effect in the Neue Zeitschrift fur +Musik.] + +The virtuoso, however, whose appearance caused the greatest +sensation was Thalberg. The Gazette musicale announced his +arrival on November 8, 1835. He was first heard at M. +Zimmermann's; Madame Viardot-Garcia, Duprez, and De Beriot being +the other artists that took active parts in the soiree. The +enthusiasm which Thalberg on this occasion as well as +subsequently excited was immense. The Menestrel expressed the all +but unanimous opinion when, on March 13, 1836, it said: "Thalberg +is not only the first pianist in the world, but he is also a most +distinguished composer." His novel effects astonished and +delighted his hearers. The pianists showed their appreciation by +adopting their confrere's manipulations and treatment of the +piano as soon as these ceased to puzzle them; the great majority +of the rising Parisian pianists became followers of Thalberg, nor +were some of the older ones slow in profiting by his example. The +most taking of the effects which Thalberg brought into vogue was +the device of placing the melody in the middle--i.e., the most +sonorous part of the instrument--and dividing it so between the +hands that they could at the same time accompany it with full +chords and brilliant figures. Even if he borrowed the idea from +the harpist Parish-Alvars, or from the pianist Francesco G. +Pollini, there remains to him the honour of having improved the +invention of his forerunners and applied it with superior +ability. His greatness, however, does not solely or even mainly +rest on this or any other ingeniously-contrived and cleverly- +performed trick. The secret of his success lay in the +aristocratic nature of his artistic personality, in which +exquisite elegance and calm self-possession reigned supreme. In +accordance with this fundamental disposition were all the details +of his style of playing. His execution was polished to the +highest degree; the evenness of his scales and the clearness of +his passages and embellishments could not be surpassed. If +sensuous beauty is the sole end of music, his touch must be +pronounced the ideal of perfection, for it extracted the essence +of beauty. Strange as the expression "unctuous sonorousness" may +sound, it describes felicitously a quality of a style of playing +from which roughness, harshness, turbulence, and impetuosity were +altogether absent. Thalberg has been accused of want of +animation, passion, in short, of soul; but as Ambros remarked +with great acuteness-- + + Thalberg's compositions and playing had soul, a salon soul to + be sure, somewhat like that of a very elegant woman of the + world, who, nevertheless, has really a beautiful disposition + [Gemueth], which, however, is prevented from fully showing + itself by the superexquisiteness of her manners. + +This simile reminds me of a remark of Heine's, who thought that +Thalberg distinguished himself favourably from other pianists by +what he (Heine) felt inclined to call "his musical conduct +[Betragen]." Here are some more of the poet-critic's remarks on +the same subject:-- + + As in life so also in art, Thalberg manifests innate tact; + his execution is so gentlemanlike, so opulent, so decorous, + so entirely without grimace, so entirely without forced + affectation of genius [forcirtes Genialthun], so entirely + without that boastful boorishness which badly conceals the + inner pusillanimity...He enchants by balsamic euphony, by + sobriety and gentleness....There is only one I prefer. That + is Chopin. + +As a curiosity I must quote a passage from a letter dated July +10, 1836, and addressed by George Sand to the Comtesse d'Agoult. +Feelings of friendship, and, in one case at least, of more than +friendship, made these ladies partial to another prince of the +keyboard:-- + + I have heard Thalberg in Paris. He made on me the impression + of a good little child, very nice and very well-behaved. + There are hours when Franz [Liszt], while amusing himself, + trifles [badine], like him, on some notes in order to let the + furious elements afterwards loose on this gentle breeze. + +Liszt, who was at the time of Thalberg's visit to Paris in +Switzerland, doubted the correctness of the accounts which +reached him of this virtuoso's achievements. Like Thomas he would +trust only his own senses; and as his curiosity left him no rest, +he betook himself in March, 1836, to Paris. But, unfortunately, +he arrived too late, Thalberg having quitted the capital on the +preceding day. The enthusiastic praises which were everywhere the +answer to his inquiries about Thalberg irritated Liszt, and +seemed to him exaggerations based on delusions. To challenge +criticism and practically refute the prevalent opinion, he gave +two private soirees, one at Pleyel's and another at Erard's, both +of which were crowded, the latter being attended by more than +four hundred people. The result was a brilliant victory, and +henceforth there were two camps. The admiration and stupefaction +of those who heard him were extraordinary; for since his last +appearance Liszt had again made such enormous progress as to +astonish even his most intimate friends. In answer to those who +had declared that with Thalberg a new era began, Berlioz, +pointing to Liszt's Fantasia on I Pirati and that on themes from +La Juive, now made the counter-declaration that "this was the new +school of pianoforte-playing." Indeed, Liszt was only now +attaining to the fulness of his power as a pianist and composer +for his instrument; and when after another sojourn in Switzerland +he returned in December, 1836, to Paris, and in the course of the +season entered the lists with Thalberg, it was a spectacle for +the gods. "Thalberg," writes Leon Escudier, "est la grace, comme +Liszt la force; le jeu de l'un est blond, celui de l'autre est +brun." A lady who heard the two pianists at a concert for the +Italian poor, given in the salons of the Princess Belgiojoso, +exclaimed: "Thalberg est le premier pianiste du monde."--"Et +Liszt?" asked the person to whom the words were addressed-- +"Liszt! Liszt--c'est le seul!" was the reply. This is the spirit +in which great artists should be judged. It is oftener narrowness +of sympathy than acuteness of discrimination which makes people +exalt one artist and disparage another who differs from him. In +the wide realm of art there are to be found many kinds of +excellence; one man cannot possess them all and in the highest +degree. Some of these excellences are indeed irreconcilable and +exclude each other; most of them can only be combined by a +compromise. Hence, of two artists who differ from each other, one +is not necessarily superior to the other; and he who is the +greater on the whole may in some respects be inferior to the +lesser. Perhaps the reader will say that these are truisms. To be +sure they are. And yet if he considers only the judgments which +are every day pronounced, he may easily be led to believe that +these truisms are most recondite truths now for the first time +revealed. When Liszt after his first return from Switzerland did +not find Thalberg himself, he tried to satisfy his curiosity by a +careful examination of that pianist's compositions. The +conclusions he came to be set forth in a criticism of Thalberg's +Grande Fantaisie, Op. 22, and the Caprices, Op. 15 and 19, which +in 1837 made its appearance in the Gazette musicale, accompanied +by an editorial foot-note expressing dissent. I called Liszt's +article a criticism, but "lampoon" or "libel" would have been a +more appropriate designation. In the introductory part Liszt +sneers at Thalberg's title of "Pianist to His Majesty the Emperor +of Austria," and alludes to his rival's distant (i.e., +illegitimate) relationship to a noble family, ascribing his +success to a great extent to these two circumstances. The +personalities and abusiveness of the criticism remind one +somewhat of the manner in which the scholars of earlier +centuries, more especially of the sixteenth and seventeenth, +dealt critically with each other. Liszt declares that love of +truth, not jealousy, urged him to write; but he deceived himself. +Nor did his special knowledge and experience as a musician and +virtuoso qualify him, as he pretended, above others for the task +he had undertaken; he forgot that no man can be a good judge in +his own cause. No wonder, therefore, that Fetis, enraged at this +unprovoked attack of one artist on a brother-artist, took up his +pen in defence of the injured party. Unfortunately, his retort +was a lengthy and pedantic dissertation, which along with some +true statements contained many questionable, not to say silly, +ones. In nothing, however, was he so far off the mark as in his +comparative estimate of Liszt and Thalberg. The sentences in +which he sums up the whole of his reasoning show this clearly: +"You are the pre-eminent man of the school which is effete and +which has nothing more to do, but you are not the man of a new +school! Thalberg is this man--herein lies the whole difference +between you two." Who can help smiling at this combination of +pompous authoritativeness and wretched short-sightedness? It has +been truly observed by Ambros that there is between Thalberg and +Liszt all the difference that exists between a man of talent and +a man of genius; indeed, the former introduced but a new fashion, +whereas the latter founded really a new school. The one +originated a few new effects, the other revolutionised the whole +style of writing for the pianoforte. Thalberg was perfect in his +genre, but he cannot be compared to an artist of the breadth, +universality, and, above all, intellectual and emotional power of +Liszt. It is possible to describe the former, but the latter, +Proteus-like, is apt to elude the grasp of him who endeavours to +catch hold of him. The Thalberg controversy did not end with +Fetis's article. Liszt wrote a rejoinder in which he failed to +justify himself, but succeeded in giving the poor savant some +hard hits. I do not think Liszt would have approved of the +republication of these literary escapades if he had taken the +trouble to re-read them. It is very instructive to compare his +criticism of Thalberg's compositions with what Schumann--who in +this case is by no means partial--said of them. In the opinion of +the one the Fantaisie sur Les Huguenots is not only one of the +most empty and mediocre works, but it is also so supremely +monotonous that it produces extreme weariness. In the opinion of +the other the Fantaisie deserves the general enthusiasm which it +has called forth, because the composer proves himself master of +his language and thoughts, conducts himself like a man of the +world, binds and loosens the threads with so much ease that it +seems quite unintentional, and draws the audience with him +wherever he wishes without either over-exciting or wearying it. +The truth, no doubt, is rather with Schumann than with Liszt. +Although Thalberg's compositions cannot be ranked with the great +works of ideal art, they are superior to the morceaux of Czerny, +Herz, and hoc genus omne, their appearance marking indeed an +improvement in the style of salon music. + +But what did Chopin think of Thalberg? He shared the opinion of +Liszt, whose side he took. In fact, Edouard Wolff told me that +Chopin absolutely despised Thalberg. To M. Mathias I owe the +following communication, which throws much light on Chopin's +attitude:-- + + I saw Chopin with George Sand at the house of Louis Viardot, + before the marriage of the latter with Pauline Garcia. I was + very young, being only twelve years old, but I remember it as + though it had been yesterday. Thalberg was there, and had + played his second fantasia on Don Giovanni (Op. 42), and upon + my word Chopin complimented him most highly and with great + gravity; nevertheless, God knows what Chopin thought of it in + his heart, for he had a horror of Thalberg's arrangements, + which I have seen and heard him parody in the most droll and + amusing manner, for Chopin had the sense of parody and + ridicule in a high degree. + +Thalberg had not much intercourse with Chopin, nor did he +exercise the faintest shadow of an influence over him; but as one +of the foremost pianist-composers--indeed, one of the most +characteristic phenomena of the age--he could not be passed by in +silence. Moreover, the noisy careers of Liszt and Thalberg serve +as a set-off to the noiseless one of Chopin. + +I suspect that Chopin was one of that race of artists and poets +"qui font de la passion un instrument de l'art et de la poesie, +et dont l'esprit n'a d'activite qu'autant qu'il est mis en +mouvement par les forces motrices du coeur." At any rate, the +tender passion was a necessary of his existence. That his +disappointed first love did not harden his heart and make him +insensible to the charms of the fair sex is apparent from some +remarks of George Sand, who says that although his heart was +ardent and devoted, it was not continuously so to any one person, +but surrendered itself alternately to five or six affections, +each of which, as they struggled within it, got by turns the +mastery over all the others. He would passionately love three +women in the course of one evening party and forget them as soon +as he had turned his back, while each of them imagined that she +had exclusively charmed him. In short, Chopin was of a very +impressionable nature: beauty and grace, nay, even a mere smile, +kindled his enthusiasm at first sight, and an awkward word or +equivocal glance was enough to disenchant him. But although he +was not at all exclusive in his own affections, he was so in a +high degree with regard to those which he demanded from others. +In illustration of how easily Chopin took a dislike to anyone, +and how little he measured what he accorded of his heart with +what he exacted from that of others, George Sand relates a story +which she got from himself. In order to avoid misrepresenting +her, I shall translate her own words:-- + + He had taken a great fancy to the granddaughter of a + celebrated master. He thought of asking her in marriage at + the same time that he entertained the idea of another + marriage in Poland--his loyalty being engaged nowhere, and + his fickle heart floating from one passion to the other. The + young Parisian received him very kindly, and all went as well + as could be till on going to visit her one day in company + with another musician, who was of more note in Paris than he + at that time, she offered a chair to this gentleman before + thinking of inviting Chopin to be seated. He never called on + her again, and forgot her immediately. + +The same story was told me by other intimate friends of Chopin's, +who evidently believed in its genuineness; their version differed +from that of George Sand only in this, that there was no allusion +to a lady-love in Poland. Indeed, true as George Sand's +observations are in the main, we must make allowance for the +novelist's habit of fashioning and exaggerating, and the woman's +endeavour to paint her dismissed and aggrieved lover as black as +possible. Chopin may have indulged in innumerable amorous +fancies, but the story of his life furnishes at least one +instance of his having loved faithfully as well as deeply. Nor +will it be denied that Chopin's love for Constantia Gladkowska +was a serious affair, whether the fatal end be attributable to +him or her, or both. And now I have to give an account of another +love-affair which deserves likewise the epithet "serious." + +As a boy Chopin contracted a friendship with the brothers +Wodzinski, who were boarders at his father's establishment. With +them he went repeatedly to Sluzewo, the property of their father, +and thus became also acquainted with the rest of the family. The +nature of the relation in which Chopin and they stood to each +other is shown by a letter written by the former on July 18, +1834, to one of the brothers who with his mother and other +members of the family was at that time staying at Geneva, whither +they had gone after the Polish revolution of 1830-31, in which +the three brothers--Anthony, Casimir, and Felix--had taken part:- +- + + My dear Felix,--Very likely you thought "Fred must be moping + that he does not answer my letter!" But you will remember + that it was always my habit to do everything too late. Thus I + went also too late to Miss Fanche, and consequently was + obliged to wait till honest Wolf had departed. Were it not + that I have only recently come back from the banks of the + Rhine and have an engagement from which I cannot free myself + just now, I would immediately set out for Geneva to thank + your esteemed mamma and at the same time accept her kind + invitation. But cruel fate--in one word, it cannot be done. + Your sister was so good as to send me her composition. It + gives me the greatest pleasure, and happening to improvise + the veryevening of its arrival in one of our salons, I took + for my subject the pretty theme by a certain Maria with whom + in times gone by I played at hide and seek in the house of + Mr. Pszenny...To-day! Je prends la liberte d'envoyer a mon + estimable collegue Mile Marie une petite valse que je viens + de publier. May it afford her a hundredth part of the + pleasure which I felt on receiving her variations. In + conclusion, I once more thank your mamma most sincerely for + kindly remembering her old and faithful servant in whose + veins also there run some drops of Cujavian blood. + [Footnote: Cujavia is the name of a Polish district.] + + F. CHOPIN. + + P.S.--Embrace Anthony, stifle Casimir with caresses if you + can. as for Miss Maria make her a graceful and respectful + bow. Be surprised and say in a whisper, "Dear me, how tall + she has grown!" + +The Wodzinskis, with the exception of Anthony, returned in the +summer of 1835 to Poland, making on their way thither a stay at +Dresden. Anthony, who was then in Paris and in constant intercourse +with Chopin, kept the latter informed of his people's movements and +his people of Chopin's. Thus it came about that they met at Dresden +in September, 1835, whither the composer went after his meeting +with his parents at Carlsbad, mentioned in the preceding chapter +(p. 288). Count Wodzinski says in his Les trois Romans de Frederic +Chopin that Chopin had spoken to his father about his project of +marrying Maria Wodzinska, and that this idea had sprung up in his +soul by the mere force of recollections. The young lady was then +nineteen years of age, and, according to the writer just mentioned, +tall and slender in figure, and light and graceful in gait. The +features, he tells us, were distinguished neither by regularity nor +classical beauty, but had an indefinable charm. Her black eyes were +full of sweetness, reverie, and restrained fire; a smile of +ineffable voluptuousness played around her lips; and her +magnificent hair was as dark as ebony and long enough to serve her +as a mantle. Chopin and Maria saw each other every evening at the +house of her uncle, the Palatine Wodzinski. The latter concluded +from their frequent tete-a-tete at the piano and in corners that +some love-making was going on between them. When he found that his +monitory coughs and looks produced no effect on his niece, he +warned his sister-in-law. She, however, took the matter lightly, +saying that it was an amitie d'enfance, that Maria was fond of +music, and that, moreover, there would soon be an end to all +this--their ways lying in opposite directions, hers eastward to +Poland, his westward to France. And thus things were allowed to go +on as they had begun, Chopin passing all his evenings with the +Wodzinskis and joining them in all their walks. At last the time of +parting came, the clock of the Frauenkirche struck the hour of ten, +the carriage was waiting at the door, Maria gave Chopin a rose from +a bouquet on the table, and he improvised a waltz which he +afterwards sent her from Paris, and which she called L'Adieu. +Whatever we may think of the details of this scene of parting, the +waltz composed for Maria at Dresden is an undeniable fact. +Facsimiles may be seen in Szulc's Fryderyk Chopin and Count +Wodziriski's Les trois Romans de Frederic Chopin. The manuscript +bears the superscription: "Tempo de Valse" on the left, and "pour +Mile. Marie" on the right; and the subscription: "F. Chopin, Drezno +[Dresden], September, 1835." [FOOTNOTE: It is Op. 69, No. 1, one of +the posthumous works published by Julius Fontana.] + +The two met again in the following summer, this time at +Marienbad, where he knew she and her mother were going. They +resumed their walks, music, and conversations. She drew also his +portrait. And then one day Chopin proposed. Her answer was that +she could not run counter to her parents' wishes, nor could she +hope to be able to bend their will; but she would always preserve +for him in her heart a grateful remembrance.[FOOTNOTE: Count +Wodzinski relates on p. 255 of his book that at a subsequent +period of her life the lady confided to him the above-quoted +answer.] This happened in August, 1836; and two days after mother +and daughter left Marienbad. Maria Wodzinska married the next +year a son of Chopin's godfather, Count Frederick Skarbek. The +marriage turned but an unhappy one, and was dissolved. +Subsequently the Countess married a Polish gentleman of the name +of Orpiszewski, who died some years ago in Florence. She, I +think, is still alive. + +Karasowski relates the affair very differently. He says Chopin, +who knew the brothers Wodzinski in Poland, met them again in +Paris, and through them made the acquaintance of their sister +Maria, whose beauty and amiability inspired him at once with an +interest which soon became ardent love. But that Chopin had known +her in Poland may be gathered from the above letter to Felix +Wodzinski, quite apart from the distinct statements of the author +of Les trois Romans that Chopin was a frequent visitor at +Sluzewo, and a great friend of Maria's. Further, Karasowski, who +does not mention at all the meeting of Chopin and the Wodzinskis +at Dresden in 1835, says that Chopin went in the middle of July, +1836, to Marienbad, where he knew he would find Maria and her +mother, and that there he discovered that she whom he loved +reciprocated his affection, the consequence being an engagement +approved of by her relations. When the sojourn in Marienbad came +to an end, the whole party betook itself to Dresden, where they +remained together for some weeks, which they spent most +pleasantly. + +[FOOTNOTE: Karasowski relates that Chopin was at the zenith of +happiness. His good humour was irresistible. He imitated the most +famous pianists, and played his dreamy mazurkas in the manner +much in favour with Warsaw amateurs--i.e., strictly in time and +with the strongly-accented rhythm of common dance-tunes. And his +friends reminded him of the tricks which, as a boy, he had played +on his visits to the country, and how he took away his sisters' +kid gloves when he was going to an evening-party, and could not +buy himself new ones, promising to send them dozens as soon as he +had gained a good position in Paris. Count Wodzinski, too, bears +witness to Chopin's good humour while in the company of the +Wodzinskis. In the course of his account of the sojourn at +Marienbad, this writer speaks of Chopin's polichinades: "He +imitated then this or that famous artist, the playing of certain +pupils or compatriots, belabouring the keyboard with extravagant +gestures, a wild [echevele] and romantic manner, which he called +aller a la chasse aux pigeons."] + +Unless Chopin was twice with the Wodzinskis in Dresden, +Karasowski must be mistaken. That Chopin sojourned for some time +at Dresden in 1835 is evidenced by Wieck's letter, quoted on p. +288, and by the above-mentioned waltz. The latter seems also to +confirm what Count Wodzinski says about the presence of the +Wodzinskis at Dresden in that year. On the other hand, we have no +such documents to prove the presence at Dresden in 1836 either of +Chopin or the Wodzinskis. According to Karasowski, the engagement +made at Marienbad remained in force till the middle of 1837, when +Chopin received at Paris the news that the lady withdrew from it. +[FOOTNOTE: In explanation of the breaking-off of this supposed +engagement, it has also been said that the latter was favoured by +the mother, but opposed by the father.] The same authority +informs us that before this catastrophe Chopin had thoughts of +settling with his future wife in the neighbourhood of Warsaw, +near his beloved parents and sisters. There he would cultivate +his art in retirement, and found schools for the people. How, +without a fortune of his own, and with a wife who, although +belonging to a fairly wealthy family, would not come into the +possession of her portion till after the death of her parents, he +could have realised these dreams, I am at a loss to conjecture. + +[FOONOTE: To enable his readers to measure the social distance +that separated Chopin from his beloved one, Count Wodzinski +mentions among other details that her father possessed a domain +of about 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares). It is hardly necessary +to add that this large acreage, which we will suppose to be +correctly stated, is much less a measure of the possessor's +wealth than of his social rank.] + +Chopin's letters, which testify so conclusively to the cordial +friendship existing between him and the Wodzinskis, unfortunately +contain nothing which throws light on his connection with the +young lady, although her name occurs in them several times. On +April 2, 1837, Chopin wrote to Madame Wodzinska as follows:-- + + I take advantage of Madame Nakwaska's permission and enclose + a few words. I expect news from Anthony's own hand, and shall + send you a letter even more full of details than the one + which contained Vincent's enclosure. I beg of you to keep + your mind easy about him. As yet all are in the town. I am + not in possession of any details, because the correspondents + only give accounts of themselves. My letter of the same date + must certainly be in Sluzewo; and, as far as is possible, it + will set your mind at rest with regard to this Spaniard who + must, must write me a few words. I am not going to use many + words in expressing the sorrow I felt on learning the news of + your mother's death--not for her sake whom I did not know, + but for your sake whom I do know. {This is a matter of + course!) I have to confess, Madam, that I have had an attack + like the one I had in Marienbad; I sit before Miss Maria's + book, and were I to sit a hundred years I should be unable to + write anything in it. For there are days when I am out of + sorts. To-day I would prefer being in Sluzewo to writing to + Sluzewo. Then would I tell you more than I have now written. + My respects to Mr. Wodzinski and my kind regards to Miss + Maria, Casimir, Theresa, and Felix. + +The object of another letter, dated May 14, 1837, is likewise to +give news of Anthony Wodzinski, who was fighting in Spain. Miss +Maria is mentioned in the P.S. and urged to write a few words to +her brother. + +After a careful weighing of the evidence before us, it appears to +me that--notwithstanding the novelistic tricking-out of Les trois +Romans de Frederic Chopin--we cannot but accept as the true +account the author's statement as to Chopin's proposal of +marriage and Miss Wodzinska's rejection at Marienbad in 1836. The +testimony of a relation with direct information from one of the +two chief actors in the drama deserves more credit than that of a +stranger with, at best, second-hand information; unless we prefer +to believe that the lady misrepresented the facts in order to +show herself to the world in a more dignified and amiable +character than that of a jilt. The letters can hardly be quoted +in support of the engagement, for the rejection would still admit +of the continuation of the old friendship, and their tone does +not indicate the greater intimacy of a closer relationship. + +Subsequent to his stay at Marienbad Chopin again visited Leipzig. +But the promises which Mendelssohn and Chopin had so solemnly +made to each other in the preceding year had not been kept; the +latter did not go in the course of the winter to Leipzig, and if +he had gone, the former could not have performed a new symphony +of his in honour of the guest. Several passages in letters +written by Schumann in the early part of 1836 show, however, that +Chopin was not forgotten by his Leipzig friends, with whom he +seems to have been in correspondence. On March 8, 1836, Schumann +wrote to Moscheles:-- + + Mendelssohn sends you his hearty greetings. He has finished + his oratorio, and will conduct it himself at the Dusseldorf + Musical Festival. Perhaps I shall go there too, perhaps also + Chopin, to whom we shall write about it. + +The first performance of Mendelssohn's St. Paul took place at +Dusseldorf on May 22, and was a great success. But neither +Schumann nor Chopin was there. The latter was, no doubt, already +planning his excursion to Marienbad, and could not allow himself +the luxury of two holidays within so short a time. + +Here is another scrap from a letter of Schumann's, dated August +28, 1836, and addressed to his brother Edward and his sister-in- +law Theresa:-- + + I have just written to Chopin, who is said to be in + Marienbad, in order to learn whether he is really there. In + any case, I should visit you again in autumn. But if Chopin + answers my letter at once, I shall start sooner, and go to + Marienbad by way of Carlsbad. Theresa, what do you think! you + must come with me! Read first Chopin's answer, and then we + will fully discuss the rest. + +Chopin either had left or was about to leave Marienbad when he +received Schumann's letter. Had he received it sooner, his answer +would not have been very encouraging. For in his circumstances he +could not but have felt even the most highly-esteemed confrere, +the most charming of companions, in the way.[FOOTNOTE: +Mendelscohn's sister, Rebecka Dirichlet, found him completely +absorbed in his Polish Countess. (See The Mendelssohn Family, +Vol. II, p. 15.)] But although the two musicians did not meet at +Marienbad, they saw each other at Leipzig. How much one of them +enjoyed the visit may be seen in the following extract from a +letter which Schumann wrote to Heinrich Dorn on September 14, +1836:-- + + The day before yesterday, just after I had received your + letter and was going to answer it, who should enter?--Chopin. + This was a great pleasure. We passed a very happy day + together, in honour of which I made yesterday a holiday...I + have a new ballade by Chopin. It appears to me his + genialischstes (not genialstes) work; and I told him that I + liked it best of all. + + [FOOTNOTE: "Sein genialischstes (nicht genialstes) Werk." I + take Schumann to mean that the ballade in question (the one + in G minor) is Chopin's most spirited, most daring work, but + not his most genial--i.e., the one fullest of genius. + Schumann's remark, in a criticism of Op. 37, 38, and 42, that + this ballade is the "wildest and most original" of Chopin's + compositions, confirms my conjecture.] + + After a long meditative pause he said with great emphasis: "I + am glad of that, it is the one which I too like best." He + played besides a number of new etudes, nocturnes, and + mazurkas--everything incomparable. You would like him very + much. But Clara [Wieck] is greater as a virtuoso, and gives + almost more meaning to his compositions than he himself. + Imagine the perfection, a mastery which seems to be quite + unconscious of itself! + +Besides the announcement of September 16, 1836, that Chopin had +been a day in Leipzig, that he had brought with him among other +things new "heavenly" etudes, nocturnes, mazurkas, and a new +ballade, and that he played much and "very incomparably," there +occur in Schumann's writings in the Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik +unmistakable reminiscences of this visit of the Polish musician. +Thus, for instance, in a review of dance-music, which appeared in +the following year, and to which he gave the fantastic form of a +"Report to Jeanquirit in Augsburg of the editor's last artistico- +historical ball," the writer relates a conversation he had with +his partner Beda:-- + + I turned the conversation adroitly on Chopin. Scarcely had + she heard the name than she for the first time fully looked + at me with her large, kindly eyes. "And you know him?" I + answered in the affirmative. "And you have heard him?" Her + form became more and more sublime. "And have heard him + speak?" And when I told her that it was a never-to-be- + forgotten picture to see him sitting at the piano like a + dreaming seer, and how in listening to his playing one seemed + to one's self like the dream he created, and how he had the + dreadful habit of passing, at the end of each piece, one + finger quickly over the whizzing keyboard, as if to get rid + of his dream by force, and how he had to take care of his + delicate health--she clung to me with ever-increasing + timorous delight, and wished to know more and more about him. + +Very interesting is Schumann's description of how Chopin played +some etudes from his Op. 25; it is to be found in another +criticism of the same year (1837):-- + + As regards these etudes, I have the advantage of having heard + most of them played by Chopin himself, and, as Florestan + whispered in my ear at the time, "He plays them very much a + la Chopin." Imagine an AEolian harp that had all the scales, + and that these were jumbled together by the hand of an artist + into all sorts of fantastic ornaments, but in such a manner + that a deeper fundamental tone and a softly-singing higher + part were always audible, and you have an approximate idea of + his playing. No wonder that we have become fondest of those + pieces which we heard him play himself, and therefore we + shall mention first of all the first one in A flat, which is + rather a poem than an etude. It would be a mistake, however, + to suppose that he brought out every one of the little notes + with distinctness; it was more like a billowing of the A flat + major chord, swelled anew here and there by means of the + pedal; but through the harmonies were heard the sustained + tones of a wondrous melody, and only in the middle of it did + a tenor part once come into greater prominence amid the + chords along with that principal cantilena. After listening + to the study one feels as one does after a blissful vision, + seen in a dream, which, already half awake, one would fain + bring back. He soon came to the one in F minor, the second in + the book, likewise one which impresses one indelibly with his + originality; it is so charming, dreamy, and soft, somewhat + like the singing of a child in its sleep. Beautiful also, + although less new in character than in the figure, was the + following one in F major; here the object was more to exhibit + bravura, the most charming bravura, and we could not but + praise the master highly for it....But of what use are + descriptive words? + +This time we cannot cite a letter of Mendelssohn's; he was +elsewhere similarly occupied as Chopin in Marienbad. After +falling in love with a Frankfort lady, Miss Jeanrenaud, he had +gone to Scheweningen to see whether his love would stand the test +of absence from the beloved object. It stood the test admirably, +and on September 9, a few days before Chopin's arrival in +Leipzig, Mendelssohn's engagement to the lady who became his wife +on March 28, 1837, took place. + +But another person who has been mentioned in connection with +Chopin's first visit to Leipzig, Henrietta Voigt, [FOOTNOTE: The +editor of "Acht Briefe und ein Facsimile van Felix Mendelssohn- +Bartholdy" speaks of her as "the artistic wife of a Leipzig +merchant, whose house stood open to musicians living in and +passing through Leipzig."] has left us an account of the +impression made upon her. An entry in her diary on September 13, +1836, runs thus:-- + + Yesterday Chopin was here and played an hour on my piano--a + fantasia and new etude of his--interesting man and still more + interesting playing; he moved me strangely. The over- + excitement of his fantastic manner is imparted to the keen- + eared; it made me hold my breath. Wonderful is the ease with + which his velvet fingers glide, I might almost say fly, over + the keys. He has enraptured me--I cannot deny it--in a way + which hitherto had been unknown to me. What delighted me was + the childlike, natural manner which he showed in his + demeanour and in his playing. + +After this short break of his journey at Leipzig, which he did +not leave without placing a wreath of flowers on the monument of +Prince Joseph Poniatowski, who in 1812 met here with an early +death, being drowned in the river Elster, Chopin proceeded on his +homeward journey, that is toward Paris, probably tarrying again +for a day or two at Heidelberg. + +The non-artistic events of this period are of a more stirring +nature than the artistic ones. First in time and importance comes +Chopin's meeting with George Sand, which more than any other +event marks an epoch in the composer's life. But as this subject +has to be discussed fully and at some length we shall leave it +for another chapter, and conclude this with an account of some +other matters. + +Mendelssohn, who arrived in London on August 24, 1837, wrote on +September 1 to Hiller:-- + + Chopin is said to have suddenly turned up here a fortnight + ago; but he visited nobody and made no acquaintances. He + played one evening most beautifully at Broadwood's, and then + hurried away again. I hear he is still suffering very much. + +Chopin accompanied by Camille Pleyel and Stanislas Kozmian, the +elder, came to London on the 11th of July and stayed till the +22nd. Pleyel introduced him under the name of M. Fritz to his +friend James Broadwood, who invited them to dine with him at his +house in Bryanston Square. The incognito, however, could only be +preserved as long as Chopin kept his hands off the piano. When +after dinner he sat down to play, the ladies of the family +suspected, and, suspicion being aroused, soon extracted a +confession of the truth. + +Moscheles in alluding in his diary to this visit to London adds +an item or two to its history:-- + + Chopin, who passed a few days in London, was the only one of + the foreign artists who visited nobody and also did not wish + to be visited, as every conversation aggravates his chest- + complaint. He went to some concerts and disappeared. + +Particularly interesting are the reminiscences of the writer of +an enthusiastic review [Footnote: Probably J. W. Davison.]of some +of Chopin's nocturnes and a scherzo in the "Musical World" of +February 23, 1838:-- + + Were he [Chopin] not the most retiring and unambitious of all + living musicians, he would before this time have been + celebrated as the inventor of a new style, or school, of + pianoforte composition. During his short visit to the + metropolis last season, but few had the high gratification of + hearing his extemporaneous performance. Those who experienced + this will not readily lose its remembrance. He is, perhaps, + par eminence, the most delightful of pianists in the drawing- + room. The animation of his style is so subdued, its + tenderness so refined, its melancholy so gentle, its niceties + so studied and systematic, the tout-ensemble so perfect, and + evidently the result of an accurate judgment and most + finished taste, that when exhibited in the large concert- + room, or the thronged saloon, it fails to impress itself on + the mass. The "Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik" of September 8, + 1837, brought the piece of news that Chopin was then at a + Bohemian watering-place. I doubt the correctness of this + statement; at any rate, no other information to that effect + has come to my knowledge, and the ascertained facts do not + favour the assumption of its truth. + +Never robust, Chopin had yet hitherto been free from any serious +illness. Now, however, the time of his troubles begins. In a +letter, undated, but very probably written in the summer of 1837, +which he addressed to Anthony Wodzinski, who had been wounded in +Spain, where civil war was then raging, occur remarks +confirmatory of Mendelssohn's and Moscheles' statements:-- + + My dearest life! Wounded! Far from us--and I can send you + nothing....Your friends are thinking only of you. For mercy's + sake recover as soon as possible and return. The newspaper + accounts say that your legion is completely annihilated. + Don't enter the Spanish army....Remember that your blood may + serve a better purpose....Titus [Woyciechowski] wrote to ask + me if I could not meet him somewhere in Germany. During the + winter I was again ill with influenza. They wanted to send me + to Ems. Up to the present, however, I have no thought of + going, as I am unable to move. I write and prepare + manuscript. I think far more of you than you imagine, and + love you as much as ever. + + F. C. + + Believe me, you and Titus are enshrined in my memory. + +On the margin, Chopin writes-- + + I may perhaps go for a few days to George Sand's, but keep + your mind easy, this will not interfere with the forwarding + of your money, for I shall leave instructions with Johnnie + [Matuszynski]. + +With regard to this and to the two preceding letters to members +of the Wodzinski family, I have yet to state that I found them in +M. A. Szulc's "Fryderyk Chopin." + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + + +GEORGE SAND: HER EARLY LIFE (1804--1836); AND HER CHARACTER AS A +WOMAN, THINKER, AND LITERARY ARTIST. + + + +It is now necessary that the reader should be made acquainted +with Madame Dudevant, better known by her literary name, George +Sand, whose coming on the scene has already been announced in the +preceding chapter. The character of this lady is so much a matter +of controversy, and a correct estimate of it so essential for the +right understanding of the important part she plays in the +remaining portion of Chopin's life, that this long chapter--an +intermezzo, a biography in a biography--will not be regarded as +out of place or too lengthy. If I begin far off, as it were +before the beginning, I do so because the pedigree has in this +case a peculiar significance. + +The mother of George Sand's father was the daughter of the +Marschal de Saxe (Count Maurice of Saxony, natural son of August +the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, and the +Countess Maria Aurora von Konigsmark) and the dame de l'opera, +Mdlle. de Verrieres, whose real name was Madame de la Riviere, +nee Marie Rinteau. This daughter, Marie Aurore, married at the +age of fifteen Comte de Home, a natural son of Louis XV., who +died soon after; and fifteen years later she condescended to +accept the hand of M. Dupin de Francueil, receveur general, who, +although of an old and well-connected family, did not belong to +the high nobility. The curious may read about Mdlle. de Verrieres +in the "Memoires" of Marmontel, who was one of her many lovers, +and about M. Dupin, his father, mother-in-law, first wife &c., in +Rousseau's "Confessions," where, however, he is always called De +Francueil. Notwithstanding the disparity of age, the husband +being twice as old as his wife, the marriage of M. Dupin and the +Comtesse de Home proved to be a very happy one. They had one +child, a son, Maurice Francois Elisabeth Dupin. He entered the +army in 1798, and two years later, in the course of the Italian +campaign, became first lieutenant and then aide-de-camp to +General Dupont. + +In Italy and about the same time Maurice Dupin saw and fell in +love with Sophie Victoire Antoinette Delaborde, the daughter of a +Paris bird-seller, who had been a supernumerary at some small +theatre, and whose youth, as George Sand delicately expresses it, +"had by the force of circumstances been exposed to the most +frightful hazards." Sacrificing all the advantages she was then +enjoying, she followed Maurice Dupin to France. From this liaison +sprang several children, all of whom, however, except one, died +very young. A month before the birth of her in whom our interest +centres, Maurice Dupin married Sophie Delaborde. The marriage was +a civil one and contracted without the knowledge of his mother, +who was opposed to this union less on account of Sophie's +plebeian origin than of her doubtful antecedents. + +It was on July 5, 1804, that Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, who +under the name of George Sand became famous all the world over, +saw for the first time the light of day. The baby, which by a +stratagem was placed in the arms of her grandmother, mollified +the feelings of the old lady, whom the clandestine marriage had +put in a great rage, so effectually that she forgave her son, +received his wife, and tried to accommodate herself to the +irremediable. After the Spanish campaign, during which he acted +as aide-de-camp to Murat, Maurice Dupin and his family came to +Nohant, his mother's chateau in Berry. There little Aurora lost +her father when she was only four years old. Returning home one +evening from La Chatre, a neighbouring town, he was thrown off +his horse, and died almost instantly. + +This was an event that seriously affected the future of the +child, for only the deceased could keep in check the antagonism +of two such dissimilar characters as those of Aurora's mother and +grandmother. The mother was "dark-complexioned, pale, ardent, +awkward and timid in fashionable society, but always ready to +explode when the storm was growling too strongly within"; her +temperament was that "of a Spaniard--jealous, passionate, +choleric, and weak, perverse and kindly at the same time." Abbe +Beaumont (a natural son of Mdlle. de Verrieres and the Prince de +Turenne, Duke de Bouillon, and consequently grand-uncle of +Aurora) said of her that she had a bad head but a good heart. She +was quite uneducated, but had good natural parts, sang +charmingly, and was clever with her hands. The grandmother, on +the other hand, was "light-complexioned, blonde, grave, calm, and +dignified in her manners, a veritable Saxon of noble race, with +an imposing demeanour full of ease and patronising goodness." She +had been an assiduous student of the eighteenth century +philosophers, and on the whole was a lady of considerable +culture. For about two years these two women managed to live +together, not, however, without a feeling of discord which was +not always successfully suppressed, and sometimes broke out into +open dissension. At last they came to an arrangement according to +which the child was to be left in the keeping of the grandmother, +who promised her daughter-in-law a yearly allowance which would +enable her to take up her abode in Paris. This arrangement had +the advantage for the younger Madame Dupin that she could +henceforth devote herself to the bringing-up of another daughter, +born before her acquaintance with Aurora's father. + +From her mother Aurora received her first instruction in reading +and writing. The taste for literary composition seems to have +been innate in her, for already at the age of five she wrote +letters to her grandmother and half-brother (a natural son of her +father's). When she was seven, Deschartres, her grandmother's +steward, who had been Maurice Dupin's tutor, began to teach her +French grammar and versification, Latin, arithmetic, botany, and +a little Greek. But she had no liking for any of these studies. +The dry classifications of plants and words were distasteful to +her; arithmetic she could not get into her head; and poetry was +not her language. History, on the other hand, was a source of +great enjoyment to her; but she read it like a romance, and did +not trouble herself about dates and other unpleasant details. She +was also fond of music; at least she was so as long as her +grandmother taught her, for the mechanical drilling she got from +the organist of La Chatre turned her fondness into indifference. +That subject of education, however, which is generally regarded +as the foundation of all education--I mean religion--was never +even mentioned to her. The Holy Scriptures were, indeed, given +into the child's hands, but she was left to believe or reject +whatever she liked. Her grandmother, who was a deist, hated not +only the pious, but piety itself, and, above all, Roman +Catholicism. Christ was in her opinion an estimable man, the +gospel an excellent philosophy, but she regretted that truth was +enveloped in ridiculous fables. The little of religion which the +girl imbibed she owed to her mother, by whose side she was made +to kneel and say her prayers. "My mother," writes George Sand in +her "Histoire de ma Vie," from which these details are taken, +"carried poetry into her religious feeling, and I stood in need +of poetry." Aurora's craving for religion and poetry was not to +remain unallayed. One night there appeared to her in a dream a +phantom, Corambe by name. The dream-created being took hold of +her waking imagination, and became the divinity of her religion +and the title and central figure of her childish, unwritten +romance. Corambe, who was of no sex, or rather of either sex just +as occasion might require--for it underwent numberless +metamorphoses--had "all the attributes of physical and moral +beauty, the gift of eloquence, and the all-powerful charm of the +arts, especially the magic of musical improvisation," being in +fact an abstract of all the sacred and secular histories with +which she had got acquainted. + +The jarrings between her mother and grandmother continued; for of +course their intercourse did not entirely cease. The former +visited her relations at Nohant, and the latter and her +grandchildren occasionally passed some weeks in Paris. Aurora, +who loved both, her mother even passionately, was much harassed +by their jealousy, which vented itself in complaints, taunts, and +reproaches. Once she determined to go to Paris and live with her +mother, and was only deterred from doing so by the most cruel +means imaginable--namely, by her grandmother telling her of the +dissolute life which her mother had led before marrying her +father. + + I owe my first socialistic and democratic instincts to the + singularity of my position, to my birth a cheval so to speak + on two classes--to my love for my mother thwarted and broken + by prejudices which made me suffer before I could comprehend + them. I owe them also to my education, which was by turns + philosophical and religious, and to all the contrasts which + my own life has presented to me from my earliest years. + +At the age of thirteen Aurora was sent to the convent of English +Augustines in Paris, the only surviving one of the three or four +institutions of the kind that were founded during the time of +Cromwell. There she remained for the next three years. Her +knowledge when she entered this educational as well as religious +establishment was not of the sort that enables its possessor to +pass examinations; consequently she was placed in the lowest +class, although in discussion she could have held her own even +against her teachers. Much learning could not be acquired in the +convent, but the intercourse with other children, many of them +belonging, like the nuns, to English-speaking nations, was not +without effect on the development of her character. There were +three classes of pupils, the diables, betes, and devotes (the +devils, blockheads, and devout). Aurora soon joined the first, +and became one of their ringleaders. But all of a sudden a change +came over her. From one extreme she fell into the other. From +being the wildest of the wild she became the most devout of the +devout: "There was nothing strong in me but passion, and when +that of religion began to break out, it devoured everything in my +heart; and nothing in my brain opposed it." The acuteness of this +attack of religious mania gradually diminished; still she +harboured for some time the project of taking the veil, and +perhaps would have done so if she had been left to herself. + +After her return-to Nohant her half-brother Hippolyte, who had +recently entered the army, gave her riding lessons, and already +at the end of a week she and her mare Colette might be seen +leaping ditches and hedges, crossing deep waters, and climbing +steep inclines. "And I, the eau dormante of the convent, had +become rather more daring than a hussar and more robust than a +peasant." The languor which had weighed upon her so long had all +of once given way to boisterous activity. When she was seventeen +she also began seriously to think of self-improvement; and as her +grandmother was now paralytic and mentally much weakened, Aurora +had almost no other guidance than that of chance and her own +instinct. Thomas a Kempis' "Imitation of Christ," which had been +her guide since her religious awakening, was now superseded, not, +however, without some struggles, by Chateaubriand's "Le Genie du +Christianisme." The book was lent her by her confessor with a +view to the strengthening of her faith, but it produced quite the +reverse effect, detaching her from it for ever. After reading and +enjoying Chateaubriand's book she set to work on the philosophers +and essayists Mably, Locke, Condillac, Montesquieu, Bacon, +Bossuet, Aristotle, Leibnitz, Pascal, Montaigne, and then turned +to the poets and moralists La Bruyere, Pope, Milton, Dante, +Virgil, Shakespeare, &c. But she was not a metaphysician; the +tendencies of her mind did not impel her to seek for scientific +solutions of the great mysteries. "J'etais," she says, "un etre +de sentiment, et le sentiment seul tranchait pour moi les +questions a man usage, qui toute experience faite, devinrent +bientot les seules questions a ma, portee." This "le sentiment +seul tranchait pour moi les questions" is another self- +revelation, or instance of self-knowledge, which it will be +useful to remember. What more natural than that this "being of +sentiment" should prefer the poets to the philosophers, and be +attracted, not by the cold reasoners, but by Rousseau, "the man +of passion and sentiment." It is impossible to describe here the +various experiences and doings of Aurora. Without enlarging on +the effects produced upon her by Byron's poetry, Shakespeare's +"Hamlet," and Chateaubriand's "Rene"; on her suicidal mania; on +the long rides which, clad in male attire, she took with +Deschartres; on the death of her grandmother, whose fortune she +inherited; on her life in Paris with her extravagantly-capricious +mother; on her rupture with her father's family, her aristocratic +relations, because she would not give up her mother--I say, +without enlarging on all this we will at once pass on to her +marriage, about which there has been so much fabling. + +Aurore Dupin married Casimir Dudevant in September, 1822, and did +so of her own free will. Nor was her husband, as the story went, +a bald-headed, grey-moustached old colonel, with a look that made +all his dependents quake. On the contrary, Casimir Dudevant, a +natural son of Colonel Dudevant (an officer of the legion of +honour and a baron of the Empire), was, according to George +Sand's own description, "a slender, and rather elegant young man, +with a gay countenance and a military manner." Besides good looks +and youth--he was twenty-seven--he must also have possessed some +education, for, although he did not follow any profession, he had +been at a military school, served in the army as sub-lieutenant, +and on leaving the army had read for the bar and been admitted a +barrister. There was nothing romantic in the courtship, but at +the same time it was far from commonplace. + + He did not speak to me of love [writes George Sand], and + owned that he was little inclined to sudden passion, to + enthusiasm, and in any case no adept in expressing it in an + attractive manner. He spoke of a friendship that would stand + any test, and compared the tranquil happiness of our hosts + [she was then staying with some friends] to that which he + believed he could swear to procure me. + +She found sincerity not only in his words, but also in his whole +conduct; indeed, what lady could question a suitor's sincerity +after hearing him say that he had been struck at first sight by +her good-natured and sensible look, but that he had not thought +her either beautiful or pretty? + +Shortly after their marriage the young couple proceeded to +Nohant, where they spent the winter. In June, 1823, they went to +Paris, and there their son Maurice was born. Their only other +offspring, the daughter Solange, did not come into the world till +fiveyears later. The discrepancies of the husband and wife's +character, which became soon apparent, made themselves gradually +more and more felt. His was a practical, hers a poetic nature. +Under his management Nohant assumed an altogether different +aspect--there was now order, neatness, and economy, where there +was previously confusion, untidiness, and waste. She admitted +that the change was for the better, but could not help regretting +the state of matters that had been--the old dog Phanor taking +possession of the fire-place and putting his muddy paws upon the +carpet; the old peacock eating the strawberries in the garden; +and the wild neglected nooks, where as a child she had so often +played and dreamed. Both loved the country, but they loved it for +different reasons. He was especially fond of hunting, a +consequence of which was that he left his wife much alone. And +when he was at home his society may not always have been very +entertaining, for what liveliness he had seems to have been +rather in his legs than in his brain. Writing to her mother on +April i, 1828, Madame Dudevant says: "Vous savez comme il est +paresseux de l'esprit et enrage des jambes." On the other hand, +her temper, which was anything but uniformly serene, must have +been trying to her husband. Occasionally she had fits of weeping +without any immediate cause, and one day at luncheon she +surprised her husband by a sudden burst of tears which she was +unable to account for. As M. Dudevant attributed his wife's +condition to the dulness of Nohant, the recent death of her +grandmother, and the air of the country, he proposed a change of +scene, which he did the more readily as he himself did not in the +least like Berry. The pleasant and numerous company they found in +the house of the friends with whom they went to stay at once +revived her spirits, and she became us frolicsome as she had +before been melancholy. George Sand describes her character as +continually alternating between "contemplative solitude and +complete giddiness in conditions of primitive innocence." It is +hardly to be wondered at that one who exhibited such glaring and +unaccountable contrasts of character was considered by some +people whimsical (bizarre) and by her husband an idiot. She +herself admits the possibility that he may not have been wrong. +At any rate, little by little he succeeded in making her feel the +superiority of reason and intelligence so thoroughly that for a +long time she was quite crushed and stupefied in company. Afraid +of finding themselves alone at Nohant, the ill-matched pair +continued their migration on leaving their friends. Madame +Dudevant made great efforts to see through her husband's eyes and +to think and act as he wished, but no sooner did she accord with +him than she ceased to accord with her own instincts. Whatever +they undertook, wherever they went, that sadness "without aim and +name" would from time to time come over her. Thinking that the +decline of her religiousness was the cause of her lowness of +spirits, she took counsel with her old confessor, the Jesuit Abbe +de Premord, and even passed, with her husband's consent, some +days in the retirement of the English convent. After staying +during the spring of 1825 at Nohant, M. and Madame Dudevant set +out for the south of France on July 5, the twenty-first +anniversary of the latter's birthday. In what George Sand calls +the "History of my Life," she inserted some excerpts from a diary +kept by her at this time, which throw much light on the relation +that existed between wife and husband. If only we could be sure +that it is not like so much in the book the outcome of her +powerful imagination! Besides repeated complaints about her +husband's ill-humour and frequent absences, we meet with the +following ominous reflections on marriage:-- + + Marriage is beautiful for lovers and useful for saints. + + Besides saints and lovers there are a great many ordinary + minds and placid hearts that do not know love and cannot + attain to sanctity. + + Marriage is the supreme aim of love. When love has left it, + or never entered it, sacrifice remains. This is very well for + those who understand sacrifice. The latter presupposes a + measure of heart and a degree of intelligence which are not + frequently to be met with. + + For sacrifice there are compensations which the vulgar mind + can appreciate. The approbation of the world, the routine + sweetness of custom, a feeble, tranquil, and sensible + devotion that is not bent on rapturous exaltation, or money, + that is to say baubles, dress, luxury--in short, a thousand + little things which make one forget that one is deprived of + happiness. + +The following extracts give us some glimpses which enable us to +realise the situation:-- + + I left rather sad. * said hard things to me, having been told + by a Madame *** that I was wrong in making excursions without + my husband. I do not think that this is the case, seeing that + my husband goes first, and I go where he intends to go. + + My husband is one of the most intrepid of men. He goes + everywhere, and I follow him. He turns round and rebukes me. + He says that I affect singularity. I'll be hanged if I think + of it. I turn round, and I see Zoe following me. I tell her + that she affects singularity. My husband is angry because Zoe + laughs. + + ...We quickly leave the guides and the caravan behind us. We + ride over the most fantastic roads at a gallop. Zoe is mad + with courage. This intoxicates me, and I at once am her + equal. + +In addition to the above, we must read a remark suggested by +certain entries in the diary:-- + + Aimee was an accomplished person of an exquisite distinction. + She loved everything that in any way is elegant and ornate in + society: names, manners, talents, titles. Madcap as I + assuredly was, I looked upon all this as vanity, and went in + quest of intimacy and simplicity combined with poesy. Thanks + to God, I found them in Zoe, who was really a person of + merit, and, moreover, a woman with a heart as eager for + affection as my own. + +M. and Madame Dudevant spent the greater part of autumn and the +whole winter at Guillery, the chateau of Colonel Dudevant. Had +the latter not died at this time, he might perhaps have saved the +young people from those troubles towards which they were +drifting, at least so his daughter-in-law afterwards thought. In +the summer of 1826 the ill-matched couple returned to Nohant, +where they continued to live, a few short absences excepted, till +1831. Hitherto their mutual relation had left much to be desired, +henceforth it became worse and worse every day. It would, +however, be a mistake to account for this state of matters solely +by the dissimilarity of their temperaments--the poetic tendency +on the one side, the prosaic on the other--for although it +precluded an ideal matrimonial union, it by no means rendered an +endurable and even pleasant companionship impossible. The real +cause of the gathering clouds and imminent storm is to be sought +elsewhere. Madame Dudevant was endowed with great vitality; she +was, as it were, charged with an enormous amount of energy, +which, unless it found an outlet, oppressed her and made her +miserable. Now, in her then position, all channels were closed +up. The management of household affairs, which, if her statement +may be trusted, she neither considered beneath her dignity nor +disliked, might have served as a, safety-valve; but her +administration came to an untimely end. When, after the first +year of their married life, her husband examined the accounts, he +discovered that she had spent 14,000 francs instead of 10,000, +and found himself constrained to declare that their purse was too +light for her liberality. Not having anything else to do, and her +uselessness vexing her, she took to doctoring the poor and +concocting medicines. Hers, however, was not the spirit that +allows itself to be fettered by the triple vow of obedience, +silence, and poverty. No wonder, therefore, that her life, which +she compared to that of a nun, was not to her taste. She did not +complain so much of her husband, who did not interfere with her +reading and brewing of juleps, and was in no way a tyrant, as of +being the slave of a given situation from which he could not set +her free. The total lack of ready money was felt by her to +constitute in our altogether factitious society an intolerable +situation, frightful misery or absolute powerlessness. What she +missed was some means of which she might dispose, without +compunction and uncontrolled, for an artistic treat, a beautiful +book, a week's travelling, a present to a poor friend, a charity +to a deserving person, and such like trifles, which, although not +indispensable, make life pleasant. "Irresponsibility is a state +of servitude; it is something like the disgrace of the +interdict." But servitude and disgrace are galling yokes, and it +was not likely that so strong a character would long and meekly +submit to them. We have, however, not yet exhausted the +grievances of Madame Dudevant. Her brother Hippolyte, after +mismanaging his own property, came and lived for the sake of +economy at Nohant. His intemperance and that of a friend proved +contagious to her husband, and the consequence was not only much +rioting till late into the night, but occasionally also filthy +conversations. She began, therefore, to consider how the +requisite means might be obtained--which would enable her to get +away from such undesirable surroundings, and to withdraw her +children from these evil influences. For four years she +endeavoured to discover an employment by which she could gain her +livelihood. A milliner's business was out of the question without +capital to begin with; by needlework no more than ten sous a day +could be earned; she was too conscientious to make translation +pay; her crayon and water-colour portraits were pretty good +likenesses, but lacked originality; and in the painting of +flowers and birds on cigar-cases, work-boxes, fans, &c., which +promised to be more successful, she was soon discouraged by a +change of fashion. + +At last Madame Dudevant made up her mind to go to Paris and try +her luck in literature. She had no ambition whatever, and merely +hoped to be able to eke out in this way her slender resources. As +regards the capital of knowledge she was possessed of she wrote: +"I had read history and novels; I had deciphered scores; I had +thrown an inattentive eye over the newspapers....Monsieur Neraud +[the Malgache of the "Lettres d'un Voyageur"] had tried to teach +me botany." According to the "Histoire de ma Vie" this new +departure was brought about by an amicable arrangement; her +letters, as in so many cases, tell, however, a very different +tale. Especially important is a letter written, on December 3, +1830, to Jules Boucoiran, who had lately been tutor to her +children, and whom, after the relation of what had taken place, +she asks to resume these duties for her sake now that she will be +away from Nohant and her children part of the year. Boucoiran, it +should be noted, was a young man of about twenty, who was a total +stranger to her on September 2, 1829, but whom she addressed on +November 30 of that year as "Mon cher Jules." Well, she tells him +in the letter in question that when looking for something in her +husband's writing-desk she came on a packet addressed to her, and +on which were further written by his hand the words "Do not open +it till after my death." Piqued by curiosity, she did open the +packet, and found in it nothing but curses upon herself. "He had +gathered up in it," she says, "all his ill-humour and anger +against me, all his reflections on my perversity." This was too +much for her; she had allowed herself to be humiliated for eight +years, now she would speak out. + + Without waiting a day longer, still feeble and ill, I + declared my will and mentioned my motives with an aplomb and + coolness which petrified him. He hardly expected to see a + being like me rise to its full height in order to face him. + He growled, disputed, beseeched. I remained immovable. I want + an allowance, I shall go to Paris, my children will remain at + Nohant. + +She feigned intractability on all these points, but after some +time relented and consented to return to Nohant if her conditions +were accepted. From the "Histoire de ma Vie" we learn what these +conditions were. She demanded her daughter, permission to pass +twice three months every year in Paris, and an allowance of 250 +francs per month during the time of her absence from Nohant. Her +letters, however, show that her daughter was not with her during +her first three months at Paris. + +Madame Dudevant proceeded to Paris at the beginning of 1831. Her +establishment there was of the simplest. It consisted of three +little rooms on the fifth story (a mansarde) in a house on the +Quai Saint-Michel. She did the washing and ironing herself, the +portiere assisting her in the rest of the household work. The +meals came from a restaurant, and cost two francs a day. And thus +she managed to keep within her allowance. I make these and the +following statements on her own authority. As she found her +woman's attire too expensive, little suited for facing mud and +rain, and in other respects inconvenient, she provided herself +with a coat (redingote-guerite), trousers, and waistcoat of +coarse grey cloth, a hat of the same colour, a large necktie, and +boots with little iron heels. This latter part of her outfit +especially gave her much pleasure. Having often worn man's +clothes when riding and hunting at Nohant, and remembering that +her mother used to go in the same guise with her father to the +theatre during their residence in Paris, she felt quite at home +in these habiliments and saw nothing shocking in donning them. +Now began what she called her literary school-boy life (vie +d'ecolier litteraire), her vie de gamin. She trotted through the +streets of Paris at all times and in all weathers, went to +garrets, studios, clubs, theatres, coffee-houses, in fact, +everywhere except to salons. The arts, politics, the romance of +society and living humanity, were the studies which she +passionately pursued. But she gives those the lie who said of her +that she had the "curiosite du vice." + +The literary men with whom she had constant intercourse, and with +whom she was most closely connected, came, like herself, from +Berry. Henri de Latouche (or Delatouche, as George Sand writes), +a native of La Chatre, who was editor of the Figaro, enrolled her +among the contributors to this journal. But she had no talent for +this kind of work, and at the end of the month her payment +amounted to perhaps from twelve to fifteen francs. Madame +Dudevant and the two other Berrichons, Jules Sandeau and Felix +Pyat, were, so to speak, the literary apprentices of Delatouche, +who not only was much older than they, having been born in 1785, +but had long ago established his reputation as a journalist, +novelist, and dramatic writer. The first work which Madame +Dudevant produced was the novel "Rose et Blanche"; she wrote it +in collaboration with Jules Sandeau, whose relation to her is +generally believed to have been not only of a literary nature. +The novel, which appeared in 1831, was so successful that the +publishers asked the authors to write them another. Madame +Dudevant thereupon wrote "Indiana", but without the assistance of +Jules Sandeau. She was going to have it published under the nom +de plume Jules Sand, which they had assumed on the occasion of +"Rose et Blanche." But Jules Sandeau objected to this, saying +that as she had done all the work, she ought to have all the +honour. To satisfy both, Jules Sandeau, who would not adorn +himself with another's plumes, and the publishers, who preferred +a known to an unknown name, Delatouche gave Madame Dudevant the +name of George Sand, under which henceforth all her works were +published, and by which she was best known in society, and +generally called among her friends. "Valentine" appeared, like +"Indiana," in 1832, and was followed in 1833 by Lelia. For the +first two of these novels she received 3,000 francs. When Buloz +bought the Revue des deux Mondes, she became one of the +contributors to that journal. This shows that a great improvement +had taken place in her circumstances, and that the fight she had +to fight was not a very hard one. Indeed, in the course of two +years she had attained fame, and was now a much-praised and much- +abused celebrity. + +All this time George Sand had, according to agreement, spent +alternately three months in Paris and three months at Nohant. A +letter written by M. Dudevant to his wife in 1831 furnishes a +curious illustration of the relation that existed between husband +and wife. The accommodating spirit which pervades it is most +charming:-- + + I shall go to Paris; I shall not put up at your lodgings, for + I do not wish to inconvenience you any more than I wish you + to inconvenience me (parceque je ne veux pas vous gener, pas + plus que je ne veux que vous me geniez). + +In August, 1833, George Sand and Alfred de Musset met for the +first time at a dinner which the editor Buloz gave to the +contributors to the Revue des deux Mondes. The two sat beside +each other. Musset called on George Sand soon after, called again +and again, and before long was passionately in love with her. She +reciprocated his devotion. But the serene blissfulness of the +first days of their liaison was of short duration. Already in the +following month they fled from the Parisian surroundings and +gossipings, which they regarded as the disturbers of their +harmony. After visiting Genoa, Florence, and Pisa, they settled +at Venice. Italy, however, did not afford them the hoped-for +peace and contentment. It was evident that the days of +"adoration, ecstasy, and worship" were things of the past. +Unpleasant scenes became more and more frequent. How, indeed, +could a lasting concord be maintained by two such disparate +characters? The woman's strength and determination contrasted +with the man's weakness and vacillation; her reasoning +imperturbation, prudent foresight, and love of order and +activity, with his excessive irritability and sensitiveness, +wanton carelessness, and unconquerable propensity to idleness and +every kind of irregularity. While George Sand sat at her writing- +table engaged on some work which was to bring her money and fame, +Musset trifled away his time among the female singers and dancers +of the noiseless city. In April, 1834, before the poet had quite +recovered from the effects of a severe attack of typhoid fever, +which confined him to his bed for several weeks, he left George +Sand after a violent quarrel and took his departure from Venice. +This, however, was not yet the end of their connection. Once +more, in spite of all that had happened, they came together; but +it was only for a fortnight (at Paris, in the autumn of 1834), +and then they parted for ever. + +It is impossible, at any rate I shall not attempt, to sift the +true from the false in the various accounts which have been +published of this love-drama. George Sand's version may be read +in her Lettres d'un Voyageur and in Elle et Lui; Alfred de +Musset's version in his brother Paul's book Lui et Elle. Neither +of these versions, however, is a plain, unvarnished tale. Paul de +Musset seems to keep on the whole nearer the truth, but he too +cannot be altogether acquitted of the charge of exaggeration. +Rather than believe that by the bedside of her lover, whom she +thought unconscious and all but dead, George Sand dallied with +the physician, sat on his knees, retained him to sup with her, +and drank out of one glass with him, one gives credence to her +statement that what Alfred de Musset imagined to be reality was +but the illusion of a feverish dream. In addition to George +Sand's and Paul de Musset's versions, Louise Colet has furnished +a third in her Lui, a publication which bears the stamp of +insincerity on almost every page, and which has been described, I +think by Maxime du Camp, as worse than a lying invention--namely, +as a systematic perversion of the truth. A passage from George +Sand's Elle et Lui, in which Therese and Laurent, both artists, +are the representatives of the novelist and poet, will indicate +how she wishes the story to be read:-- + + Therese had no weakness for Laurent in the mocking and + libertine sense that one gives to this word in love. It was + by an act of her will, after nights of sorrowful meditation, + that she said to him--"I wish what thou wishest, because we + have come to that point where the fault to be committed is + the inevitable reparation of a series of committed faults. I + have been guilty towards thee in not having the egotistical + prudence to shun thee; it is better that I should be guilty + towards myself in remaining thy companion and consolation at + the expense of my peace and of my pride."..."Listen," she + added, holding his hand in both of hers with all the strength + she possessed, "never draw back this hand from me, and, + whatever happens, preserve so much honour and courage as not + to forget that before being thy mistress I was thy + FRIEND....I ask of thee only, if thou growest weary of my + Jove as thou now art of my friendship, to recollect that it + was not a moment of delirium that threw me into thy arms, but + a sudden impulse of my heart, and a more tender and more + lasting feeling than the intoxication of voluptuousness." + +I shall not continue the quotation, the discussion becomes too +nauseous. One cannot help sympathising with Alfred de Musset's +impatient interruption of George Sand's unctuous lecturing +reported in his brother's book--"My dear, you speak so often of +chastity that it becomes indecent." Or this other interruption +reported by Louise Colet:-- + + When one gives the world what the world calls the scandale of + love, one must have at least the courage of one's passion. In + this respect the women of the eighteenth century are better + than you: they did not subtilise love in metaphysics [elles + n'alambiquaient pas l'amour dans la metaphysique]. + +It is hardly necessary to say that George Sand had much +intercourse with men of intellect. Several litterateurs of some +distinction have already been mentioned. Sainte-Beuve and Balzac +were two of the earliest of her literary friends, among whom she +numbered also Heine. With Lamartine and other cultivators of the +belles-lettres she was likewise acquainted. Three of her friends, +men of an altogether different type and calibre, have, however, a +greater claim on the attention of the student of George Sand's +personality than any of those just named, because their +speculations and teachings gave powerful impulses to her mind, +determined the direction of her thoughts, and widened the sphere +of her intellectual activity. The influences of these three men-- +the advocate Michel of Bourges, an earnest politician; the +philosopher and political economist: Pierre Leroux, one of the +founders of the "Encyclopedie Nouvelle," and author of "De +l'humanite, de son principe et de son avenir"; and the Abbe +Lamennais, the author of the "Essai sur l'indifference en matiere +de religion," "Paroles d'un Croyant," &c.--are clearly traceable +in the "Lettres a Marcie, Spiridion," "Les sept Cordes de la +Lyre," "Les Compagnons du tour de France," "Consuelo," "La +Comtesse de Rudolstadt," "Le Peche de M. Antoine," "Le Meunier +d'Angibault," &c. George Sand made the acquaintance of Pierre +Leroux and the Abbe Lammenais in 1835. The latter was introduced +to her by her friend Liszt, who knew all the distinguished men of +the day, and seems to have often done her similar services. +George Sand's friendship with Michel of Bourges, the Everard of +her "Lettres d'un Voyageur," dates farther back than 1835. + +During George Sand's stay in Venice M. Dudevant had continued to +write to her in an amicable and satisfied tone. On returning in +the summer of 1834 to France she therefore resumed her periodical +sojourns at Nohant; but the pleasure of seeing her home and +children was as short-lived as it was sweet, for she soon +discovered that neither the former nor the latter, "morally +speaking," belonged to her. M. Dudevant's ideas of how they ought +to be managed differed entirely from those of his wife, and +altogether things had become very uncongenial to her. George +Sand, whose view of the circumstances I am giving, speaks +mysteriously of abnormal and dangerous influences to which the +domestic hearth was exposed, and of her inability to find in her +will, adverse as it was to daily struggles and family quarrels, +the force to master the situation. From the vague and exceedingly +brief indications of facts which are scattered here and there +between eloquent and lengthy dissertations on marriage in all its +aspects, on the proper pride of woman, and more of the same +nature, we gather, however, thus much: she wished to be more +independent than she had been hitherto, and above all to get a +larger share of her revenues, which amounted to about 15,000 +francs, and out of which her husband allowed her and her daughter +only 3,000 francs. M. Dudevant, it must be noted, had all along +been living on his wife's income, having himself only +expectations which would not be realised till after his +stepmother's death. By the remonstrances of his wife and the +advice of her brother he was several times prevailed upon to +agree to a more equitable settlement. But no sooner had he given +a promise or signed a contract than he revoked what he had done. +According to one of these agreements George Sand and her daughter +were to have a yearly allowance of 6,000 francs; according to +another M. Dudevant was to have a yearly allowance of 7,000 +francs and leave Nohant and the remainder of the revenues to his +wife. The terms of the latter of these agreements were finally +accepted by both parties, but not till after more than a year's +quarrelling and three lawsuits. George Sand sued for a divorce, +and the Court of La Chatre gave judgment in her favour on +February 16, 1836. This judgment was confirmed after a second +trial by the same Court on May 11, 1836. + +[Footnote: What George Sand calls her "matrimonial biography" can +be read in "Le Droit" ("Journal des Tribunaux") of May 18, 1836. +The account there given, no doubt inspired by her advocate if not +directly by herself, contains some interesting items, but leaves +others unmentioned. One would have liked to learn something more +of the husband's pleadings. + +The proceedings began on October 30, 1835, when "Madame D----- a +forme centre son mari une demande en separation de corps. Cette +demande etait fondee sur les injures graves, sevices et mauvais +traitements dont elle se plaignait de la part de son mari." + +The following is a passage from Michel of Bourges, her advocate's +defence: "Des 1824, la vie intime etait devenue difficile; les +egards auxquels toute femme a droit furent oublies, des actes +d'emportement et de violence revelerent de la part de M. D----- un +caractere peu facile, peu capable d'apprecier le devouement et la +delicatesse qu'on lui avail temoignes. Les mauvais traitements +furent d'abord plus rares que les mauvais precedes, ainsi les +imputations d'imbecillite, de stupidite, furent prodiguees a +Madame D----- le droit de raisonner, de prendre l'art a la +conversation lui fut interdit...des relations avec d'autres +femmes furent connues de l'epouse,et vers le mois de Decembre, +1828, toute cohabitation intime cessa. + +"Les enfants eux-memes eurent quelque part dans les mauvais +traitements."] + +M. Dudevant then appealed to the Court of Cassation at Bourges, +where the case was tried on July 25; but he withdrew his appeal +before judgment was given. The insinuations and revelations made +in the course of these lawsuits were anything but edifying. +George Sand says that she confined herself to furnishing the +proofs strictly demanded by the law, and revealed only such facts +as were absolutely necessary. But these facts and proofs must +have been of a very damaging nature, for M. Dudevant answered +them by imputations to merit one hundred-thousandth part of which +would have made her tremble. "His attorney refused to read a +libel. The judges would have refused to listen to it." Of a +deposition presented by M. Dudevant to the Court, his wife +remarks that it was "dictated, one might have said, drawn up," by +two servants whom she had dismissed. She maintains that she did +not deserve this treatment, as she betrayed of her husband's +conduct only what he himself was wont to boast of. + +George Sand's letters [Footnote: George Sand: Correspondence 1812- +1876; Six volumes (Paris: Calman Levy).] seem to me to show +conclusively that her chief motives for seeking a divorce were a +desire for greater independence and above all for more money. +Complaints of ill-treatment are not heard of till they serve to +justify an action or to attain a purpose. And the exaggeration of +her varying statements must be obvious to all but the most +careless observer. George Sand is slow in making up her mind; but +having made it up she acts with fierce promptitude, obstinate +vigour, and inconsiderate unscrupulousness, in one word, with +that concentration of self which sees nothing but its own +desires. On the whole, I should say that M. Dudevant was more +sinned against than sinning. George Sand, even as she represents +herself in the Histoire de ma Vie and in her letters, was far +from being an exemplary wife, or indeed a woman with whom even +the most angelic of husbands would have found it easy to live in +peace and happiness. + +From the letters, which reveal so strikingly the +ungentlewomanlikeness (not merely in a conventional sense) of her +manners and her numerous and curious intimacies with men of all +ages, more especially with young men, I shall now cull a few +characteristic passages in proof of what I have said. + + One must have a passion in life. I feel ennui for the want of + one. The agitated and often even rather needy life I am + leading here drives spleen far away. I am very well, and you + will see me in the best of humours. [To her friend A. M. + Duteil. Paris, February 15, 1831.] + + I have an object, a task, let me say the word, a passion. The + profession of writing is a violent and almost indestructible + one. [To Jules Boucoiran. Paris, March 4, 1831.] + + I cannot bear the shadow of a constraint, this is my + principal fault. Everything that is imposed upon me as a duty + becomes hateful to me. + +After saying that she leaves her husband full liberty to do what +he likes--"qu'il a des maitresses ou n'en a pas, suivant son +appetit,"--and speaking highly of his management of their +affairs, she writes in the same letter as follows:-- + + Moreover, it is only just that this great liberty which my + husband enjoys should be reciprocal; otherwise, he would + become to me odious and contemptible; that is what he does + not wish to be. I am therefore quite independent; I go to bed + when he rises, I go to La Chatre or to Rome, I come in at + midnight or at six o'clock; all this is my business. Those + who do not approve of this, and disparage me to you, judge + them with your reason and your mother's heart; the one and + the other ought to be with me. [To her mother. Nohant, May + 31, 1831.] + + Marriage is a state so contrary to every kind of union and + happiness that I have good reason to fear for you. [To Jules + Boucoiran, who had thoughts of getting married. Paris, March + 6, 1833.] + + You load me with very heavy reproaches, my dear child...you + reproach me with my numerous liaisons, my frivolous + friendships. I never undertake to clear myself from the + accusations which bear on my character. I can explain facts + and actions; but never defects of the mind or perversities of + the heart. [To Jules Boucoiran. Paris, January 18, 1833.] + + Thou hast pardoned me when I committed follies which the + world calls faults. [To her friend Charles Duvernet. Paris, + October 15, 1834.] + + But I claim to possess, now and for ever, the proud and + entire independence which you believe you alone have the + right to enjoy. I shall not advise it to everyone; but I + shall not suffer that, so far as I am concerned, any love + whatever shall in the least fetter it. I hope to make my + conditions so hard and so clear that no man will be bold and + vile enough to accept them. [To her friend Adolphe Gueroult. + Paris, May 6, 1835.] + + Nothing shall prevent me from doing what I ought to and what + I will do. I am the daughter of my father, and I care not for + prejudices when my heart enjoins justice and courage. [To her + mother. Nohant, October 25, 1835.] + + Opinion is a prostitute which must be sent about her business + with kicks when one is in the right. [To her friend Adolphe + Gueroult. La Chatre, November 9, 1835.] + +The materials made use of in the foregoing sketch of George +Sand's life up to 1836 consist to a very considerable extent of +her own DATA, and in part even of her own words. From this fact, +however, it ought not to be inferred that her statements can +always be safely accepted without previous examination, or at any +time be taken au pied de la lettre. Indeed, the writer of the +Histoire de ma Vie reveals her character indirectly rather than +directly, unawares rather than intentionally. This so-called +"history" of her life contains some truth, although not all the +truth; but it contains it implicitly, not explicitly. What +strikes the observant reader of the four-volumed work most +forcibly, is the attitude of serene self-admiration and self- +satisfaction which the autobiographer maintains throughout. She +describes her nature as pre-eminently "confiding and tender," and +affirms that in spite of the great and many wrongs she was made +to suffer, she never wronged anyone in all her life. Hence the +perfect tranquillity of conscience she always enjoyed. Once or +twice, it is true, she admits that she may not be an angel, and +that she as well as her husband may have had faults. Such humble +words, however, ought not to be regarded as penitent confessions +of a sinful heart, but as generous concessions of a charitable +mind. In short, a thorough belief in her own virtuousness and +superior excellence was the key-note of her character. The +Pharisaical tendency to thank God for not having made her like +other people pervades every page of her autobiography, of which +Charles Mazade justly says that it is-- + + a kind of orgy of a personality intoxicated with itself, an + abuse of intimate secrets in which she slashes her friends, + her reminiscences, and--truth. + +George Sand declares again and again that she abstains from +speaking of certain matters out of regard for the feelings or +memories of other persons, whereas in reality she speaks +recklessly of everybody as long as she can do so without +compromising herself. What virtuous motives can have prompted her +to publish her mother's shame? What necessity was there to +expatiate on her brother's drunkenness? And if she was the +wronged and yet pitiful woman she pretended to be, why, instead +of burying her husband's, Musset's, and others' sins in silence, +does she throw out against them those artful insinuations and +mysterious hints which are worse than open accusations? Probably +her artistic instincts suggested that a dark background would set +off more effectively her own glorious luminousness. However, I do +not think that her indiscretions and misrepresentations deserve +always to be stigmatised as intentional malice and conscious +falsehood. On the contrary, I firmly believe that she not only +tried to deceive others, but that she actually deceived herself. +The habit of self-adoration had given her a moral squint, a +defect which was aggravated by a powerful imagination and +excellent reasoning faculties. For, swayed as these were by her +sentiments and desires, they proved themselves most fertile in +generating flattering illusions and artful sophisms. George Sand +was indeed a great sophist. She had always in readiness an +inexhaustible store of interpretations and subterfuges with which +to palliate, excuse, or even metamorphose into their contraries +the most odious of her words and actions. It is not likely that +any one ever equalled, much less surpassed, her expertness in +hiding ugly facts or making innocent things look suspicious. To +judge by her writings and conversations she never acted +spontaneously, but reasoned on all matters and on all occasions. + + At no time whatever [writes Paul Lindau in his "Alfred de + Musset"] is there to be discovered in George Sand a trace of + a passion and inconsiderateness, she possesses an + imperturbable calmness. Love sans phrase does not exist for + her. That her frivolity may be frivolity, she never will + confess. She calculates the gifts of love, and administers + them in mild, well-measured doses. She piques herself upon + not being impelled by the senses. She considers it more + meritorious if out of charity and compassion she suffers + herself to be loved. She could not be a Gretchen [a Faust's + Margaret], she would not be a Magdalen, and she became a Lady + Tartuffe. + +George Sand's three great words were "maternity," "chastity," and +"pride." She uses them ad nauseam, and thereby proves that she +did not possess the genuine qualities. No doubt, her conceptions +of the words differed from those generally accepted: by "pride" +(orgueil), for instance, she seems to have meant a kind of +womanly self-respect debased by a supercilious haughtiness and +self-idolatry. But, as I have said already, she was a victim to +self-deception. So much is certain, the world, with an approach +to unanimity rarely attained, not only does not credit her with +the virtues which she boasts of, but even accuses her of the very +opposite vices. None of the writers I have consulted arrives, in +discussing George Sand's character, at conclusions which tally +with her own estimate; and every person, in Paris and elsewhere, +with whom I have conversed on the subject condemned her conduct +most unequivocally. Indeed, a Parisian--who, if he had not seen +much of her, had seen much of many who had known her well--did not +hesitate to describe her to me as a female Don Juan, and added +that people would by-and-by speak more freely of her adventures. +Madame Audley (see "Frederic Chopin, sa vie et ses oeuvres," p. +127) seems to me to echo pretty exactly the general opinion in +summing up her strictures thus:-- + + A woman of genius, but a woman with sensual appetites, with + insatiable desires, accustomed to satisfy them at any price, + should she even have to break the cup after draining it, + equally wanting in balance, wisdom, and purity of mind, and + in decorum, reserve, and dignity of conduct. + +Many of the current rumours about her doings were no doubt +inventions of idle gossips and malicious enemies, but the number +of well-ascertained facts go far to justify the worst +accusations. And even though the evidence of deeds were wanting, +have we not that of her words and opinions as set forth in her +works? I cannot help thinking that George Sand's fondness for the +portraiture of sensual passion, sometimes even of sensual passion +in its most brutal manifestations, is irreconcilable with true +chastity. Many a page in her novels exhibits indeed a surprising +knowledge of the physiology of love, a knowledge which +presupposes an extensive practical acquaintance with as wellas +attentive study of the subject. That she depicts the most +repulsive situations with a delicacy of touch which veils the +repulsiveness and deceives the unwary rather aggravates the +guilt. Now, though the purity of a work of art is no proof of the +purity of the artist (who may reveal only the better part of his +nature, or give expression to his aspirations), the impurity of a +work of art always testifies indubitably to the presence of +impurity in the artist, of impurity in thought, if not in deed. +It is, therefore, not an unwarranted assumption to say that the +works of George Sand prove conclusively that she was not the +pure, loving, devoted, harmless being she represents herself in +the "Histoire de ma Vie." Chateaubriand said truly that: "le +talent de George Sand a quelque ratine dans la corruption, elle +deviendrait commune en devenant timoree." Alfred Nettement, who, +in his "Histoire de la litterature franqaise sous le gouvernement +de Juillet," calls George Sand a "painter of fallen and defiled +natures," remarks that-- + + most of her romances are dazzling rehabilitations of + adultery, and in reading their burning pages it would seem + that there remains only one thing to be done--namely, to break + the social chains in order that the Lelias and Sylvias may go + in quest of their ideal without being stopped by morality and + the laws, those importune customs lines which religion and + the institutions have opposed to individual whim and + inconstancy. + +Perhaps it will be objected to this that the moral extravagances +and audacious sophistries to be met with in "Lelia," in "Leoni," +and other novels of hers, belong to the characters represented, +and not to the author. Unfortunately this argument is untenable +after the publication of George Sand's letters, for there she +identifies herself with Lelia, and develops views identical with +those that shocked us in Leoni and elsewhere. + +[Footnote: On May 26, 1833, she writes to her friend Francois +Rollinat with regard to this book: "It is an eternal chat between +us. We are the gravest personages in it." Three years later, +writing to the Comtesse d'Agoult, her account differs somewhat: +"I am adding a volume to 'Lelia.' This occupies me more than any +other novel has as yet done. Lelia is not myself, je suis +meilleure enfant; but she is my ideal."--Correspondance," vol. +I., pp. 248 and 372.] + +These letters, moreover, contain much that is damaging to her +claim to chastity. Indeed, one sentence in a letter written in +June, 1835 (Correspondance, vol. I., p. 307), disposes of this +claim decisively. The unnecessarily graphic manner in which she +here deals with an indelicate subject would be revolting in a man +addressing a woman, in a woman addressing a man it is simply +monstrous. + +As a thinker, George Sand never attained to maturity; she always +remained the slave of her strong passions and vitiated +principles. She never wrote a truer word than when she confessed +that she judged everything by sympathy. Indeed, what she said of +her childhood applies also to her womanhood: "Il n'y avait de +fort en moi que la passion...rien dans man cerveau fit obstacle." +George Sand often lays her finger on sore places, fails, however, +not only to prescribe the right remedy, but even to recognise the +true cause of the disease. She makes now and then acute +observations, but has not sufficient strength to grapple +successfully with the great social, philosophical, and religious +problems which she so boldly takes up. In fact, reasoning +unreasonableness was a very frequent condition of George Sand's +mind. That the unreasonableness of her reasoning remains unseen +by many, did so at any rate in her time, is due to the marvellous +beauty and eloquence of her language. The best that can be said +of her subversive theories was said by a French critic--namely, +that they were in reality only "le temoignage d'aspirations +genereuses et de nobles illusions." But even this is saying too +much, for her aspirations and illusions are far from being always +generous and noble. If we wish to see George Sand at her best we +must seek her out in her quiet moods, when she contents herself +with being an artist, and unfolds before us the beauties of +nature and the secrets of the human heart. Indeed, unless we do +this, we cannot form a true idea of her character. Not all the +roots of her talent were imbedded in corruption. She who wrote +Lelia wrote also Andre, she who wrote Lucrezia Floriani wrote +also La petite Fadette. And in remembering her faults and +shortcomings justice demands that we should not forget her family +history, with its dissensions and examples of libertinism, and +her education without system, continuity, completeness, and +proper guidance. + +The most precious judgment pronounced on George Sand is by one +who was at once a true woman and a great poet. Mrs. Elizabeth +Barrett Browning saw in her the "large-brained woman and large- +hearted man...whose soul, amid the lions of her tumultuous +senses, moans defiance and answers roar for roar, as spirits +can"; but who lacked "the angel's grace of a pure genius +sanctified from blame." This is from the sonnet to George Sand, +entitled "A Desire." In another sonnet, likewise addressed to +George Sand and entitled "A Recognition," she tells her how vain +it was to deny with a manly scorn the woman's nature...while +before + + The world thou burnest in a poet-fire, + We see thy woman-heart beat evermore + Through the large flame. Beat purer, heart, and higher, + Till God unsex thee on the heavenly shore + Where unincarnate spirits purely aspire! + + + + + + + END OF VOLUME I. + + + + + + + +VOLUME II. + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + CHAPTERS XX-XXXII + APPENDICES I-IX + REMARKS PRELIMINARY TO THE LIST OF CHOPIN'S WORKS. + LIST OF CHOPIN'S PUBLISHED WORKS + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + + +1836--1838. + + + +THE LOVES OF CELEBRITIES.--VARIOUS ACCOUNTS OF CHOPIN AND GEORGE +SAND'S FIRST MEETING.--CHOPIN'S FIRST IMPRESSION OF HER.--A +COMPARISON OF THE TWO CHARACTERS.--PORTRAYALS OF CHOPIN AND +GEORGE SAND.--HER POWER OF PLEASING.--CHOPIN'S PUBLICATIONS IN +1837 AND 1838.--HE PLAYS AT COURT AND AT CONCERTS IN PARIS AND +ROUEN.--CRITICISM. + + + +THE loves of famous men and women, especially of those connected +with literature and the fine arts, have always excited much +curiosity. In the majority of cases the poet's and artist's +choice of a partner falls on a person who is incapable of +comprehending his aims and sometimes even of sympathising with +his striving. The question "why poets are so apt to choose their +mates, not for any similarity of poetical endowment, but for +qualities which might make the happiness of the rudest +handicrafts-man as well as that of the ideal craftsman" has +perhaps never been better answered than by Nathaniel Hawthorne, +who remarks that "at his highest elevation the poet needs no +human intercourse; but he finds it dreary to descend, and be a +stranger." Still, this is by no means a complete solution of the +problem which again and again presents itself and challenges our +ingenuity. Chopin and George Sand's case belongs to the small +minority of loves where both parties are distinguished +practitioners of ideal crafts. Great would be the mistake, +however, were we to assume that the elective affinities of such +lovers are easily discoverable On the contrary, we have here +another problem, one which, owing to the higher, finer, and more +varied factors that come into play, is much more difficult to +solve than the first. But before we can engage in solving the +problem, it must be properly propounded. Now, to ascertain facts +about the love-affairs of poets and artists is the very reverse +of an easy task; and this is so partly because the parties +naturally do not let outsiders into all their secrets, and partly +because romantic minds and imaginative litterateurs are always +busy developing plain facts and unfounded rumours into wonderful +myths. The picturesqueness of the story, the piquancy of the +anecdote, is generally in inverse proportion to the narrator's +knowledge of the matter in question. In short, truth is only too +often most unconscionably sacrificed to effect. Accounts, for +instance, such as L. Enault and Karasowski have given of Chopin's +first meeting with George Sand can be recommended only to those +who care for amusing gossip about the world of art, and do not +mind whether what they read is the simple truth or not, nay, do +not mind even whether it has any verisimilitude. Nevertheless, we +will give these gentlemen a hearing, and then try if we cannot +find some firmer ground to stand on. + +L. Enault relates that Chopin and George Sand met for the first +time at one of the fetes of the Marquis de C., where the +aristocracy of Europe assembled--the aristocracy of genius, of +birth, of wealth, of beauty, &c.:-- + + The last knots of the chaine anglaise had already been untied, + the brilliant crowd had left the ball-room, the murmur of + discreet conversation was heard in the boudoirs: the fetes of + the intimate friends began. Chopin seated himself at the + piano. He played one of those ballads whose words are written + by no poet, but whose subjects, floating in the dreamy soul of + nations, belong to the artist who likes to take them. I + believe it was the Adieux du Cavalier...Suddenly, in the + middle of the ballad, he perceived, close to the door, + immovable and pale, the beautiful face of Lelia. [FOOTNOTE: + This name of the heroine of one of her romances is often given + to George Sand. See Vol. I., p. 338.] She fixed her passionate + and sombre eyes upon him; the impressionable artist felt at + the same time pain and pleasure...others might listen to him: + he played only for her. + + They met again. + + From this moment fears vanished, and these two noble souls + understood each other...or believed they understood each + other. + +Karasowski labours hard to surpass Enault, but is not like him a +master of the ars artem celare. The weather, he tells us, was +dull and damp, and had a depressing effect on the mind of Chopin. +No friend had visited him during the day, no book entertained +him, no musical idea gladdened him. It was nearly ten o'clock at +night (the circumstantiality of the account ought to inspire +confidence) when he bethought himself of paying a visit to the +Countess C. (the Marquis, by some means, magical or natural, has +been transformed into a Countess), this being her jour fixe, on +which an intellectual and agreeable company was always assembled +at her house. + + When he ascended the carpet-covered stairs [Unfortunately we + are not informed whether the carpet was Turkey, Brussels, or + Kidderminster], it seemed to him as if he were followed by a + shadow that diffused a fragrance of violets [Ah!], and a + presentiment as if something strange and wonderful were going + to happen to him flashed through his soul. He was on the point + of turning back and going home, but, laughing at his own + superstition, he bounded lightly and cheerfully over the last + steps. + +Skipping the fine description of the brilliant company assembled +in the salon, the enumeration of the topics on which the +conversation ran, and the observation that Chopin, being +disinclined to talk, seated himself in a corner and watched the +beautiful ladies as they glided hither and thither, we will join +Karasowski again where, after the departure of the greater number +of the guests, Chopin goes to the piano and begins to improvise. + + His auditors, whom he, absorbed in his own thoughts and + looking only at the keys, had entirely forgotten, listened + with breathless attention. When he had concluded his + improvisation, he raised his eyes, and noticed a plainly- + dressed lady who, leaning on the instrument, seemed to wish to + read his soul with her dark fiery eyes. [Although a severe + critic might object to the attitude of a lady leaning on a + piano as socially and pictorially awkward, he must admit that + from a literary point of view it is unquestionably more + effective than sitting or standing by the door.] Chopin felt + he was blushing under the fascinating glances of the lady + [Bravo! This is a master-touch]; she smiled [Exquisite!], and + when the artist was about to withdraw from the company behind + a group of camellias, he heard the peculiar rustling of a silk + dress, which exhaled a fragrance of violets [Camellias, + rustling silks, fragrance of violets! What a profusion of + beauty and sweetness!], and the same lady who had watched him + so inquiringly at the piano approached him accompanied by + Liszt. Speaking to him with a deep, sweet voice, she made some + remarks on his playing, and more especially on the contents of + his improvisation. Frederick listened to her with pleasure and + emotion, and while words full of sparkling wit and + indescribable poetry flowed from the lady's eloquent lips + [Quite a novel representation of her powers of conversation], + he felt that he was understood as he had never been. + +All this is undoubtedly very pretty, and would be invaluable in a +novel, but I am afraid we should embarrass Karasowski were we to +ask him to name his authorities. + +Of this meeting at the house of the Marquis de C.--i.e., the +Marquis de Custine--I was furnished with a third version by an +eye-witness--namely, by Chopin's pupil Adolph Gutmann. From him I +learned that the occasion was neither a full-dress ball nor a +chance gathering of a jour fixe, but a musical matinee. Gutmann, +Vidal (Jean Joseph), and Franchomme opened the proceedings with a +trio by Mayseder, a composer the very existence of whose once +popular chamber-music is unknown to the present generation. +Chopin played a great deal, and George Sand devoured him with her +eyes. Afterwards the musician and the novelist walked together a +long time in the garden. Gutmann was sure that this matinee took +place either in 1836 or in 1837, and was inclined to think that +it was in the first-mentioned year. + +Franchomme, whom I questioned about the matinee at the Marquis de +Custine's, had no recollection of it. Nor did he remember the +circumstance of having on this or any other occasion played a +trio of Mayseder's with Gutmann and Vidal. But this friend of the +Polish pianist--composer, while confessing his ignorance as to +the place where the latter met the great novelist for the first +time, was quite certain as to the year when he met her. Chopin, +Franchomme informed me, made George Sand's acquaintance in 1837, +their connection was broken in 1847, and he died, as everyone +knows, on October 17, 1849. In each of these dates appears the +number which Chopin regarded with a superstitious dread, which he +avoided whenever he could-for instance, he would not at any price +take lodgings in a house the number of which contained a seven-- +and which may be thought by some to have really exercised a fatal +influence over him. It is hardly necessary to point out that it +was this fatal number which fixed the date in Franchomme's +memory. + +But supposing Chopin and George Sand to have really met at the +Marquis de Custine's, was this their first meeting? + +[FOONOTE: That they were on one occasion both present at a party +given by the Marquis de Custine may be gathered from Freiherr von +Flotow's Reminiscences of his life in Paris (published in the +"Deutsche Revue" of January, 1883, p. 65); but not that this was +their first meeting, nor the time when it took place. As to the +character of this dish of reminiscences, I may say that it is +sauced and seasoned for the consumption of the blase magazine +reader, and has no nutritive substance whatever.] + +I put the question to Liszt in the course of a conversation I had +with him some years ago in Weimar. His answer was most positive, +and to the effect that the first meeting took place at Chopin's +own apartments. "I ought to know best," he added, "seeing that I +was instrumental in bringing the two together." Indeed, it would +be difficult to find a more trustworthy witness in this matter +than Liszt, who at that time not only was one of the chief +comrades of Chopin, but also of George Sand. According to him, +then, the meeting came about in this way. George Sand, whose +curiosity had been excited both by the Polish musician's +compositions and by the accounts she had heard of him, expressed +to Liszt the wish to make the acquaintance of his friend. Liszt +thereupon spoke about her to Chopin, but the latter was averse to +having any intercourse with her. He said he did not like literary +women, and was not made for their society; it was different with +his friend, who there found himself in his element. George Sand, +however, did not cease to remind Liszt of his promise to +introduce her to Chopin. One morning in the early part of 1837 +Liszt called on his friend and brother-artist, and found him in +high spirits on account of some compositions he had lately +finished. As Chopin was anxious to play them to his friends, it +was arranged to have in the evening a little party at his rooms. + +This seemed to Liszt an excellent opportunity to redeem the +promise which he had given George Sand when she asked for an +introduction; and, without telling Chopin what he was going to +do, he brought her with him along with the Comtesse d'Agoult. The +success of the soiree was such that it was soon followed by a +second and many more. + +In the foregoing accounts the reader will find contradictions +enough to exercise his ingenuity upon. But the involuntary tricks +of memory and the voluntary ones of imagination make always such +terrible havoc of facts that truth, be it ever so much sought and +cared for, appears in history and biography only in a more or +less disfigured condition. George Sand's own allusion to the +commencement of the acquaintance agrees best with Liszt's +account. After passing in the latter part of 1836 some months in +Switzerland with Liszt and the Comtesse d'Agoult, she meets them +again at Paris in the December of the same year:-- + + At the Hotel de France, where Madame d'Agoult had persuaded me + to take quarters near her, the conditions of existence were + charming for a few days. She received many litterateurs, + artists, and some clever men of fashion. It was at Madame + d'Agoult's, or through her, that I made the acquaintance of + Eugene Sue, Baron d'Eckstein, Chopin, Mickiewicz, Nourrit, + Victor Schoelcher, &c. My friends became also hers. Through me + she got acquainted with M. Lamennais, Pierre-Leroux, Henri + Heine, &c. Her salon, improvised in an inn, was therefore a + reunion d'elite over which she presided with exquisite grace, + and where she found herself the equal of all the eminent + specialists by reason of the extent of her mind and the + variety of her faculties, which were at once poetic and + serious. Admirable music was performed there, and in the + intervals one could instruct one's self by listening to the + conversation. + +To reconcile Liszt's account with George Sand's remark that +Chopin was one of those whose acquaintance she made at Madame +d'Agoult's or through her, we have only to remember the intimate +relation in which Liszt stood to this lady (subsequently known in +literature under the nom de plume of Daniel Stern), who had left +her husband, the Comte d'Agoult, in 1835. + +And now at last we can step again from the treacherous quicksand +of reminiscences on the terra firma of documents. The following +extracts from some letters of George Sand's throw light on her +relation to Chopin in the early part of 1837:-- + + + Nohant, March 28, 1837. + + [To Franz Liszt.]...Come and see us as soon as possible. Love, + esteem, and friendship claim you at Nohant. Love (Marie + [FOOTNOTE: The Comtesse d'Agoult.]) is some what ailing, + esteem (Maurice and Pelletan [FOOTNOTE: The former, George + Sand's son; the latter, Eugene Pelletan, Maurice's tutor.]) + pretty well, and friendship (myself) obese and in excellent + health. + + Marie told me that there was some hope of Chopin. Tell Chopin + that I beg of him to accompany you; that Marie cannot live + without him, and that I adore him. + + I shall write to Grzymala personally in order to induce him + also, if I can, to come and see us. I should like to be able + to surround Marie with all her friends, in order that she also + may live in the bosom of love, esteem, and friendship. + +[FOOTNOTE: Albert Grzymala, a man of note among the Polish +refugees. He was a native of Dunajowce in Podolia, had held +various military and other posts--those of maitre des requites, +director of the Bank of Poland, attache to the staff of Prince +Poniatowski, General Sebastiani, and Lefebvre, &c.--and was in +1830 sent by the Polish Government on a diplomatic mission to +Berlin, Paris, and London. (See L'Amanach de L'Emigration +polonaise, published at Paris some forty years ago.) He must not +be confounded with the publicist Francis Grzymala, who at Warsaw +was considered one of the marechaux de plume, and at Paris was +connected with the Polish publication Sybilla. With one exception +(Vol. I., p. 3), the Grzymala spoken of in these volumes is +Albert Grzymala, sometimes also called Count Grzymala. This +title, however, was, if I am rightly informed, only a courtesy +title. The Polish nobility as such was untitled, titles being of +foreign origin and not legally recognised. But many Polish +noblemen when abroad assume the prefix de or von, or the title +"Count," in order to make known their rank.] + + + Nohant, April 5, 1837. + + [To the Comtesse d'Agoult.]...Tell Mick....[FOOTNOTE: + Mickiewicz, the poet.] (non-compromising manner of writing + Polish names) that my pen and my house are at his service, and + are only too happy to be so; tell Grzy. ..., [FOOTNOTE: + Gryzmala] whom I adore, Chopin, whom I idolatrise, and all + those whom you love that I love them, and that, brought by + you, they will be welcome. Berry in a body watches for the + maestro's [FOOTNOTE: Liszt's] return in order to hear him play + the piano. I believe we shall be obliged to place le garde- + champetre and la garde nationals of Nohant under arms in order + to defend ourselves against the dilettanti berrichoni. + + + Nohant, April 10, 1837. + + [To the Comtesse d'Agoult.] I want the fellows, [FOOTNOTE: + "Fellows" (English) was the nickname which Liszt gave to + himself and his pupil Hermann Cohen.] I want them as soon and + as LONG as possible. I want them a mort. I want also Chopin + and all the Mickiewiczs and Grzymalas in the world. I want + even Sue if you want him. What more would I not want if that + were your fancy? For instance, M. de Suzannet or Victor + Schoelcher! Everything, a lover excepted. + + + Nohant, April 21, 1837. + + [To the Comtesse d'Agoult.] Nobody has permitted himself to + breathe the air of your room since you left it. Arrangements + will be made to put up all those you may bring with you. I + count on the maestro, on Chopin, on the Rat, [FOOTNOTE: + Liszt's pupil, Hermann Cohen.] if he does not weary you too + much, and all the others at your choice. + +Chopin's love for George Sand was not instantaneous like that of +Romeo for Juliet. Karasowski remembers having read in one of +those letters of the composer which perished in 1863: "Yesterday +I met George Sand...; she made a very disagreeable impression +upon me." Hiller in his Open Letter to Franz Liszt writes:-- + + One evening you had assembled in your apartments the + aristocracy of the French literary world--George Sand was of + course one of the company. On the way home Chopin said to me + "What a repellent [antipathische] woman the Sand is! But is + she really a woman? I am inclined to doubt it." + +Liszt, in discussing this matter with me, spoke only of Chopin's +"reserve" towards George Sand, but said nothing of his "aversion" +to her. And according to this authority the novelist's +extraordinary mind and attractive conversation soon overcame the +musician's reserve. Alfred de Musset's experience had been of a +similar nature. George Sand did not particularly please him at +first, but a few visits which he paid her sufficed to inflame his +heart with a violent passion. The liaisons of the poet and +musician with the novelist offer other points of resemblance +besides the one just mentioned: both Musset and Chopin were +younger than George Sand--the one six, the other five years; and +both, notwithstanding the dissimilarity of their characters, +occupied the position of a weaker half. In the case of Chopin I +am reminded of a saying of Sydney Smith, who, in speaking of his +friends the historian Grote and his wife, remarked: "I do like +them both so much, for he is so lady-like, and she is such a +perfect gentleman." Indeed, Chopin was described to me by his +pupil Gutmann as feminine in looks, gestures, and taste; as to +George Sand, although many may be unwilling to admit her perfect +gentlemanliness, no one can doubt her manliness:-- + + Dark and olive-complexioned Lelia! [writes Liszt] thou hast + walked in solitary places, sombre as Lara, distracted as + Manfred, rebellious as Cain, but more fierce [farouche], more + pitiless, more inconsolable than they, because thou hast found + among the hearts of men none feminine enough to love thee as + they have been loved, to pay to thy virile charms the tribute + of a confiding and blind submission, of a silent and ardent + devotion, to suffer his allegiance to be protected by thy + Amazonian strength! + +The enthusiasm with which the Poles of her acquaintance spoke of +their countrywomen, and the amorous suavity, fulness of feeling, +and spotless nobleness which she admired in the Polish composer's +inspirations, seem to have made her anticipate, even before +meeting Chopin, that she would find in him her ideal lover, one +whose love takes the form of worship. To quote Liszt's words: +"She believed that there, free from all dependence, secure +against all inferiority, her role would rise to the fairy-like +power of some being at once the superior and the friend of man. +"Were it not unreasonable to regard spontaneous utterances-- +expressions of passing moods and fancies, perhaps mere flights of +rhetoric--as well-considered expositions of stable principles, +one might be tempted to ask: Had George Sand found in Chopin the +man who was "bold or vile enough" to accept her "hard and clear" +conditions? [FOOTNOTE: See extract from one of her letters in the +preceding chapter, Vol. I., p. 334.] + +While the ordinary position of man and woman was entirely +reversed in this alliance, the qualities which characterised them +can nevertheless hardly ever have been more nearly diametrically +opposed. Chopin was weak and undecided; George Sand strong and +energetic. The former shrank from inquiry and controversy; the +latter threw herself eagerly into them. [FOOTNOTE: George Sand +talks much of the indolence of her temperament: we may admit this +fact, but must not overlook another one--namely, that she was in +possession of an immense fund of energy, and was always ready to +draw upon it whenever speech or action served her purpose or +fancy.] The one was a strict observer of the laws of propriety +and an almost exclusive frequenter of fashionable society; the +other, on the contrary, had an unmitigated scorn for the so- +called proprieties and so-called good society. Chopin's manners +exhibited a studied refinement, and no woman could be more +particular in the matter of dress than he was. It is +characteristic of the man that he was so discerning a judge of +the elegance and perfection of a female toilette as to be able to +tell at a glance whether a dress had been made in a first-class +establishment or in an inferior one. The great composer is said +to have had an unlimited admiration for a well-made and well- +carried (bien porte) dress. Now what a totally different picture +presents itself when we turn to George Sand, who says of herself, +in speaking of her girlhood, that although never boorish or +importunate, she was always brusque in her movements and natural +in her manners, and had a horror of gloves and profound bows. Her +fondness for male garments is as characteristic as Chopin's +connoisseurship of the female toilette; it did not end with her +student life, for she donned them again in 1836 when travelling +in Switzerland. + +The whole of Chopin's person was harmonious. "His appearance," +says Moscheles, who saw him in 1839, "is exactly like his music +[ist identificirt mit seiner Musik], both are tender and +schwarmerisch." + +[FOOTNOTE: I shall not attempt to translate this word, but I will +give the reader a recipe. Take the notions "fanciful," "dreamy," +and "enthusiastic" (in their poetic sense), mix them well, and +you have a conception of schwarmerisck.] + +A slim frame of middle height; fragile but wonderfully flexible +limbs; delicately-formed hands; very small feet; an oval, softly- +outlined head; a pale, transparent complexion; long silken hair +of a light chestnut colour, parted on one side; tender brown +eyes, intelligent rather than dreamy; a finely-curved aquiline +nose; a sweet subtle smile; graceful and varied gestures: such +was the outward presence of Chopin. As to the colour of the eyes +and hair, the authorities contradict each other most thoroughly. +Liszt describes the eyes as blue, Karasowski as dark brown, and +M. Mathias as "couleur de biere." [FOOTNOTE: This strange +expression we find again in Count Wodzinski's Les trois Romans de +Frederic Chopin, where the author says: "His large limpid, +expressive, and soft eyes had that tint which the English call +auburn, which the Poles, his compatriots, describe as piwne (beer +colour), and which the French would denominate brown."] Of the +hair Liszt says that it was blonde, Madame Dubois and others that +it was cendre, Miss L. Ramann that it was dark blonde, and a +Scotch lady that it was dark brown. [FOOTNOTE: Count Wodzinski +writes: "It was not blonde, but of a shade similar to that of his +eyes: ash-coloured (cendre), with golden reflections in the +light."] Happily the matter is settled for us by an authority to +which all others must yield--namely, by M. T. Kwiatkowski, the +friend and countryman of Chopin, an artist who has drawn and +painted the latter frequently. Well, the information I received +from him is to the effect that Chopin had des yeux bruns tendres +(eyes of a tender brown), and les cheveux blonds chatains +(chestnut-blonde hair). Liszt, from whose book some of the above +details are derived, completes his portrayal of Chopin by some +characteristic touches. The timbre of his voice, he says, was +subdued and often muffled; and his movements had such a +distinction and his manners such an impress of good society that +one treated him unconsciously like a prince. His whole appearance +made one think of that of the convolvuli, which on incredibly +slender stems balance divinely-coloured chalices of such +vapourous tissue that the slightest touch destroys them. + +And whilst Liszt attributes to Chopin all sorts of feminine +graces and beauties, he speaks of George Sand as an Amazon, a +femme-heros, who is not afraid to expose her masculine +countenance to all suns and winds. Merimee says of George Sand +that he has known her "maigre comme un clou et noire comme une +taupe." Musset, after their first meeting, describes her, to whom +he at a subsequent period alludes as femme a l'oeil sombre, thus:- +- + + She is very beautiful; she is the kind of woman I like--brown, + pale, dull-complexioned with reflections as of bronze, and + strikingly large-eyed like an Indian. I have never been able + to contemplate such a countenance without inward emotion. Her + physiognomy is rather torpid, but when it becomes animated it + assumes a remarkably independent and proud expression. + +The most complete literary portrayal of George Sand that has been +handed down to us, however, is by Heine. He represents her as +Chopin knew her, for although he published the portrait as late +as 1854 he did not represent her as she then looked; indeed, at +that time he had probably no intercourse with her, and therefore +was obliged to draw from memory. The truthfulness of Heine's +delineation is testified by the approval of many who knew George +Sand, and also by Couture's portrait of her:-- + + George Sand, the great writer, is at the same time a beautiful + woman. She is even a distinguished beauty. Like the genius + which manifests itself in her works, her face is rather to be + called beautiful than interesting. The interesting is always a + graceful or ingenious deviation from the type of the + beautiful, and the features of George Sand bear rather the + impress of a Greek regularity. Their form, however, is not + hard, but softened by the sentimentality which is suffused + over them like a veil of sorrow. The forehead is not high, and + the delicious chestnut-brown curly hair falls parted down to + the shoulders. Her eyes are somewhat dim, at least they are + not bright, and their fire may have been extinguished by many + tears, or may have passed into her works, which have spread + their flaming brands over the whole world, illumined many a + comfortless prison, but perhaps also fatally set on fire many + a temple of innocence. The authoress of "Lelia" has quiet, + soft eyes, which remind one neither of Sodom nor of Gomorrah. + She has neither an emancipated aquiline nose nor a witty + little snub nose. It is just an ordinary straight nose. A good- + natured smile plays usually around her mouth, but it is not + very attractive; the somewhat hanging under-lip betrays + fatigued sensuality. The chin is full and plump, but + nevertheless beautifully proportioned. Also her shoulders are + beautiful, nay, magnificent. Likewise her arms and hands, + which, like her feet, are small. Let other contemporaries + describe the charms of her bosom, I confess my incompetence. + The rest of her bodily frame seems to be somewhat too stout, + at least too short. Only her head bears the impress of + ideality; it reminds one of the noblest remains of Greek art, + and in this respect one of our friends could compare the + beautiful woman to the marble statue of the Venus of Milo, + which stands in one of the lower rooms of the Louvre. Yes, she + is as beautiful as the Venus of Milo; she even surpasses the + latter in many respects: she is, for instance, very much + younger. The physiognomists who maintain that the voice of man + reveals his character most unmistakably would be much at a + loss if they were called upon to detect George Sand's + extraordinary depth of feeling [Innigkeit] in her voice. The + latter is dull and faded, without sonority, but soft and + agreeable. The naturalness of her speaking lends it some + charm. Of vocal talent she exhibits not a trace! George Sand + sings at best with the bravura of a beautiful grisette who has + not yet breakfasted or happens not to be in good voice. The + organ of George Sand has as little brilliancy as what she + says. She has nothing whatever of the sparkling esprit of her + countrywomen, but also nothing of their talkativeness. The + cause of this taciturnity, however, is neither modesty nor + sympathetic absorption in the discourse of another. She is + taciturn rather from haughtiness, because she does not think + you worth squandering her cleverness [Geist] upon, or even + from selfishness, because she endeavours to absorb the best of + your discourse in order to work it up afterwards in her works. + That out of avarice George Sand knows how never to give + anything and always to take something in conversation, is a + trait to which Alfred de Musset drew my attention. "This gives + her a great advantage over us," said Musset, who, as he had + for many years occupied the post of cavaliere servente to the + lady, had had the best opportunity to learn to know her + thoroughly. George Sand never says anything witty; she is + indeed one of the most unwitty Frenchwomen I know. + +While admiring the clever drawing and the life-like appearance of +the portrait, we must, however, not overlook the exaggerations +and inaccuracies. The reader cannot have failed to detect the +limner tripping with regard to Musset, who occupied not many +years but less than a year the post of cavaliere servente. But +who would expect religious adherence to fact from Heine, who at +all times distinguishes himself rather by wit than +conscientiousness? What he says of George Sand's taciturnity in +company and want of wit, however, must be true; for she herself +tells us of these negative qualities in the Histoire de ma Vie. + +The musical accomplishments of Chopin's beloved one have, of +course, a peculiar interest for us. Liszt, who knew her so well, +informed me that she was not musical, but possessed taste and +judgment. By "not musical" he meant no doubt that she was not in +the habit of exhibiting her practical musical acquirements, or +did not possess these latter to any appreciable extent. She +herself seems to me to make too much of her musical talents, +studies, and knowledge. Indeed, her writings show that, whatever +her talents may have been, her taste was vague and her knowledge +very limited. + +When we consider the diversity of character, it is not a matter +for wonder that Chopin was at first rather repelled than +attracted by the personality of George Sand. Nor is it, on the +other hand, a matter for wonder that her beauty and power of +pleasing proved too strong for his antipathy. How great this +power of pleasing was when she wished to exercise it, the reader +may judge from the incident I shall now relate. Musset's mother, +having been informed of her son's projected tour to Italy, begged +him to give it up. The poet promised to comply with her request: +"If one must weep, it shall not be you," he said. In the evening +George Sand came in a carriage to the door and asked for Madame +Musset; the latter came out, and after a short interview gave her +consent to her son's departure. Chopin's unsuccessful wooing of +Miss Wodzinska and her marriage with Count Skarbek in this year +(1837) may not have been without effect on the composer. His +heart being left bruised and empty was as it were sensitised (if +I may use this photographic term) for the reception of a new +impression by the action of love. In short, the intimacy between +Chopin and George Sand grew steadily and continued to grow till +it reached its climax in the autumn of 1838, when they went +together to Majorca. Other matters, however, have to be adverted +to before we come to this passage of Chopin's life. First I shall +have to say a few words about his artistic activity during the +years 1837 and 1838. + +Among the works composed by Chopin in 1837 was one of the +Variations on the March from I Puritani, which were published +under the title Hexameron: Morceau de Concert. Grandes variations +de bravoure sur la marche des Puritains de Bellini, composees +pour le concert de Madame la Princesse Belgiojoso au benefice des +pauvres, par M.M. Liszt, Thalberg, Pixis, H. Herz, Czerny, et +Chopin. This co-operative undertaking was set on foot by the +Princess, and was one of her many schemes to procure money for +her poor exiled countrymen. Liszt played these Variations often +at his concerts, and even wrote orchestral accompaniments to +them, which, however, were never published. + +Chopin's publications of the year 1837 are: in October, Op. 25, +Douze Etudes, dedicated to Madame la Comtesse d'Agoult; and in +December, Op. 29, Impromptu (in A flat major), dedicated to +Mdlle. la Comtesse de Lobau; Op. 30, Quatre Mazurkas, dedicated +to Madame la Princesse de Wurtemberg, nee Princesse Czartoryska; +Op. 31, Deuxieme Scherzo (B flat minor), dedicated to Mdlle. la +Comtesse Adele de Furstenstein; and Op. 32, Deux Nocturnes (B +major and A flat major), dedicated to Madame la Baronne de +Billing. His publications of the year 1838 are: in October, Op. +33, Quatre Mazurkas, dedicated to Mdlle. la Comtesse Mostowska; +and, in December, Op. 34, Trois Valses brillantes (A flat major, +A minor, and F major), respectively dedicated to Mdlle. de Thun- +Hohenstein, Madame G. d'Ivri, and Mdlle. A. d'Eichthal. This last +work appeared at Paris first in an Album des Pianistes, a +collection of unpublished pieces by Thalberg, Chopin, Doehler, +Osborne, Liszt, and Mereaux. Two things in connection with this +album may yet be mentioned--namely, that Mereaux contributed to +it a Fantasia on a mazurka by Chopin, and that Stephen Heller +reviewed it in the Gazette musicale. Chopin was by no means +pleased with the insertion of the waltzes in Schlesinger's Album +des Pianistes. But more of this and his labours and grievances as +a composer in the next chapter. + +There are also to be recorded some public and semi-public +appearances of Chopin as a virtuoso. On February 25, 1838, the +Gazette musicale informs its readers that Chopin, "that equally +extraordinary and modest pianist," had lately been summoned to +Court to be heard there en cercle intime. His inexhaustible +improvisations, which almost made up the whole of the evening's +entertainment, were particularly admired by the audience, which +knew as well as a gathering of artists how to appreciate the +composer's merits. At a concert given by Valentin Alkan on March +3, 1838, Chopin performed with Zimmermann, Gutmann, and the +concert-giver, the latter's arrangement of Beethoven's A major +Symphony (or rather some movements from it) for two pianos and +eight hands. And in the Gazette musicale of March 25, 1838, there +is a report by M. Legouve of Chopin's appearance at a concert +given by his countryman Orlowski at Rouen, where the latter had +settled after some years stay in Paris. From a writer in the +Journal de Rouen (December 1, 1849) we learn that ever since this +concert, which was held in the town-hall, and at which the +composer played his E minor Concerto with incomparable +perfection, the name of Chopin had in the musical world of Rouen +a popularity which secured to his memory an honourable and +cordial sympathy. But here is what Legouve says about this +concert. I transcribe the notice in full, because it shows us +both how completely Chopin had retired from the noise and strife +of publicity, and how high he stood in the estimation of his +contemporaries. + + Here is an event which is not without importance in the + musical world. Chopin, who has not been heard in public for + several years; Chopin, who imprisons his charming genius in an + audience of five or six persons; Chopin, who resembles those + enchanted isles where so many marvels are said to abound that + one regards them as fabulous; Chopin, whom one can never + forget after having once heard him; Chopin has just given a + grand concert at Rouen before 500 people for the benefit of a + Polish professor. Nothing less than a good action to be done + and the remembrance of his country could have overcome his + repugnance to playing in public. Well! the success was + immense! immense! All these enchanting melodies, these + ineffable delicacies of execution, these melancholy and + impassioned inspirations, and all that poesy of playing and of + composition which takes hold at once of your imagination and + heart, have penetrated, moved, enraptured 500 auditors, as + they do the eight or ten privileged persons who listen to him + religiously for whole hours; every moment there were in the + hall those electric fremissements, those murmurs of ecstasy + and astonishment which are the bravos of the soul. Forward + then, Chopin! forward! let this triumph decide you; do not be + selfish, give your beautiful talent to all; consent to pass + for what you are; put an end to the great debate which divides + the artists; and when it shall be asked who is the first + pianist of Europe, Liszt or Thalberg, let all the world reply, + like those who have heard you..."It is Chopin." + +Chopin's artistic achievements, however, were not unanimously +received with such enthusiastic approval. A writer in the less +friendly La France musicale goes even so far as to stultify +himself by ridiculing, a propos of the A flat Impromptu, the +composer's style. This jackanapes--who belongs to that numerous +class of critics whose smartness of verbiage combined with +obtuseness of judgment is so well-known to the serious musical +reader and so thoroughly despised by him--ignores the spiritual +contents of the work under discussion altogether, and condemns +without hesitation every means of expression which in the +slightest degree deviates from the time-honoured standards. We +are told that Chopin's mode of procedure in composing is this. He +goes in quest of an idea, writes, writes, modulates through all +the twenty-four keys, and, if the idea fails to come, does +without it and concludes the little piece very nicely (tres- +bien). And now, gentle reader, ponder on this momentous and +immeasurably sad fact: of such a nature was, is, and ever will be +the great mass of criticism. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + + +CHOPIN'S VISITS TO NOHANT IN 1837 AND 1838.--HIS ILL HEALTH.--HE +DECIDES TO GO WITH MADAME SAND AND HER CHILDREN TO MAJORCA.-- +MADAME SAND'S ACCOUNT OF THIS MATTER AND WHAT OTHERS THOUGHT +ABOUT IT.--CHOPIN AND HIS FELLOW--TRAVELLERS MEET AT PERPIGNAN IN +THE BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER, 1838, AND PROCEED BY PORT-VENDRES AND +BARCELONA TO PALMA.--THEIR LIFE AND EXPERIENCES IN THE TOWN, AT +THE VILLA SON-VENT, AND AT THE MONASTERY OF VALDEMOSA, AS +DESCRIBED IN CHOPIN'S AND GEORGE SAND'S LETTERS, AND THE LATTER'S +"MA VIE" AND "UN HIVER A MAJORQUE."--THE PRELUDES.--RETURN TO +FRANCE BY BARCELONA AND MARSEILLES IN THE END OF FEBRUARY, 1839. + + + +In a letter written in 1837, and quoted on p. 313 of Vol. I., +Chopin said: "I may perhaps go for a few days to George Sand's." +How heartily she invited him through their common friends Liszt +and the Comtesse d'Agoult, we saw in the preceding chapter. We +may safely assume, I think, that Chopin went to Nohant in the +summer of 1837, and may be sure that he did so in the summer of +1838, although with regard to neither visit reliable information +of any kind is discoverable. Karasowski, it is true, quotes four +letters of Chopin to Fontana as written from Nohant in 1838, but +internal evidence shows that they must have been written three +years later. + +We know from Mendelssohn's and Moscheles' allusions to Chopin's +visit to London that he was at that time ailing. He himself wrote +in the same year (1837) to Anthony Wodzinski that during the +winter he had been again ill with influenza, and that the doctors +had wanted to send him to Ems. As time went on the state of his +health seems to have got worse, and this led to his going to +Majorca in the winter of 1838-1839. The circumstance that he had +the company of Madame Sand on this occasion has given rise to +much discussion. According to Liszt, Chopin was forced by the +alarming state of his health to go to the south in order to avoid +the severities of the Paris winter; and Madame Sand, who always +watched sympathetically over her friends, would not let him +depart alone, but resolved to accompany him. Karasowski, on the +other hand, maintains that it was not Madame Sand who was induced +to accompany Chopin, but that Madame Sand induced Chopin to +accompany her. Neither of these statements tallies with Madame +Sand's own account. She tells us that when in 1838 her son +Maurice, who had been in the custody of his father, was +definitively entrusted to her care, she resolved to take him to a +milder climate, hoping thus to prevent a return of the rheumatism +from which he had suffered so much in the preceding year. +Besides, she wished to live for some time in a quiet place where +she could make her children work, and could work herself, +undisturbed by the claims of society. + + As I was making my plans and preparations for departure [she + goes on to say], Chopin, whom I saw every day and whose genius + and character I tenderly loved, said to me that if he were in + Maurice's place he would soon recover. I believed it, and I + was mistaken. I did not put him in the place of Maurice on the + journey, but beside Maurice. His friends had for long urged + him to go and spend some time in the south of Europe. People + believed that he was consumptive. Gaubert examined him and + declared to me that he was not. "You will save him, in fact," + he said to me, "if you give him air, exercise, and rest." + Others, knowing well that Chopin would never make up his mind + to leave the society and life of Paris without being carried + off by a person whom he loved and who was devoted to him, + urged me strongly not to oppose the desire he showed so a + propos and in a quite unhoped-for way. + + As time showed, I was wrong in yielding to their hopes and my + own solicitude. It was indeed enough to go abroad alone with + two children, one already ill, the other full of exuberant + health and spirits, without taking upon myself also a terrible + anxiety and a physician's responsibility. + + But Chopin was just then in a state of health that reassured + everybody. With the exception of Grzymala, who saw more + clearly how matters stood, we were all hopeful. I nevertheless + begged Chopin to consider well his moral strength, because for + several years he had never contemplated without dread the idea + of leaving Paris, his physician, his acquaintances, his room + even, and his piano. He was a man of imperious habits, and + every change, however small it might be, was a terrible event + in his life. + +Seeing that Liszt--who was at the time in Italy--and Karasowski +speak only from hearsay, we cannot do better than accept George +Sand's account, which contains nothing improbable. In connection +with this migration to the south, I must, however, not omit to +mention certain statements of Adolph Gutmann, one of Chopin's +pupils. Here is the substance of what Gutmann told me. Chopin was +anxious to go to Majorca, but for some time was kept in suspense +by the scantiness of his funds. This threatening obstacle, +however, disappeared when his friend the pianoforte-maker and +publisher, Camille Pleyel, paid him 2,000 francs for the +copyright of the Preludes, Op. 28. Chopin remarked of this +transaction to Gutmann, or in his hearing: "I sold the Preludes +to Pleyel because he liked them [parcequ'il les. aimait]." And +Pleyel exclaimed on one occasion: "These are my Preludes [Ce sont +mes Preludes]." Gutmann thought that Pleyel, who was indebted to +Chopin for playing on his instruments and recommending them, +wished to assist his friend in a delicate way with some money, +and therefore pretended to be greatly taken with these +compositions and bent upon possessing them. This, however, cannot +be quite correct; for from Chopin's letters, which I shall quote +I presently, it appears that he had indeed promised Pleyel the +Preludes, but before his departure received from him only 500 +francs, the remaining 1,500 being paid months afterwards, on the +delivery of the manuscript. These letters show, on the other +hand, that when Chopin was in Majorca he owed to Leo 1,000 +francs, which very likely he borrowed from him to defray part of +the expenses of his sojourn in the south. + +[FOOTNOTE: August Leo, a Paris banker, "the friend and patron of +many artists," as he is called by Moscheles, who was related to +him through his wife Charlotte Embden, of Hamburg. The name of +Leo occurs often in the letters and conversations of musicians, +especially German musicians, who visited Paris or lived there in +the second quarter of this century. Leo kept house together with +his brother-in-law Valentin. (See Vol. I., p. 254.)] + +Chopin kept his intention of going with Madame Sand to Majorca +secret from all but a privileged few. According to Franchomme, he +did not speak of it even to his friends. There seem to have been +only three exceptions--Fontana, Matuszynski, and Grzymala, and in +his letters to the first he repeatedly entreats his friend not to +talk about him. Nor does he seem to have been much more +communicative after his return, for none of Chopin's +acquaintances whom I questioned was able to tell me whether the +composer looked back on this migration with satisfaction or with +regret; still less did they remember any remark made by him that +would throw a more searching light on this period of his life. + +Until recently the only sources of information bearing on +Chopin's stay in Majorca were George Sand's "Un Hiver a Majorque" +and "Histoire de ma Vie." But now we have also Chopin's letters +to Fontana (in the Polish edition of Karasowski's "Chopin") and +George Sand's "Correspondance," which supplement and correct the +two publications of the novelist. Remembering the latter's +tendency to idealise everything, and her disinclination to +descend to the prose of her subject, I shall make the letters the +backbone of my narrative, and for the rest select my material +cautiously. + +Telling Chopin that she would stay some days at Perpignan if he +were not there on her arrival, but would proceed without him if +he failed to make his appearance within a certain time, Madame +Sand set out with her two children and a maid in the month of +November, 1838, for the south of France, and, travelling for +travelling's sake, visited Lyons, Avignon, Vaucluse, Nimes, and +other places. The distinguished financier and well-known Spanish +statesman Mendizabal, their friend, who was going to Madrid, was +to accompany Chopin to the Spanish frontier. Madame Sand was not +long left in doubt as to whether Chopin would realise his reve de +voyage or not, for he put in his appearance at Perpignan the very +next day after her arrival there. Madame Sand to Madame Marliani, +[FOOTNOTE: The wife of the Spanish politician and author, Manuel +Marliani. We shall hear more of her farther on.] November, 1838:- +- + + Chopin arrived at Perpignan last night, fresh as a rose, and + rosy as a turnip; moreover, in good health, having stood his + four nights of the mail-coach heroically. As to ourselves, we + travelled slowly, quietly, and surrounded at all stations by + our friends, who overwhelmed us with kindness. + +As the weather was fine and the sea calm Chopin did not suffer +much on the passage from Port-Vendres to Barcelona. At the latter +town the party halted for a while-spending some busy days within +its walls, and making an excursion into the country-and then took +ship for Palma, the capital of Majorca and the Balearic Isles +generally. Again the voyagers were favoured by the elements. + + The night was warm and dark, illumined only by an + extraordinary phosphorescence in the wake of the ship; + everybody was asleep on board except the steersman, who, in + order to keep himself awake, sang all night, but in a voice so + soft and so subdued that one might have thought that he feared + to awake the men of the watch, or that he himself was half + asleep. We did not weary of listening to him, for his singing + was of the strangest kind. He observed a rhythm and + modulations totally different from those we are accustomed to, + and seemed to allow his voice to go at random, like the smoke + of the vessel carried away and swayed by the breeze. It was a + reverie rather than a song, a kind of careless divagation of + the voice, with which the mind had little to do, but which + kept time with the swaying of the ship, the faint sound of the + dead water, and resembled a vague improvisation, restrained, + nevertheless, by sweet and monotonous forms. + +When night had passed into day, the steep coasts of Majorca, +dentelees au soleil du matin par les aloes et les palmiers, came +in sight, and soon after El Mallorquin landed its passengers at +Palma. Madame Sand had left Paris a fortnight before in extremely +cold weather, and here she found in the first half of November +summer heat. The newcomers derived much pleasure from their +rambles through the town, which has a strongly-pronounced +character of its own and is rich in fine and interesting +buildings, among which are most prominent the magnificent +Cathedral, the elegant Exchange (la lonja), the stately Town- +Hall, and the picturesque Royal Palace (palacio real). Indeed, in +Majorca everything is picturesque, + + from the hut of the peasant, who in his most insignificant + buildings has preserved the tradition of the Arabic style, to + the infant clothed in rags and triumphant in his "malproprete + grandiose," as Heine said a propos of the market-women of + Verona. The character of the landscape, whose vegetation is + richer than that of Africa is in general, has quite as much + breadth, calm, and simplicity. It is green Switzerland under + the sky of Calabria, with the solemnity and silence of the + East. + +But picturesqueness alone does not make man's happiness, and +Palma seems to have afforded little else. If we may believe +Madame Sand, there was not a single hotel in the town, and the +only accommodation her party could get consisted of two small +rooms, unfurnished rather than furnished, in some wretched place +where travellers are happy to find "a folding-bed, a straw- +bottomed chair, and, as regards food, pepper and garlic a +discretion." Still, however great their discomfort and disgust +might be, they had to do their utmost to hide their feelings; +for, if they had made faces on discovering vermin in their beds +and scorpions in their soup, they would certainly have hurt the +susceptibilities of the natives, and would probably have exposed +themselves to unpleasant consequences. No inhabitable apartments +were to be had in the town itself, but in its neighbourhood a +villa chanced to be vacant, and this our party rented at once. + +Madame Sand to Madame Marliani; Palma, November 14, 1838:-- + + I am leaving the town, and shall establish myself in the + country: I have a pretty furnished house, with a garden and a + magnificent view, for fifty francs per month. Besides, two + leagues from there I have a cell, that is to say, three rooms + and a garden full of oranges and lemons, for thirty-five + francs PER YEAR, in the large monastery of Valdemosa. + +The furniture of the villa was indeed of the most primitive kind, +and the walls were only whitewashed, but the house was otherwise +convenient, well ventilated--in fact, too well ventilated--and +above all beautifully situated at the foot of rounded, fertile +mountains, in the bosom of a rich valley which was terminated by +the yellow walls of Palma, the mass of the cathedral, and the +sparkling sea on the horizon. + +Chopin to Fontana; Palma, November 15, 1838:-- + +[FOOTNOTE: Julius Fontana, born at Warsaw in 1810, studied music +(at the Warsaw Conservatoire under Elsner) as an amateur and law +for his profession; joined in 1830 the Polish insurrectionary +army; left his country after the failure of the insurrection; +taught the piano in London; played in 1835 several times with +success in Paris; resided there for some years; went in 1841 to +Havannah; on account of the climate, removed to New York; gave +there concerts with Sivori; and returned to Paris in 1850. This +at least is the account we get of him in Sowinski's "Les +Musiciens polonais et slaves." Mr. A. J. Hipkins, who became +acquainted with Fontana during a stay which the latter made in +London in 1856 (May and early part of June), described him to me +as "an honourable and gentlemanly man." From the same informant I +learned that Fontana married a lady who had an income for life, +and that by this marriage he was enabled to retire from the +active exercise of his profession. Later on he became very deaf, +and this great trouble was followed by a still greater one, the +death of his wife. Thus left deaf and poor, he despaired, and, +putting a pistol to one of his ears, blew out his brains. +According to Karasowski he died at Paris in 1870. The +compositions he published (dances, fantasias, studies, &c.) are +of no importance. He is said to have published also two books, +one on Polish orthography in 1866 and one on popular astronomy in +1869. The above and all the following letters of Chopin to +Fontana are in the possession of Madame Johanna Lilpop, of +Warsaw, and are here translated from Karasowski's Polish edition +of his biography of Chopin. Many of the letters are undated, and +the dates suggested by Karasowski generally wrong. There are, +moreover, two letters which are given as if dated by Chopin; but +as the contents point to Nohant and 1841 rather than to Majorca +and 1838 and 1839, I shall place them in Chapter XXIV., where +also my reasons for doing so will be more particularly stated. A +third letter, supposed by Karasowski to be written at Valdemosa +in February, I hold to be written at Marseilles in April. It will +be found in the next chapter.] + + My dear friend,--I am at Palma, among palms, cedars, cactuses, + aloes, and olive, orange, lemon, fig, and pomegranate trees, + &c., which the Jardin des Plantes possesses only thanks to its + stoves. The sky is like a turquoise, the sea is like lazuli, + and the mountains are like emeralds. The air? The air is just + as in heaven. During the day there is sunshine, and + consequently it is warm--everybody wears summer clothes. + During the night guitars and songs are heard everywhere and at + all hours. Enormous balconies with vines overhead, Moorish + walls...The town, like everything here, looks towards + Africa...In one word, a charming life"! + + Dear Julius, go to Pleyel--the piano has not yet arrived--and + ask him by what route they have sent it. + + The Preludes you shall have soon. + + I shall probably take up my quarters in a delightful monastery + in one of the most beautiful sites in the world: sea, + mountains, palm trees, cemetery, church of the Knights of the + Cross, ruins of mosques, thousand-year-old olive trees!...Ah, + my dear friend, I am now enjoying life a little more; I am + near what is most beautiful--I am a better man. + + Letters from my parents and whatever you have to send me give + to Grzymala; he knows the safest address. + + Embrace Johnnie. [FOOTNOTE: The Johnnie so frequently + mentioned in the letters to Fontana is John Matuszynski.] How + soon he would recover here! + + Tell Schlesinger that before long he will receive MS. To + acquaintances speak little of me. Should anybody ask, say that + I shall be back in spring. The mail goes once a week; I write + through the French Consulate here. + + Send the enclosed letter as it is to my parents; leave it at + the postoffice yourself. + + Yours, + + CHOPIN. + +George Sand relates in "Un Hiver a Majorque" that the first days +which her party passed at the Son-Vent (House of the Wind)--this +was the name of the villa they had rented--were pretty well taken +up with promenading and pleasant lounging, to which the delicious +climate and novel scenery invited. But this paradisaic condition +was suddenly changed as if by magic when at the end of two or +three weeks the wet season began and the Son-Vent became +uninhabitable. + + The walls of it were so thin that the lime with which our + rooms were plastered swelled like a sponge. For my part I + never suffered so much from cold, although it was in reality + not very cold; but for us, who are accustomed to warm + ourselves in winter, this house without a chimney was like a + mantle of ice on our shoulders, and I felt paralysed. Chopin, + delicate as he was and subject to violent irritation of the + larynx, soon felt the effects of the damp. + + We could not accustom ourselves to the stifling odour of the + brasiers, and our invalid began to ail and to cough. + + From this moment we became an object of dread and horror to + the population. We were accused and convicted of pulmonary + phthisis, which is equivalent to the plague in the prejudices + regarding contagion entertained by Spanish physicians. A rich + doctor, who for the moderate remuneration of forty-five francs + deigned to come and pay us a visit, declared, nevertheless, + that there was nothing the matter, and prescribed nothing. + + Another physician came obligingly to our assistance; but the + pharmacy at Palma was in such a miserable state that we could + only procure detestable drugs. Moreover, the illness was to be + aggravated by causes which no science and no devotion could + efficiently battle against. + + One morning, when we were given up to serious fears on account + of the duration of these rains and these sufferings which were + bound up together, we received a letter from the fierce Gomez + [the landlord], who declared, in the Spanish style, that we + held a person who held a disease which carried contagion into + his house, and threatened prematurely the life of his family; + in consequence of which he requested us to leave his palace + with the shortest delay possible. + + This did not cause us much regret, for we could no longer stay + there without fear of being drowned in our rooms; but our + invalid was not in a condition to be moved without danger, + especially by such means of transport as are available in + Majorca, and in the weather then obtaining. And then the + difficulty was to know where to go, for the rumour of our + phthisis had spread instantaneously, and we could no longer + hope to find a shelter anywhere, not even at a very high price + for a night. We knew that the obliging persons who offeredto + take us in were themselves not free from prejudices, and that, + moreover, we should draw upon them, in going near them, the + reprobation which weighed upon us. Without the hospitality of + the French consul, who did wonders in order to gather us all + under his roof, we were threatened with the prospect of + camping in some cavern like veritable Bohemians. + + Another miracle came to pass, and we found an asylum for the + winter. At the Carthusian monastery of Valdemosa there was a + Spanish refugee, who had hidden himself there for I don't know + what political reason. Visiting the monastery, we were struck + with the gentility of his manners, the melancholy beauty of + his wife, and the rustic and yet comfortable furniture of + their cell. The poesy of this monastery had turned my head. It + happened that the mysterious couple wished to leave the + country precipitately, and--that they were as delighted to + dispose to us of their furniture and cell as we were to + acquire them. For the moderate sum of a thousand francs we had + then a complete establishment, but such a one as we could have + procured in France for 300 francs, so rare, costly, and + difficult to get are the most necessary things in Majorca. + +The outcasts decamped speedily from the Son-Vent. But before +Senor Gomez had done with his tenants, he made them pay for the +whitewashing and the replastering of the whole house, which he +held to have been infected by Chopin. + +And now let us turn once more from George Sand's poetical +inventions, distortions, and exaggerations, to the comparative +sobriety and trustworthiness of letters. + +Chopin to Fontana; Palma, December 3, 1838:-- + + I cannot send you the MSS. as they are not yet finished. + During the last two weeks I have been as ill as a dog, in + spite of eighteen degrees of heat, [FOOTNOTE: That is, + eighteen degrees Centigrade, which are equal to about sixty- + four degrees Fahrenheit.] and of roses, and orange, palm, and + fig trees in blossom. I caught a severe cold. Three doctors, + the most renowned in the island, were called in for + consultation. One smelt what I spat, the second knocked whence + I spat, the third sounded and listened when I spat. The first + said that I would die, the second that I was dying, the third + that I had died already; and in the meantime I live as I was + living. I cannot forgive Johnnie that in the case of bronchite + aigue, which he could always notice in me, he gave me no + advice. I had a narrow escape from their bleedings, + cataplasms, and such like operations. Thanks to Providence, I + am now myself again. My illness has nevertheless a pernicious + effect on the Preludes, which you will receive God knows when. + + In a few days I shall live in the most beautiful part of the + world. Sea, mountains...whatever you wish. We are to have our + quarters in an old, vast, abandoned and ruined monastery of + Carthusians whom Mend [FOOTNOTE: Mendizabal] drove away as it + were for me. Near Palma--nothing more wonderful: cloisters, + most poetic cemeteries. In short, I feel that there it will be + well with me. Only the piano has not yet come! I wrote to + Pleyel. Ask there and tell him that on the day after my + arrival here I was taken very ill, and that I am well again. + On the whole, speak little about me and my manuscripts. Write + to me. As yet I have not received a letter from you. + + Tell Leo that I have not as yet sent the Preludes to the + Albrechts, but that I still love them sincerely, and shall + write to them shortly. + + Post the enclosed letter to my parents yourself, and write as + soon as possible. + + My love to Johnnie. Do not tell anyone that I was ill, they + would only gossip about it. + +[FOOTNOTE: to Madame Dubois I owe the information that Albrecht, +an attache to the Saxon legation (a post which gave him a good +standing in society) and at the same time a wine-merchant (with +offices in the Place Vendome--his specialty being "vins de +Bordeaux"), was one of Chopin's "fanatic friends." In the letters +there are allusions to two Albrechts, father and son; the +foregoing information refers to the son, who, I think, is the T. +Albrecht to whom the Premier Scherzo, Chopin's Op. 20, is +dedicated.] + + +Chopin to Fontana; Palma, December 14, 1838:-- + + As yet not a word from you, and this is my third or fourth + letter. Did you prepay? Perhaps my parents did not write. + Maybe some misfortune has befallen them. Or are you so lazy? + But no, you are not lazy, you are so obliging. No doubt you + sent my two letters to my people (both from Palma). And you + must have written to me, only the post of this place, which is + the most irregular in the world, has not yet delivered your + letters. + + Only to-day I was informed that on the ist of December my + piano was embarked at Marseilles on a merchant vessel. The + letter took fourteen days to come from that town. Thus there + is some hope that the piano may pass the winter in the port, + as here nobody stirs when it rains. The idea of my getting it + just at my departure pleases me, for in addition to the 500 + francs for freight and duty which I must pay, I shall have the + pleasure of packing it and sending it back. Meanwhile my + manuscripts are sleeping, whereas I cannot sleep, but cough, + and am covered with plasters, waiting anxiously for spring or + something else. + + To-morrow I start for this delightful monastery of Valdemosa. + I shall live, muse, and write in the cell of some old monk who + may have had more fire in his heart than I, and was obliged to + hide and smother it, not being able to make use of it. + + I think that shortly I shall be able to send you my Preludes + and my Ballade. Go and see Leo; do not mention that I am ill, + he would fear for his 1,000 francs. + + Give my kind remembrances to Johnnie and Pleyel. + + +Madame Sand to Madame Marliani; Palma, December 14, 1838:-- + + ...What is really beautiful here is the country, the sky, the + mountains, the good health of Maurice, and the radoucissement + of Solange. The good Chopin is not in equally brilliant + health. He misses his piano very much. We received news of it + to-day. It has left Marseilles, and we shall perhaps have it + in a fortnight. Mon Dieu, how hard, difficult, and miserable + the physical life is here! It is beyond what one can imagine. + + By a stroke of fortune I have found for sale a clean suite of + furniture, charming for this country, but which a French + peasant would not have. Unheard-of trouble was required to get + a stove, wood, linen, and who knows what else. Though for a + month I have believed myself established, I am always on the + eve of being so. Here a cart takes five hours to go three + leagues; judge of the rest. They require two months to + manufacture a pair of tongs. There is no exaggeration in what + I say. Guess about this country all I do not tell you. For my + part I do not mind it, but I have suffered a little from it in + the fear of seeing my children suffer much from it. + + Happily, my ambulance is doing well. To-morrow we depart for + the Carthusian monastery of Valdemosa, the most poetic + residence on earth. We shall pass there the winter, which has + hardly begun and will soon end. This is the sole happiness of + this country. I have never in my life met with a nature so + delicious as that of Majorca. + + ...The people of this country are generally very gracious, + very obliging; but all this in words... + + I shall write to Leroux from the monastery at leisure. If you + knew what I have to do! I have almost to cook. Here, another + amenity, one cannot get served. The domestic is a brute: + bigoted, lazy, and gluttonous; a veritable son of a monk (I + think that all are that). It requires ten to do the work which + your brave Mary does. Happily, the maid whom I have brought + with me from Paris is very devoted, and resigns herself to do + heavy work; but she is not strong, and I must help her. + Besides, everything is dear, and proper nourishment is + difficult to get when the stomach cannot stand either rancid + oil or pig's grease. I begin to get accustomed to it; but + Chopin is ill every time that we do not prepare his food + ourselves. In short, our expedition here is, in many respects, + a frightful fiasco. + +On December 15, 1838, then, the Sand party took possession of +their quarters in the monastery of Valdemosa, and thence the next +letters are dated. + +Chopin to Fontana; "Palma, December 28, 1838, or rather +Valdemosa, a few miles distant from Palma":-- + + Between rocks and the sea, in a great abandoned Carthusian + monastery, in one of the cells with doors bigger than the + gates in Paris, you may imagine me with my hair uncurled, + without white gloves, pale as usual. The cell is in the shape + of a coffin, high, and full of dust on the vault. The window + small, before the window orange, palm, and cypress trees. + Opposite the window, under a Moorish filigree rosette, stands + my bed. By its side an old square thing like a table for + writing, scarcely serviceable; on it a leaden candlestick (a + great luxury) with a little tallow-candle, Works of Bach, my + jottings, and old scrawls that are not mine, this is all I + possess. Quietness...one may shout and nobody will hear...in + short, I am writing to you from a strange place. + + Your letter of the 9th of December I received the day before + yesterday; as on account of the holidays the express mail does + not leave till next week, I write to you in no great hurry. It + will be a Russian month before you get the bill of exchange + which I send you. + + Sublime nature is a fine thing, but one should have nothing to + do with men--nor with roads and posts. Many a time I came here + from Palma, always with the same driver and always by another + road. Streams of water make roads, violent rains destroy them; + to-day it is impossible to pass, for what was a road is + ploughed; next day only mules can pass where you were driving + yesterday. And what carriages here! That is the reason, + Julius, why you do not see a single Englishman, not even an + English consul. + + Leo is a Jew, a rogue! I was at his house the day before my + departure, and I told him not to send me anything here. I + cannot send you the Preludes, they are not yet finished. At + present I am better and shall push on the work. I shall write + and thank him in a way that will make him wince. + + But Schlesinger is a still worse dog to put my Waltzes + [FOOTNOTE: "Trois Valses brillantes," Op. 34.] in the Album, + and to sell them to Probst [FOOTNOTE: Heinrich Albert Probst + founded in 1823 a music-shop and publishing-house at Leipzig. + In 1831 Fr. Kistner entered the business (Probst-Kistner), + which under his name has existed from 1836 down to this day. + In the Chopin letters we meet Probst in the character of + Breitkopf and Hartel's agent.] when I gave him them because he + begged them for his father in Berlin. [FOOTNOTE: Adolf Martin + Schlesinger, a music-publisher like his son Maurice Adolph of + Paris, so frequently mentioned in these letters.] All this + irritates me. I am only sorry for you; but in one month at the + latest you will be clear of Leo and my landlord. With the + money which you receive on the bill of exchange, do what is + necessary. And my servant, what is he doing? Give the portier + twenty francs as a New Year's present. + + I do not remember whether I left any debts of importance. At + all events, as I promised you, we shall be clear in a month at + the latest. + + To-day the moon is wonderful, I never saw it more beautiful. + + By the way, you write that you sent me a letter from my + people. I neither saw nor heard of one, and I am longing so + much for one! Did you prepay when you sent them the letter? + + Your letter, the only one I have hitherto received, was very + badly addressed. Here nature is benevolent, but the people are + thievish. They never see any strangers, and therefore do not + know what to ask of them. For instance, an orange they will + give you for nothing, but ask a fabulous sum for a coat- + button. + + Under this sky you are penetrated with a kind of poetical + feeling which everything seems to exhale. Eagles alarmed by no + one soar every day majestically over our heads. + + For God's sake write, always prepay, and to Palma add always + Valdemosa. + + I love Johnnie, and I think it is a pity that he did not + altogether qualify himself as director of the children of some + benevolent institution in some Nuremberg or Bamberg. Get him + to write to me, were it only a few words. + + I enclose you a letter to my people...I think it is already + the third or fourth that I send you for my parents. + + My love to Albrecht, but speak very little about me. + + +Chopin to Fontana; Valdemosa, January 12, 1839:-- + + I send you the Preludes, make a copy of them, you and Wolf; + [FOOTNOTE: Edouard Wolff] I think there are no mistakes. You + will give the transcript to Probst, but my manuscript to + Pleyel. When you get the money from Probst, for whom I enclose + a receipt, you will take it at once to Leo. I do not write and + thank him just now, for I have no time. Out of the money which + Pleyel will give you, that is 1,500 francs, you will pay the + rent of my rooms till the New Year, 450 francs and you will + give notice of my giving them up if you have a chance to get + others from April. If not it will be necessary to keep them + for a quarter longer. The rest of the amount, or 1,000 francs, + you will return from me to Nougi. Where he lives you will + learn from Johnnie, but don't tell the latter of the money, + for he might attack Nougi, and I do not wish that anyone but + you and I should know of it. Should you succeed in finding + rooms, you could send one part of the furniture to Johnnie and + another to Grzymala. You will tell Pleyel to send letters + through you. + + I sent you before the New Year a bill of exchange for Wessel; + tell Pleyel that I have settled with Wessel. + + [FOOTNOTE: The music-publisher Christian Rudolph Wessel, of + Bremen, who came to London in 1825. Up to 1838 he had Stodart, + and from 1839 to 1845 Stapleton, as partner. He retired in + 1860, Messrs. Edwin Ashdown and Henry Parry being his + successors. Since the retirement of Mr. Parry, in 1882, Mr. + Ashdown is the sole proprietor. Mr. Ashdown, whom I have to + thank for the latter part of this note, informs me that Wessel + died in 1885.] + + In a few weeks you will receive a Ballade, a Polonaise, and a + Scherzo. + + Until now I have not yet received any letters from my parents. + + I embrace you. + + Sometimes I have Arabian balls, African sun, and always before + my eyes the Mediterranean Sea. + + I do not know when I shall be back, perhaps as late as May, + perhaps even later. + + +Madame Sand to Madame Marliani; Valdemosa, January 15, 1839:-- + + ...We inhabit the Carthusian monastery of Valdemosa, a really + sublime place, which I have hardly the time to admire, so many + occupations have I with my children, their lessons, and my + work. + + There are rains here of which one has elsewhere no idea: it is + a frightful deluge! The air is on account of it so relaxing, + so soft, that one cannot drag one's self along; one is really + ill. Happily, Maurice is in admirable health; his constitution + is only afraid of frost, a thing unknown here. But the little + Chopin [FOOTNOTE: Madame Marliani seems to have been in the + habit of calling Chopin "le petit." In another letter to her + (April 28, 1839) George Sand writes of Chopin as votre petit. + This reminds one of Mendelssohn's Chopinetto.] is very + depressed and always coughs much. For his sake I await with + impatience the return of fine weather, which will not be long + in coming. His piano has at last arrived at Palma; but it is + in the clutches of the custom-house officers, who demand from + five to six hundred francs duty, and show themselves + intractable. + + ...I am plunged with Maurice in Thucydides and company; with + Solange in the indirect object and the agreement of the + participle. Chopin plays on a poor Majorcan piano which + reminds me of that of Bouffe in "Pauvre Jacques." I pass my + nights generally in scrawling. When I raise my nose, it is to + see through the sky-light of my cell the moon which shines in + the midst of the rain on the orange trees, and I think no more + of it than she. + + +Madame Sand to M. A. M. Duteil; Valdemosa, January 20, 1839:-- + + ...This [the slowness and irregularity of the post] is not the + only inconvenience of the country. There are innumerable ones, + and yet this is the most beautiful country. The climate is + delicious. At the time I am writing, Maurice is gardening in + his shirt-sleeves, and Solange, seated under an orange tree + loaded with fruit, studies her lesson with a grave air. We + have bushes covered with roses, and spring is coming in. Our + winter lasted six weeks, not cold, but rainy to a degree to + frighten us. It is a deluge! The rain uproots the mountains; + all the waters of the mountain rush into the plain; the roads + become torrents. We found ourselves caught in them, Maurice + and I. We had been at Palma in superb weather. When we + returned in the evening, there were no fields, no roads, but + only trees to indicate approximately the way which we had to + go. I was really very. frightened, especially as the horse + refused to proceed, and we were obliged to traverse the + mountain on foot in the night, with torrents across our legs. + +Madame Sand to Madame Marliani; Valdemosa, February 22, 1839:-- + + ...You see me at my Carthusian monastery, still sedentary, and + occupied during the day with my children, at night with my + work. In the midst of all this, the warbling of Chopin, who + goes his usual pretty way, and whom the walls of the cell are + much astonished to hear. + + The only remarkable event since my last letter is the arrival + of the so much-expected piano. After a fortnight of + applications and waiting we have been able to get it out of + the custom-house by paying three hundred francs of duty. + Pretty country this! After all, it has been disembarked + without accident, and the vaults of the monastery are + delighted with it. And all this is not profaned by the + admiration of fools-we do not see a cat. + + Our retreat in the mountains, three leagues from the town, has + freed us from the politeness of idlers. + + Nevertheless, we have had one visitor, and a visitor from + Paris!--namely, M. Dembowski, an Italian Pole whom Chopin + knew, and who calls himself a cousin of Marliani--I don't know + in what degree. + + ...The fact is, that we are very much pleased with the freedom + which this gives us, because we have work to do; but we + understand very well that these poetic intervals which one + introduces into one's life are only times of transition and + rest allowed to the mind before it resumes the exercise of the + emotions. I mean this in the purely intellectual sense; for, + as regards the life of the heart, it cannot cease for a + moment... + +This brings us to the end of the known letters written by Chopin +and Madame Sand from Majorca. And now let us see what we can find +in George Sand's books to complete the picture of the life of her +and her party at Valdemosa, of which the letters give only more +or less disconnected indications. I shall use the materials at my +disposal freely and cautiously, quoting some passages in full, +regrouping and summing-up others, and keeping always in mind-- +which the reader should likewise do--the authoress's tendency to +emphasise, colour, and embellish, for the sake of literary and +moral effect. + +Not to extend this chapter too much, I refer the curious to +George Sand's "Un Hiver a Majorque" for a description of the +"admirable, grandiose, and wild nature" in the midst of which the +"poetic abode" of her and her party was situated--of the grandly +and beautifully-varied surface of the earth, the luxuriant +southern vegetation, and the marvellous phenomena of light and +air; of the sea stretching out on two sides and meeting the +horizon; of the surrounding formidable peaks, and the more +distant round-swelling hills; of the eagles descending in the +pursuit of their prey down to the orange trees of the monastery +gardens; of the avenue of cypresses serpentining from the top of +the mountain to the bottom of the gorge; of the torrents covered +with myrtles; in short, of the immense ensemble, the infinite +details, which overwhelm the imagination and outvie the poet's +and painter's dreams. Here it will be advisable to confine +ourselves to the investigation of a more limited sphere, to +inspect rather narrow interiors than vast landscapes. + +As the reader has gathered from the preceding letters, there was +no longer a monastic community at Valdemosa. The monks had been +dispersed some time before, and the monastery had become the +property of the state. During the hot summer months it was in +great part occupied by small burghers from Palma who came in +quest of fresh air. The only permanent inhabitants of the +monastery, and the only fellow-tenants of George Sand's party, +were two men and one woman, called by the novelist respectively +the Apothecary, the Sacristan, and Maria Antonia. The first, a +remnant of the dispersed community, sold mallows and couch-grass, +the only specifics he had; the second was the person in whose +keeping were the keys of the monastery; and the third was a kind +of housekeeper who, for the love of God and out of neighbourly +friendship, offered her help to new-comers, and, if it was +accepted, did not fail to levy heavy contributions. + +The monastery was a complex of strongly-constructed, buildings +without any architectural beauty, and such was, its circumference +and mass of stones that it would have been easy to house an army +corps. Besides the dwelling of the superior, the cells of the lay- +brothers, the lodgings for visitors, the stables, and other +structures, there were three cloisters, each consisting of twelve +cells and twelve chapels. The most ancient of these cloisters, +which is also the smallest, dates from the 15th century. + + It presents a charming coup d'oeil. The court which it + encloses with its broken-down walls is the ancient cemetery of + the monks. No inscription distinguishes these tombs...The + graves are scarcely indicated by the swellings of the turf. + +In the cells were stored up the remains of all sorts of fine old +furniture and sculpture, but these could only be seen through the +chinks, for the cells were carefully locked, and the sacristan +would not open them to anyone. The second cloister, although of +more recent date, was likewise in a dilapidated state, which, +however, gave it character. In stormy weather it was not at all +safe to pass through it on account of the falling fragments of +walls and vaults. + + I never heard the wind sound so like mournful voices and utter + such despairing howls as in these empty and sonorous + galleries. The noise of the torrents, the swift motion of the + clouds, the grand, monotonous sound of the sea, interrupted by + the whistling of the storm and the plaintive cries of sea- + birds which passed, quite terrified and bewildered, in the + squalls; then thick fogs which fell suddenly like a shroud and + which, penetrating into the cloisters through the broken + arcades, rendered us invisible, and made the little lamp we + carried to guide us appear like a will-o'-the-wisp wandering + under the galleries; and a thousand other details of this + monastic life which crowd all at once into my memory: all + combined made indeed this monastery the most romantic abode in + the world. + + I was not sorry to see for once fully and in reality what I + had seen only in a dream, or in the fashionable ballads, and + in the nuns' scene in Robert le Diable at the Opera. Even + fantastic apparitions were not wanting to us. [FOOTNOTE: "Un + Hiver a Majorque," pp. 116 and 117.] + +In the same book from which the above passage is extracted we +find also a minute description of the new cloister; the chapels, +variously ornamented, covered with gilding, decorated with rude +paintings and horrible statues of saints in coloured wood, paved +in the Arabic style with enamelled faience laid out in various +mosaic designs, and provided with a fountain or marble conch; the +pretty church, unfortunately without an organ, but with wainscot, +confessionals, and doors of most excellent workmanship, a floor +of finely-painted faience, and a remarkable statue in painted +wood of St. Bruno; the little meadow in the centre of the +cloister, symmetrically planted with box-trees, &c., &c. + +George Sand's party occupied one of the spacious, well- +ventilated, and well-lighted cells in this part of the monastery. +I shall let her describe it herself. + + The three rooms of which it was composed were spacious, + elegantly vaulted, and ventilated at the back by open + rosettes, all different and very prettily designed. These + three rooms were separated from the cloister by a dark passage + at the end of which was a strong door of oak. The wall was + three feet thick. The middle room was destined for reading, + prayer, and meditation; all its furniture consisted of a large + chair with a praying-desk and a back, from six to eight feet + high, let into and fixed in the wall. The room to the right of + this was the friar's bed-room; at the farther end of it was + situated the alcove, very low, and paved above with flags like + a tomb. The room to the left was the workshop, the refectory, + the store-room of the recluse. A press at the far end of the + room had a wooden compartment with a window opening on the + cloister, through which his provisions were passed in. His + kitchen consisted of two little stoves placed outside, but + not, as was the strict rule, in the open air; a vault, opening + on the garden, protected the culinary labours of the monk from + the rain, and allowed him to give himself up to this + occupation a little more than the founder would have wished. + Moreover, a fire-place introduced into this third room + indicated many other relaxations, although the science of the + architect had not gone so far as to make this fire-place + serviceable. + + Running along the back of the rooms, on a level with the + rosettes, was a long channel, narrow and dark, intended for + the ventilation of the cell, and above was a loft in which the + maize, onions, beans, and other simple winter provisions were + kept. On the south the three rooms opened on a flower garden, + exactly the size of the cell itself, which was separated from + the neighbouring gardens by walls ten feet high, and was + supported by a strongly-built terrace above a little orange + grove which occupied this ledge of the mountain. The lower + ledge was covered with a beautiful arbour of vines, the third + with almond and palm trees, and so on to the bottom of the + little valley, which, as I have said, was an immense garden. + + The flower garden of each cell had all along its right side a + reservoir, made of freestone, from three to four feet in width + and the same in depth, receiving through conduits placed in + the balustrade of the terrace the waters of the mountain, and + distributing them in the flower garden by means of a stone + cross, which divided it into four equal squares. + + As to this flower garden, planted with pomegranate, lemon, and + orange trees, surrounded by raised walks made of bricks which, + like the reservoir, were shaded by perfumed arbours, it was + like a pretty salon of flowers and verdure, where the monk + could walk dry-footed on wet days. + +Even without being told, we should have known that the artists +who had now become inmates of the monastery were charmed with +their surroundings. Moreover, George Sand did her utmost to make +life within doors comfortable. When the furniture bought from the +Spanish refugee had been supplemented by further purchases, they +were, considering the circumstances, not at all badly off in this +respect. The tables and straw-bottomed chairs were indeed no +better than those one finds in the cottages of peasants; the sofa +of white wood with cushions of mattress cloth stuffed with wool +could only ironically be called "voluptuous"; and the large +yellow leather trunks, whatever their ornamental properties might +be, must have made but poor substitutes for wardrobes. The +folding-beds, on the other hand, proved irreproachable; the +mattresses, though not very soft, were new and clean, and the +padded and quilted chintz coverlets left nothing to be desired. +Nor does this enumeration exhaust the comforts and adornments of +which the establishment could boast. Feathers, a rare article in +Majorca, had been got from a French lady to make pillows for +Chopin; Valenciennes matting and long-fleeced sheep skins covered +the dusty floor; a large tartan shawl did duty as an alcove +curtain; a stove of somewhat eccentric habits, and consisting +simply of an iron cylinder with a pipe that passed through the +window, had been manufactured for them at Palma; a charming clay +vase surrounded with a garland of ivy displayed its beauty on the +top of the stove; a beautiful large Gothic carved oak chair with +a small chest convenient as a book-case had, with the consent of +the sacristan, been brought from the monks' chapel; and last, but +not least, there was, as we have already read in the letters, a +piano, in the first weeks only a miserable Majorcan instrument, +which, however, in the second half of January, after much +waiting, was replaced by one of Pleyel's excellent cottage +pianos. + +[FOOTNOTE: By the way, among the many important and unimportant +doubtful points which Chopin's and George Sand's letters settle, +is also that of the amount of duty paid for the piano. The sum +originally asked by the Palma custom-house officers seems to have +been from 500 to 600 francs, and this demand was after a +fortnight's negotiations reduced to 300 francs. That the +imaginative novelist did not long remember the exact particulars +of this transaction need not surprise us. In Un Hiver a Majorque +she states tha the original demand was 700 francs, and the sum +ultimately paid about 400 francs.] + +These various items collectively and in conjunction with the +rooms in which they were gathered together form a tout-ensemble +picturesque and homely withal. As regards the supply of +provisions, the situation of our Carthusians was decidedly less +brilliant. Indeed, the water and the juicy raisins, Malaga +potatoes, fried Valencia pumpkins, &c., which they had for +dessert, were the only things that gave them unmixed +satisfaction. With anything but pleasure they made the discovery +that the chief ingredient of Majorcan cookery, an ingredient +appearing in all imaginable and unimaginable guises and +disguises, was pork. Fowl was all skin and bones, fish dry and +tasteless, sugar of so bad a quality that it made them sick, and +butter could not be procured at all. Indeed, they found it +difficult to get anything of any kind. On account of their non- +attendance at church they were disliked by the villagers of +Valdemosa, who sold their produce to such heretics only at twice +or thrice the usual price. Still, thanks to the good offices of +the French consul's cook, they might have done fairly well had +not wet weather been against them. But, alas, their eagerly- +awaited provisions often arrived spoiled with rain, oftener still +they did not arrive at all. Many a time they had to eat bread as +hard as ship-biscuits, and content themselves with real +Carthusian dinners. The wine was good and cheap, but, +unfortunately, it had the objectionable quality of being heady. + +These discomforts and wants were not painfully felt by George +Sand and her children, nay, they gave, for a time at least, a new +zest to life. It was otherwise with Chopin. "With his feeling for +details and the wants of a refined well-being, he naturally took +an intense dislike to Majorca after a few days of illness." We +have already seen what a bad effect the wet weather and the damp +of Son-Vent had on Chopin's health. But, according to George +Sand, [FOOTNOTE: "Un Hiver a Marjorque," pp. 161-168. I suspect +that she mixes up matters in a very unhistorical manner; I have, +however, no means of checking her statements, her and her +companion's letters being insufficient for the purpose. Chopin +certainly was not likely to tell his friend the worst about his +health.] it was not till later, although still in the early days +of their sojourn in Majorca, that his disease declared itself in +a really alarming manner. The cause of this change for the worse +was over-fatigue incurred on an excursion which he made with his +friends to a hermitage three miles [FOOTNOTE: George Sand does +not say what kind of miles] distant from Valdemosa; the length +and badness of the road alone would have been more than enough to +exhaust his fund of strength, but in addition to these hardships +they had, on returning, to encounter a violent wind which threw +them down repeatedly. Bronchitis, from which he had previously +suffered, was now followed by a nervous excitement that produced +several symptoms of laryngeal phthisis. [FOOTNOTE: In the +Histoire de ma Vie George Sand Bays: "From the beginning of +winter, which set in all at once with a diluvian rain, Chopin +showed, suddenly also, all the symptoms of pulmonary affection."] +The physician, judging of the disease by the symptoms that +presented themselves at the time of his visits, mistook its real +nature, and prescribed bleeding, milk diet, &c. Chopin felt +instinctively that all this would be injurious to him, that +bleeding would even be fatal. George Sand, who was an experienced +nurse, and whose opportunities for observing were less limited +than those of the physician, had the same presentiment. After a +long and anxious struggle she decided to disregard the strongly- +urged advice of the physician and to obey the voice that said to +her, even in her sleep: "Bleeding will kill him; but if you save +him from it, he will not die," She was persuaded that this voice +was the voice of Providence, and that by obeying it she saved her +friend's life. What Chopin stood most in need of in his weakness +and languor was a strengthening diet, and that, unfortunately, +was impossible to procure:-- + + What would I not have given to have had some beef-tea and a + glass of Bordeaux wine to offer to our invalid every day! The + Majorcan food, and especially the manner in which it was + prepared when we were not there with eye and hand, caused him + an invincible disgust. Shall I tell you how well founded this + disgust was? One day when a lean chicken was put on the table + we saw jumping on its steaming back enormous Mattres Floh, + [FOOTNOTE: Anglice "fleas."] of which Hoffmann would have made + as many evil spirits, but which he certainly would not have + eaten in gravy. My children laughed so heartily that they + nearly fell under the table. + +Chopin's most ardent wish was to get away from Majorca and back +to France. But for some time he was too weak to travel, and when +he had got a little stronger, contrary winds prevented the +steamer from leaving the port. The following words of George Sand +depict vividly our poor Carthusian friends' situation in all its +gloom:-- + + As the winter advanced, sadness more and more paralysed my + efforts at gaiety and cheerfulness. The state of our invalid + grew always worse; the wind wailed in the ravines, the rain + beat against our windows, the voice of the thunder penetrated + through our thick walls and mingled its mournful sounds with + the laughter and sports of the children. The eagles and + vultures, emboldened by the fog, came to devour our poor + sparrows, even on the pomegranate tree which shaded my window. + The raging sea kept the ships in the harbours; we felt + ourselves prisoners, far from all enlightened help and from + all efficacious sympathy. Death seemed to hover over our heads + to seize one of us, and we were alone in contending with him + for his prey. + +If George Sand's serenity and gaiety succumbed to these +influences, we may easily imagine how much more they oppressed +Chopin, of whom she tells us that-- + + the mournful cry of the famished eagle and the gloomy + desolation of the yew trees covered with snow saddened him + much longer and more keenly than the perfume of the orange + trees, the gracefulness of the vines, and the Moorish song of + the labourers gladdened him. + +The above-quoted letters have already given us some hints of how +the prisoners of Valdemosa passed their time. In the morning +there were first the day's provisions to be procured and the +rooms to be tidied--which latter business could not be entrusted +to Maria Antonia without the sacrifice of their night's rest. +[FOOTNOTE: George Sand's share of the household work was not so +great as she wished to make the readers of Un Hiver a Majorque +believe, for it consisted, as we gather from her letters, only in +giving a helping hand to her maid, who had undertaken to cook and +clean up, but found that her strength fell short of the +requirements.] Then George Sand would teach her children for some +hours. These lessons over, the young ones ran about and amused +themselves for the rest of the day, while their mother sat down +to her literary studies and labours. In the evening they either +strolled together through the moonlit cloisters or read in their +cell, half of the night being generally devoted by the novelist +to writing. George Sand says in the "Histoire de ma Vie" that she +wrote a good deal and read beautiful philosophical and historical +works when she was not nursing her friend. The latter, however, +took up much of her time, and prevented her from getting out +much, for he did not like to be left alone, nor, indeed, could he +safely be left long alone. Sometimes she and her children would +set out on an expedition of discovery, and satisfy their +curiosity and pleasantly while away an hour or two in examining +the various parts of the vast aggregation of buildings; or the +whole party would sit round the stove and laugh over the +rehearsal of the morning's transactions with the villagers. Once +they witnessed even a ball in this sanctuary. It was on Shrove- +Tuesday, after dark, that their attention was roused by a +strange, crackling noise. On going to the door of their cell they +could see nothing, but they heard the noise approaching. After a +little there appeared at the opposite end of the cloister a faint +glimmer of white light, then the red glare of torches, and at +last a crew the sight of which made their flesh creep and their +hair stand on end--he-devils with birds' heads, horses' tails, +and tinsel of all colours; she-devils or abducted shepherdesses +in white and pink dresses; and at the head of them Lucifer +himself, horned and, except the blood-red face, all black. The +strange noise, however, turned out to be the rattling of +castanets, and the terrible-looking figures a merry company of +rich farmers and well-to-do villagers who were going to have a +dance in Maria Antonia's cell. The orchestra, which consisted of +a large and a small guitar, a kind of high-pitched violin, and +from three to four pairs of castanets, began to play indigenous +jotas and fandangos which, George Sand tells us, resemble those +of Spain, but have an even bolder form and more original rhythm. +The critical spectators thought that the dancing of the Majorcans +was not any gayer than their singing, which was not gay at all, +and that their boleros had "la gravite des ancetres, et point de +ces graces profanes qu'on admire en Andalousie." Much of the +music of these islanders was rather interesting than pleasing to +their visitors. The clicking of the castanets with which they +accompany their festal processions, and which, unlike the broken +and measured rhythm of the Spaniards, consists of a continuous +roll like that of a drum "battant aux champs," is from time to +time suddenly interrupted in order to sing in unison a coplita on +a phrase which always recommences but never finishes. George Sand +shares the opinion of M. Tastu that the principal Majorcan +rhythms and favourite fioriture are Arabic in type and origin. + +Of quite another nature was the music that might be heard in +those winter months in one of the cells of the monastery of +Valdemosa. "With what poesy did his music fill this sanctuary, +even in the midst of his most grievous troubles!" exclaims George +Sand. I like to picture to myself the vaulted cell, in which +Pleyel's piano sounded so magnificently, illumined by a lamp, the +rich traceries of the Gothic chair shadowed on the wall, George +Sand absorbed in her studies, her children at play, and Chopin +pouring out his soul in music. + +It would be a mistake to think that those months which the +friends spent in Majorca were for them a time of unintermittent +or even largely-predominating wretchedness. Indeed, George Sand +herself admits that, in spite of the wildness of the country and +the pilfering habits of the people, their existence might have +been an agreeable one in this romantic solitude had it not been +for the sad spectacle of her companion's sufferings and certain +days of serious anxiety about his life. And now I must quote a. +long but very important passage from the "Histoire de ma Vie":-- + + The poor great artist was a detestable patient. What I had + feared, but unfortunately not enough, happened. He became + completely demoralised. Bearing pain courageously enough, he + could not overcome the disquietude of his imagination. The + monastery was for him full of terrors and phantoms, even when + he was well. He did not say so, and I had to guess it. On + returning from my nocturnal explorations in the ruins with my + children, I found him at ten o'clock at night before his + piano, his face pale, his eyes wild, and his hair almost + standing on end. It was some moments before he could + recognise us. + + He then made an attempt to laugh, and played to us sublime + things he had just composed, or rather, to be more accurate, + terrible or heartrending ideas which had taken possession of + him, as it were without his knowledge, in that hour of + solitude, sadness, and terror. + + It was there that he composed the most beautiful of those + short pages he modestly entitled "Preludes." They are + masterpieces. Several present to the mind visions of deceased + monks and the sounds of the funeral chants which beset his + imagination; others are melancholy and sweet--they occurred + to him in the hours of sunshine and of health, with the noise + of the children's laughter under the window, the distant + sound of guitars, the warbling of the birds among the humid + foliage, and the sight of the pale little full-blown roses on + the snow. + + Others again are of a mournful sadness, and, while charming + the ear, rend the heart. There is one of them which occurred + to him on a dismal rainy evening which produces a terrible + mental depression. We had left him well that day, Maurice and + I, and had gone to Palma to buy things we required for our + encampment. The rain had come on, the torrents had + overflowed, we had travelled three leagues in six hours to + return in the midst of the inundation, and we arrived in the + dead of night, without boots, abandoned by our driver, having + passed through unheard-of dangers. We made haste, + anticipating the anxiety of our invalid. It had been indeed + great, but it had become as it were congealed into a kind of + calm despair, and he played his wonderful prelude weeping. On + seeing us enter he rose, uttering a great cry, then he said + to us, with a wild look and in a strange tone: "Ah! I knew + well that you were dead!" + + When he had come to himself again, and saw the state in which + we were, he was ill at the retrospective spectacle of our + dangers; but he confessed to me afterwards that while waiting + for our return he had seen all this in a dream and that, no + longer distinguishing this dream from reality, he had grown + calm and been almost lulled to sleep while playing the piano, + believing that he was dead himself. He saw himself drowned in + a lake; heavy and ice-cold drops of water fell at regular + intervals upon his breast, and when I drew his attention to + those drops of water which were actually falling at regular + intervals upon the roof, he denied having heard them. He was + even vexed at what I translated by the term imitative + harmony. He protested with all his might, and he was right, + against the puerility of these imitations for the ear. His + genius was full of mysterious harmonies of nature, translated + by sublime equivalents into his musical thought, and not by a + servile repetition of external sounds. His composition of + this evening was indeed full of the drops of rain which + resounded on the sonorous tiles of the monastery, but they + were transformed in his imagination and his music into tears + falling from heaven on his heart. + +Although George Sand cannot be acquitted of the charge of +exaggerating the weak points in her lover's character, what she +says about his being a detestable patient seems to have a good +foundation in fact. Gutmann, who nursed him often, told me that +his master was very irritable and difficult to manage in +sickness. On the other hand, Gutmann contradicted George Sand's +remarks about the Preludes, saying that Chopin composed them +before starting on his journey. When I mentioned to him that +Fontana had made a statement irreconcilable with his, and +suggested that Chopin might have composed some of the Preludes in +Majorca, Gutmann maintained firmly that every one of them was +composed previously, and that he himself had copied them. Now +with Chopin's letters to Fontana before us we must come to the +conclusion that Gutmann was either under a false impression or +confirmed a rash statement by a bold assertion, unless we prefer +to assume that Chopin's labours on the Preludes in Majorca were +confined to selecting, [FOOTNOTE: Internal evidence suggests that +the Preludes consist (to a great extent at least) of pickings +from the composer's portfolios, of pieces, sketches, and +memoranda written at various times and kept to be utilised when +occasion might offer.] filing, and polishing. My opinion--which +not only has probability but also the low opus number (28) and +the letters in its favour--is that most of the Preludes, if not +all, were finished or sketched before Chopin went to the south, +and that a few, if any, were composed and the whole revised at +Palma and Valdemosa. Chopin cannot have composed many in Majorca, +because a few days after his arrival there he wrote: from Palma +(Nov. 15, 1838) to Fontana that he would send the Preludes soon; +and it was only his illness that prevented him from doing so. +There is one statement in George Sand's above-quoted narrative +which it is difficult to reconcile with other statements in "Un +Hiver a Majorque" and in her and Chopin's letters. In the just- +mentioned book (p. 177) she says that the journey in question was +made for the purpose of rescuing the piano from the hands of the +custom-house officers; and in a letter of January 15, 1839, to +her friend Madame Marliani (quoted on p. 31), which does not +contain a word about adventures on a stormy night, [They are +first mentioned in the letter of January 20, 1839, quoted on p. +32.] she writes that the piano is still in the clutches of the +custom-house officers. From this, I think, we may conclude that +it must have taken place after January 15. But, then, how could +Chopin have composed on that occasion a Prelude included in a +work the manuscript of which he sent away on the lath? Still, +this does not quite settle the question. Is it not possible that +Chopin may have afterwards substituted the new Prelude for one of +those already forwarded to France? To this our answer must be +that it is possible, but that the letters do not give any support +to such an assumption. Another and stronger objection would be +the uncertainty as to the correctness of the date of the letter. +Seeing that so many of Chopin's letters have been published with +wrong dates, why not also that of January 12? Unfortunately, we +cannot in this case prove or disprove the point by internal +evidence. There is, however, one factor we must be especially +careful not to forget in our calculations--namely, George Sand's +habitual unconscientious inaccuracy; but the nature of her +narrative will indeed be a sufficient warning to the reader, for +nobody can read it without at once perceiving that it is not a +plain, unvarnished recital of facts. + +It would be interesting to know which were the compositions that +Chopin produced at Valdemosa. As to the Prelude particularly +referred to by George Sand, it is generally and reasonably +believed to be No. 6 (in B minor). [FOOTNOTE: Liszt, who tells +the story differently, brings in the F sharp minor Prelude. (See +Liszt's Chopin, new edition, pp. 273 and 274.)] The only +compositions besides the Preludes which Chopin mentions in his +letters from Majorca are the Ballade, Op, 38, the Scherzo, Op. +39, and the two Polonaises, Op. 40. The peevish, fretful, and +fiercely-scornful Scherzo and the despairingly-melancholy second +Polonaise (in C minor) are quite in keeping with the moods one +imagines the composer to have been in at the time. Nor is there +anything discrepant in the Ballade. But if the sadly-ailing +composer really created, and not merely elaborated and finished, +in Majorca the superlatively-healthy, vigorously-martial, +brilliantly-chivalrous Polonaise in A major, we have here a +remarkable instance of the mind's ascendency over the body, of +its independence of it. This piece, however, may have been +conceived under happier circumstances, just as the gloomy Sonata, +Op. 35 (the one in B flat minor, with the funeral march), and the +two Nocturnes, Op. 37--the one (in G minor) plaintive, longing, +and prayerful; the other (in G major) sunny and perfume-laden-- +may have had their origin in the days of Chopin's sojourn in the +Balearic island. A letter of Chopin's, written from Nohant in the +summer of 1839, leaves, as regards the Nocturnes, scarcely room +for such a conjecture. On the other hand, we learn from the same +letter that he composed at Palma the sad, yearning Mazurka in E +minor (No. 2 of Op. 41). + +As soon as fair weather set in and the steamer resumed its. +weekly courses to Barcelona, George Sand and her party hastened +to leave the island. The delightful prospects of spring could not +detain them. + + Our invalid (she says) did not seem to be in a state to stand + the passage, but he seemed equally incapable of enduring + another week in Majorca. The situation was frightful; there + were days when I lost hope and courage. To console us, Maria + Antonia and her village gossips repeated to us in chorus the + most edifying discourses on the future life. "This consumptive + person," they said, "is going to hell, first because he is + consumptive, secondly, because he does not confess. If he is + in this condition when he dies, we shall not bury him in + consecrated ground, and as nobody will be willing to give him + a grave, his friends will have to manage matters as well as + they can. It remains to be seen how they will get out of the + difficulty; as for me, I will have Inothing to do with it,-- + Nor I--Nor I: and Amen!" + +In fact, Valdemosa, which at first was enchanting to them, lost +afterwards much of its poesy in their eyes. George Sand, as we +have seen, said that their sojourn was I in many respects a +frightful fiasco; it was so certainly as far as Chopin was +concerned, for he arrived with a cough and left the place +spitting blood. + +The passage from Palma to Barcelona was not so pleasant as that +from Barcelona to Palma had been. Chopin suffered much from +sleeplessness, which was caused by the noise and bad smell of the +most favoured class of passengers on board the Mallorquin--i.e., +pigs. "The captain showed us no other attention than that of +begging us not to let the invalid lie down on the best bed of the +cabin, because according to Spanish prejudice every illness is +contagious; and as our man thought already of burning the couch +on which the invalid reposed, he wished it should be the worst." +[FOOTNOTE: "Un Hiver a Majorque," pp. 24--25.] + +On arriving at Barcelona George Sand wrote from the Mallorquin +and sent by boat a note to M. Belves, the officer in command at +the station, who at once came in his cutter to take her and her +party to the Meleagre, where they were well received by the +officers, doctor, and all the crew. It seemed to them as if they +had left the Polynesian savages and were once more in civilised +society. When they shook hands with the French consul they could +contain themselves no longer, but jumped for joy and cried "Vive +La France!" + +A fortnight after their leaving Palma the Phenicien landed them +at Marseilles. The treatment Chopin received from the French +captain of this steamer differed widely from that he had met with +at the hands of the captain of the Mallorquin; for fearing that +the invalid was not quite comfortable in a common berth, he gave +him his own bed. [FOOTNOTE: "Un Hiver a Majorque," p. 183.] + +An extract from a letter written by George Sand from Marseilles +on March 8, 1839, to her friend Francois Rollinat, which contains +interesting details concerning Chopin in the last scenes of the +Majorca intermezzo, may fitly conclude this chapter. + + Chopin got worse and worse, and in spite of all offers of + service which were made to us in the Spanish manner, we should + not have found a hospitable house in all the island. At last + we resolved to depart at any price, although Chopin had not + the strength to drag himself along. We asked only one--a first + and a last service--a carriage to convey him to Palma, where + we wished to embark. This service was refused to us, although + our FRIENDS had all equipages and fortunes to correspond. We + were obliged to travel three leagues on the worst roads in a + birlocho [FOOTNOTE: A cabriolet. In a Spainish Dictionary I + find a birlocho defined as a vehicle open in front, with two + seats, and two or four wheels. A more detailed description is + to be found on p. 101 of George Sand's "Un Hiver a + Marjorque."] that is to say, a brouette. + + On arriving at Palma, Chopin had a frightful spitting of + blood; we embarked the following day on the only steamboat of + the island, which serves to transport pigs to Barcelona. There + is no other way of leaving this cursed country. We were in + company of 100 pigs, whose continual cries and foul odour left + our patient no rest and no respirable air. He arrived at + Barcelona still spitting basins full of blood, and crawling + along like a ghost. There, happily, our misfortunes were + mitigated! The French consul and the commandant of the French + maritime station received us with a hospitality and grace + which one does not know in Spain. We were brought on board a + fine brig of war, the doctor of which, an honest and worthy + man, came at once to the assistance of the invalid, and + stopped the hemorrhage of the lung within twenty-four hours. + + From that moment he got better and better. The consul had us + driven in his carriage to an hotel. Chopin rested there a + week, at the end of which the same vessel which had conveyed + us to Spain brought us back to France. When we left the hotel + at Barcelona the landlord wished to make us pay for the bed in + which Chopin had slept, under the pretext that it had been + infected, and that the police regulations obliged him to burn + it. + + + +Chapter XXII. + + + +STAY AT MARSEILLES (FROM MARCH TO MAY, 1839) AS DESCRIBED IN +CHOPIN'S AND MADAME SAND'S LETTERS.--HIS STATE OF HEALTH.-- +COMPOSITIONS AND THEIR PUBLICATION.--PLAYING THE ORGAN AT A +FUNERAL SERVICE FOR NOURRIT.--AN EXCURSION TO GENOA.--DEPARTURE +FOR NOHANT. + +As George Sand and her party were obliged to stop at Marseilles, +she had Chopin examined by Dr. Cauviere. This celebrated +physician thought him in great danger, but, on seeing him recover +rapidly, augured that with proper care his patient might +nevertheless live a long time. Their stay at Marseilles was more +protracted than they intended and desired; in fact, they did not +start for Nohant till the 22nd of May. Dr. Cauviere would not +permit Chopin to leave Marseilles before summer; but whether this +was the only cause of the long sojourn of the Sand party in the +great commercial city, or whether there were others, I have not +been able to discover. Happily, we have first-hand information-- +namely, letters of Chopin and George Sand--to throw a little +light on these months of the pianist-composer's life. As to his +letters, their main contents consist of business matters-- +wranglings about terms, abuse of publishers, &c. Here and there, +however, we find also a few words about his health, +characteristic remarks about friends and acquaintances, +interesting hints about domestic arrangements and the like--the +allusion (in the letter of March 2, 1839) to a will made by him +some time before, and which he wishes to be burned, will be read +with some curiosity. + +An extract or two from the letter which George Sand wrote on +March 8, 1839, to Francois Rollinat, launches us at once in +medias res. + + At last we are in Marseilles. Chopin has stood the passage + very well. He is very weak here, but is doing infinitely + better in all respects, and is in the hands of Dr. Cauviere, + an excellent man and excellent physician, who takes a paternal + care of him, and who answers for his recovery. We breathe at + last, but after how many troubles and anxieties!...Write to me + here to the address of Dr. Cauviere, Rue de Rome, 71. + + Chopin charges me to shake you heartily by the hand for him. + Maurice and Solange embrace you. They are wonderfully well. + Maurice has completely recovered. + + +Chopin to Fontana; Marseilles, March 2, 1839:-- + + You no doubt learned from Grzymala of the state of my health + and my manuscripts. Two months ago I sent you from Palma my + Preludes. After making a copy of them for Probst and getting + the money from him, you were to give to Leo 1,000 francs; and + out of the 1,500 francs which Pleyel was to give you for the + Preludes I wrote you to pay Nougi and one term to the + landlord. In the same letter, if I am not mistaken, I asked + you to give notice of my leaving the apartments; for were this + not done before April, I should be obliged to retain them for + the next quarter, till July. + + The second batch of manuscripts may have now reached you; for + it must have remained a long time at the custom-house, on the + sea, and again at the custom-house. + + I also wrote to Pleyel with the Preludes that I give him the + Ballade (which I sold to Probst for Germany) for 1,000 francs. + For the two Polonaises I asked 1,500 francs for France, + England, and Germany (the right of Probst is confined to the + Ballade). It seems to me that this is not too dear. + + In this way you ought to get, on receiving the second batch of + manuscripts, from Pleyel 2,500 francs, and from Probst, for + the Ballade, 500 or 600 francs, I do not quite remember, which + makes altogether 3,000 francs. + + I asked Grzymala if he could send me immediately at least 500 + francs, which need not prevent him from sending me soon the + rest. Thus much for business. + + Now if, which I doubt, you succeed in getting apartments from + next month, divide my furniture amongst you three: Grzymala, + Johnnie, and you. Johnnie has the most room, although not the + most sense, judging from the childish letter he wrote to me. + For his telling me that I should become a Camaldolite, let him + take all the shabby things. Do not overload Grzymala too much, + and take to your house what you judge necessary and + serviceable to you, as I do not know whether I shall return to + Paris in summer (keep this to yourself). At all events, we + will always write one another, and if, as I expect, it be + necessary to keep my apartments till July, I beg of you to + look after them and pay the quarterly rent. + + For your sincere and truly affectionate letter you have an + answer in the second Polonaise. [FOOTNOTE: See next foot- + note.] It is not my fault that I am like a mushroom that + poisons when you unearth and taste it. I know I have never in + anything been of service to anyone, but also not of much to + myself. + + I told you that in the first drawer of my writing-desk near + the door there was a paper which you or Grzymala or Johnnie + might unseal on a certain occasion. Now I beg of you to take + it out and, WITHOUT READING IT, BURN IT. Do this, I entreat + you, for friendship's sake. This paper is now of no use. + + If Anthony leaves without sending you the money, it is very + much in the Polish style; nota bene, do not say to him a word + about it. Try to see Pleyel; tell him I have received no word + from him, and that his pianino is entrusted to safe hands. + Does he agree to the transaction I proposed to him? + + The letters from home reached me all three together, with + yours, before going on board the vessel. I again send you one. + + I thank you for the friendly help you give me, who am not + strong. My love to Johnnie, tell him that I did not allow + them, or rather that they were not permitted, to bleed me; + that I wear vesicatories, that I am coughing a very little in + the morning, and that I am not yet at all looked upon as a + consumptive person. I drink neither coffee nor wine, but milk. + Lastly, I keep myself warm, and look like a girl. + + +Chopin to Fontana; Marseilles, March 6, 1839:-- + + My health is still improving; I begin to play, eat, walk, and + speak, like other men; and when you receive these few words + from me you will see that I again write with ease. But once + more of business. I would like very much that my Preludes + should be dedicated to Pleyel (surely there is still time, for + they are not yet printed) and the Ballade to Robert Schumann. + The Polonaises, as they are, to you and to Kessler. If Pleyel + does not like to give up the dedication of the Ballade, you + will dedicate the Preludes to Schumann. + + [FOOTNOTE: The final arrangement was that Op. 38, the + "Deuxieme Ballade," was dedicated to Robert Schumann; Op. 40, + the "Deux Polonaises," to Julius Fontana; the French and the + English edition of Op. 28, "Vingt-quatre Preludes," to Camille + Pleyel, and the German editon to J. C. Kessler.] + + Garczynski called upon me yesterday on his way back from Aix; + he is the only person that I have received, for I keep the + door well shut to all amateurs of music and literature. + + Of the change of dedication you will inform Probst as soon as + you have arranged with Pleyel. + + From the money obtained you will give Grzymala 500 francs, the + rest, 2,500 francs, you will send me as soon as possible. + + Love me and write. + + Pardon me if I overwhelm you too much with commissions, but do + not be afraid, these are not the last. I think you do + willingly what I ask you. + + My love to Johnnie. + + +Chopin to Fontana; Marseilles, March 10, 1839:-- + + Thanks for your trouble. I did not expect Jewish tricks from + Pleyel; but if it is so, I beg of you to give him the enclosed + letter, unless he makes no difficulties about the Ballade and + the Polonaises. On the other hand, on receiving for the + Ballade 500 francs from Probst, you will take it to + Schlesinger. If one has to deal with Jews, let it at least be + with orthodox ones. Probst may cheat me still worse; he is a + bird you will not catch. Schlesinger used to cheat me, he + gained enough by me, and he will not reject new profit, only + be polite to him. Though a Jew, he nevertheless wishes to pass + for something better. + + Thus, should Pleyel make the least difficulties, you will go + to Schlesinger, and tell him that I give him the Ballade for + France and England for 800 francs, and the Polonaises for + Germany, England, and France for 1,500 francs (should he not + be inclined to give so much, give them for 1,400, 1,300, and + even for 1,200 francs). If he mentions the Preludes, you may + say that it is a thing long ago promised to Pleyel--he wished + to be the publisher of them; that he asked them from me as a + favour before my departure from Paris--as was really the case. + You see, my very dear friend, for Pleyel I could break with + Schlesinger, but for Probst I cannot. What is it to me if + Schlesinger makes Probst pay dearer for my manuscripts? If + Probst pays dear for them to Schlesinger, it shows that the + latter cheats me, paying me too little. After all, Probst has + no establishment in Paris. For all my printed things + Schlesinger paid me at once, and Probst very often made me + wait for money. If he will not have them all, give him the + Ballade separately, and the Polonaises separately, but at the + latest within two weeks. If he does not accept the offer, then + apply to Probst. Being such an admirer of mine, he must not + pay less than Pleyel. You will deliver my letter to Pleyel + only if he makes any difficulties. + + Dear me! this Pleyel who is such an adorer of mine! He thinks, + perhaps, that I shall never return to Paris alive. I shall + come back, and shall pay him a visit, and thank him as well as + Leo. + + I enclose a note to Schlesinger, in which I give you full + authority to act in this matter. + + I feel better every day; nevertheless, you will pay the + portier these fifty francs, to which I completely agree, for + my doctor does not permit me to move from here before summer. + + Mickiewicz's "Dziady" I received yesterday. What shall you do + with my papers? + + The letters you will leave in the writing-desk, and send the + music to Johnnie, or take it to your own house. In the little + table that stands in the anteroom there are also letters; you + must lock it well. + + My love to Johnnie, I am glad he is better. + + +Chopin to Fontana; March 17, 1839:-- + + I thank you for all your efforts. Pleyel is a scoundrel, + Probst a scape-grace. He never gave me 1,000 francs for three + manuscripts. Very likely you have received my long letter + about Schlesinger, therefore I wish you and beg of you to give + that letter of mine to Pleyel, who thinks my manuscripts too + dear. If I have to sell them cheap, I would rather do so to + Schlesinger than look for new and improbable connections. For + Schlesinger can always count upon England, and as I am square + with Wessel, he may sell them to whomsoever he likes. The same + with the Polonaises in Germany, for Probst is a bird whom I + have known a long time. As regards the money, you must make an + unequivocal agreement, and do not give the manuscripts except + for cash. I send you a reconnaissance for Pleyel, it + astonishes me that he absolutely wants it, as if he could not + trust me and you. + + Dear me, this Pleyel who said that Schlesinger paid me badly! + 500 francs for a manuscript for all the countries seems to him + too dear! I assure you I prefer to deal with a real Jew. And + Probst, that good-for-nothing fellow, who pays me 300 francs + for my mazurkas! You see, the last mazurkas brought me with + ease 800 francs--namely, Probst 300 francs, Schlesinger 400, + and Wessel 100. I prefer giving my manuscripts as formerly at + a very low price to stooping before these...I prefer being + submissive to one Jew to being so to three. Therefore go to + Schlesinger, but perhaps you settled with Pleyel. + + Oh, men, men! But this Mrs. Migneron, she too is a good one! + However, Fortune turns round, I may yet live and hear that + this lady will come and ask you for some leather; if, as you + say, you are aiming at being a shoemaker. I beg of you to make + shoes neither for Pleyel nor for Probst. + + Do not yet speak to anyone of the Scherzo [Op. 39]. I do not + know when I shall finish it, for I am still weak and cannot + write. + + As yet I have no idea when I shall see you. My love to + Grzymala; and give him such furniture as he will like, and let + Johnnie take the rest from the apartments. I do not write to + him, but I love him always. Tell him this, and give him my + love. + + Wodzinski still astonishes me. + + When you receive the money from Pleyel, pay first the + landlord's rent, and send me immediately 500 francs. I left on + the receipt for Pleyel the Op. blank, for I do not remember + the following number. + + +Madame Sand to Madame Marliani; Marseilles, April 22, 1839:-- + + ...I was also occupied with the removal from one hotel to + another. Notwithstanding all his efforts and inquiries, the + good doctor was not able to find me a corner in the country + where to pass the month of April. + + I am pretty tired of this town of merchants and shopkeepers, + where the intellectual life is wholly unknown; but here I am + still shut up for the month of April. + + +Further on in the letter, after inviting Madame Marliani and her +husband to come to Nohant in May, she proceeds thus:-- + + He [M. Marliani] loves the country, and I shall be a match for + him as regards rural pleasures, while you [Madame Marliani] + will philosophise at the piano with Chopin. It can hardly be + said that he enjoys himself in Marseilles; but he resigns + himself to recover patiently. + + +The following letter of Chopin to Fontana, which Karasowski +thinks was written at Valdemosa in the middle of February, ought +to be dated Marseilles, April, 1839:-- + + As they are such Jews, keep everything till my return. The + Preludes I have sold to Pleyel (I received from him 500 + francs). He is entitled to do with them what he likes. But as + to the Ballades and Polonaises, sell them neither to + Schlesinger nor to Probst. But whatever may happen, with no + Schonenberger [FOOTNOTE: A Paris music-publisher] will I have + anything to do. Therefore, if you gave the Ballade to Probst, + take it back, even though he offered a thousand. You may tell + him that I have asked you to keep it till my return, that when + I am back we shall see. + + Enough of these...Enough for me and for you. + + My very life, I beg of you to forgive me all the trouble; you + have really been busying yourself like a friend, and now you + will have still on your shoulders my removal. I beg Grzymala + to pay the cost of the removal. As to the portier, he very + likely tells lies, but who will prove it? You must give, in + order to stop his barking. + + My love to Johnnie, I will write to him when I am in better + spirits. My health is improved, but I am in a rage. Tell + Johnnie that from Anthony as well as from me he will have + neither word nor money. + + Yesterday I received your letter, together with letters from + Pleyel and Johnnie. + + If Clara Wieck pleased you, that is good, for nobody can play + better than she does. When you see her give her my + compliments, and also to her father. + + Did I happen to lend you Witwicki's songs? I cannot find them. + I only ask for them in case you should chance to have them. + + +Chopin to Fontana; Marseilles, March 25 [should no doubt be April +25], 1839:-- + + I received your letter, in which you let me know the + particulars of the removal. I have no words to thank you for + your true, friendly help. The particulars were very + interesting to me. But I am sorry that you complain, and that + Johnnie is spitting blood. Yesterday I played for Nourrit on + the organ, you see by this that I am better. Sometimes I play + to myself at home, but as yet I can neither sing nor dance. + + Although the news of my mother is welcome, its having been + originated by Plat...is enough to make one consider it a + falsehood. + + The warm weather has set in here, and I shall certainly not + leave Marseilles before May, and then go somewhere else in the + south of France. + + It is not likely that we shall soon have news from Anthony. + Why should he write? Perhaps to pay his debts? But this is not + customary in Poland. The reason Raciborski appreciates you so + much is that you have no Polish habits, nota bene, not those + Polish habits you know and I mean. + + You are staying at No. 26 [Chaussee d'Antin]. Are you + comfortable? On what floor, and how much do you pay? I take + more and more interest in these matters, for I also shall be + obliged to think of new apartments, but not till after my + return to Paris. + + I had only that letter from Pleyel which he sent through you-- + it is a month ago or more. Write to the same address, Rue et + Hotel Beauveau. + + Perhaps you did not understand what I said above about my + having played for Nourrit. His body was brought from Italy and + carried to Paris. There was a Requiem Mass for his soul. I was + asked by his friends to play on the organ during the + Elevation. + + Did Miss Wieck play my Etude well? Could she not select + something better than just this etude, the least interesting + for those who do not know that it is written for the black + keys? It would have been far better to do nothing at all. + [FOOTNOTE: Clara Wieck gave a concert in Paris on April 16, + 1839. The study in question is No. 5 of Op. 10 (G flat major). + Only the right hand plays throughout on black keys.] + + In conclusion, I have nothing more to write, except to wish + you good luck in the new house. Hide my manuscripts, that they + may not appear printed before the time. If the Prelude is + printed, that is Pleyel's trick. But I do not care. + Mischievous Germans, rascally Jews...! Finish the litany, for + you know them as well as I do. + + Give my love to Johnnie and Grzymaia if you see them.--Your + + FREDERICK. + +One subject mentioned in this letter deserves a fuller +explanation than Chopin vouchsafes. Adolphe Nourrit, the +celebrated tenor singer, had in a state of despondency, caused by +the idea that since the appearance of his rival Duprez his +popularity was on the wane, put an end to his life by throwing +himself out of a window at Naples on the 8th of March, 1839. +[FOOTNOTE: This is the generally-accepted account of Nourrit's +death. But Madame Garcia, the mother of the famous Malibran, who +at the time was staying in the same house, thought it might have +been an accident, the unfortuante artist having in the dark +opened a window on a level with the floor instead of a door. (See +Fetis: Biographie universelle des Musiciens.)] Madame Nourrit +brought her husband's body to Paris, and it was on the way +thither that a funeral service was held at Marseilles for the +much-lamented man and singer. + +Le Sud, Journal de la Mediterranee of April 25, 1839, [FOOTNOTE: +Quoted in L. M. Quicherat's Adolphe Nourrit, sa vie, son talent, +son caractere] shall tell us of Chopin's part in this service:-- + + At the Elevation of the Host were heard the melancholy tones + of the organ. It was M. Chopin, the celebrated pianist, who + came to place a souvenir on the coffin of Nourrit; and what a + souvenir! a simple melody of Schubert, but the same which had + so filled us with enthusiasm when Nourrit revealed it to us at + Marseilles--the melody of Les Astres. [FOOTNOTE: Die gestirne + is the original German title of this song.] + +A less colourless account, one full of interesting facts and free +from conventional newspaper sentiment and enthusiasm, we find in +a letter of Chopin's companion. + + +Madame Sand to Madame Marliani; Marseilles, April 28, 1839:-- + + The day before yesterday I saw Madame Nourrit with her six + children, and the seventh coming shortly...Poor unfortunate + woman! what a return to France! accompanying this corpse, and + she herself super-intending the packing, transporting, and + unpacking [charger, voiturer, deballer] of it like a parcel! + + They held here a very meagre service for the poor deceased, + the bishop being ill-disposed. This was in the little church + of Notre-Dame-du-Mont. I do not know if the singers did so + intentionally, but I never heard such false singing. Chopin + devoted himself to playing the organ at the Elevation, what an + organ! A false, screaming instrument, which had no wind except + for the purpose of being out of tune. Nevertheless, YOUR + LITTLE ONE [votre petit] made the most of it. He took the + least shrill stops, and played Les Astres, not in a proud and + enthusiastic style as Nourrit used to sing it, but in a + plaintive and soft style, like the far-off echo from another + world. Two, at the most three, were there who deeply felt + this, and our eyes filled with tears. + + The rest of the audience, who had gone there en masse, and had + been led by curiosity to pay as much as fifty centimes for a + chair (an unheard-of price for Marseilles), were very much + disappointed; for it was expected that he would make a + tremendous noise and break at least two or three stops. They + expected also to see me, in full dress, in the very middle of + the choir; what not? They did not see me at all; I was hidden + in the organ-loft, and through the balustrade I descried the + coffin of poor Nourrit. + +Thanks to the revivifying influences of spring and Dr. Cauviere's +attention and happy treatment, Chopin was able to accompany +George Sand on a trip to Genoa, that vaga gemma del mar, fior +delta terra. It gave George Sand much pleasure to see again, now +with her son Maurice by her side, the beautiful edifices and +pictures of the city which six years before she had visited with +Musset. Chopin was probably not strong enough to join his friends +in all their sight-seeing, but if he saw Genoa as it presents +itself on being approached from the sea, passed along the Via +Nuova between the double row of magnificent palaces, and viewed +from the cupola of S. Maria in Carignano the city, its port, the +sea beyond, and the stretches of the Riviera di Levante and +Riviera di Ponente, he did not travel to Italy in vain. Thus +Chopin got at last a glimpse of the land where nine years before +he had contemplated taking up his abode for some time. + +On returning to Marseilles, after a stormy passage, on which +Chopin suffered much from sea-sickness, George Sand and her party +rested for a few days at the house of Dr. Cauviere, and then set +out, on the 22nd of May, for Nohant. + + +Madame Sand to Madame Marliani; Marseilles, May 20, 1839:-- + + We have just arrived from Genoa, in a terrible storm. The bad + weather kept us on sea double the ordinary time; forty hours + of rolling such as I have not seen for a long time. It was a + fine spectacle, and if everybody had not been ill, I would + have greatly enjoyed it... + + We shall depart the day after to-morrow for Nohant. Address + your next letter to me there, we shall be there in eight days. + My carriage has arrived from Chalon at Arles by boat, and we + shall post home very quietly, sleeping at the inns like good + bourgeois. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + + +JUNE TO OCTOBER, 1839. + + + +GEORGE SAND AND CHOPIN'S RETURN TO NOHANT.--STATE OF HIS HEALTH.- +-HIS POSITION IN HIS FRIEND'S HOUSE.--HER ACCOUNT OF THEIR +RELATIONSHIP.--HIS LETTERS TO FONTANA, WHICH, AMONG MANY OTHER +MATTERS, TREAT OF HIS COMPOSITIONS AND OF PREPARATIONS TO BE MADE +FOR HIS AND GEORGE SAND'S ARRIVAL IN PARIS. + + + +The date of one of George Sand's letters shows that the +travellers were settled again at Nohant on the 3rd of June, 1839. +Dr. Papet, a rich friend of George Sand's, who practised his art +only for the benefit of the poor and his friends, took the +convalescent Chopin at once under his care. He declared that his +patient showed no longer any symptoms of pulmonary affection, but +was suffering merely from a slight chronic laryngeal affection +which, although he did not expect to be able to cure it, need not +cause any serious alarm. + +On returning to Nohant, George Sand had her mind much exercised +by the question how to teach her children. She resolved to +undertake the task herself, but found she was not suited for it, +at any rate, could not acquit herself of it satisfactorily +without giving up writing. This question, however, was not the +only one that troubled her. + + In the irresolution in which I was for a time regarding the + arrangement of my life with a view to what would be best for + my dear children, a serious question was debated in my + conscience. I asked myself if I ought to entertain the idea + which Chopin had formed of taking up his abode near me. I + should not have hesitated to say "no," had I known then for + how short a time the retired life and the solemnity of the + country suited his moral and physical health. I still + attributed his despair and horror of Majorca to the excitement + of fever and the exces de caractere of that place. Nohant + offered pleasanter conditions, a less austere retreat, + congenial society, and resources in case of illness. Papet was + to him an enlightened and kind physician. Fleury, Duteil, + Duvernet, and their families, Planet, and especially Rollinat, + were dear to him at first sight. All of them loved him also, + and felt disposed to spoil him as I did. + +Among those with whom the family at Nohant had much intercourse, +and who were frequent guests at the chateau, was also an old +acquaintance of ours, one who had not grown in wisdom as in age, +I mean George Sand's half-brother, Hippolyte Chatiron, who was +now again living in Berry, his wife having inherited the estate +of Montgivray, situated only half a league from Nohant. + + His warmth of manner, his inexhaustible gaiety, the + originality of his sallies, his enthusiastic and naive + effusions of admiration for the genius of Chopin, the always + respectful deference which he showed to him alone, even in the + inevitable and terrible apres-boire, found favour with the + eminently-aristocratic artist. All, then, went very well at + first, and I entertained eventually the idea that Chopin might + rest and regain his health by spending a few summers with us, + his work necessarily calling him back to Paris in the winter. + + However, the prospect of this kind of family union with a + newly-made friend caused me to reflect. I felt alarmed at the + task which I was about to undertake, and which I had believed + would be limited to the journey in Spain. + +In short, George Sand presents herself as a sister of mercy, who, +prompted by charity, sacrifices her own happiness for that of +another. Contemplating the possibility of her son falling ill and +herself being thereby deprived of the joys of her work, she +exclaims: "What hours of my calm and invigorating life should I +be able to devote to another patient, much more difficult to +nurse and comfort than Maurice?" + +The discussion of this matter by George Sand is so characteristic +of her that, lengthy as it is, I cannot refrain from giving it in +full. + + A kind of terror seized me in presence of a new duty which I + was to take upon me. I was not under the illusion of passion. + I had for the artist a kind of maternal adoration which was + very warm, very real, but which could not for a moment contend + with maternal love, the only chaste feeling which may be + passionate. + + I was still young enough to have perhaps to contend with love, + with passion properly so called. This contingency of my age, + of my situation, and of the destiny of artistic women, + especially when they have a horror of passing diversions, + alarmed me much, and, resolved as I was never to submit to any + influence which might divert me from my children, I saw a + less, but still possible danger in the tender friendship with + which Chopin inspired me. + + Well, after reflection, this danger disappeared and even + assumed an opposite character--that of a preservative against + emotions which I no longer wished to know. One duty more in my + life, already so full of and so overburdened with work, + appeared to me one chance more to attain the austerity towards + which I felt myself attracted with a kind of religious + enthusiasm. + +If this is a sincere confession, we can only wonder at the height +of self-deception attainable by the human mind; if, however, it +is meant as a justification, we cannot but be surprised at the +want of skill displayed by the generally so clever advocate. In +fact, George Sand has in no instance been less happy in defending +her conduct and in setting forth her immaculate virtuousness. The +great words "chastity" and "maternity" are of course not absent. +George Sand could as little leave off using them as some people +can leave off using oaths. In either case the words imply much +more than is intended by those from whose mouths or pens they +come. A chaste woman speculating on "real love" and "passing +diversions," as George Sand does here, seems to me a strange +phenomenon. And how charmingly naive is the remark she makes +regarding her relations with Chopin as a "PRESERVATIVE against +emotions which she no longer wished to know"! I am afraid the +concluding sentence, which in its unction is worthy of Pecksniff, +and where she exhibits herself as an ascetic and martyr in all +the radiance of saintliness, will not have the desired effect, +but will make the reader laugh as loud as Musset is said to have +done when she upbraided him with his ungratefulness to her, who +had been devoted to him to the utmost bounds of self-abnegation, +to the sacrifice of her noblest impulses, to the degradation of +her chaste nature. + +George Sand, looking back in later years on this period of her +life, thought that if she had put into execution her project of +becoming the teacher of her children, and of shutting herself up +all the year round at Nohant, she would have saved Chopin from +the danger which, unknown to her, threatened him--namely, the +danger of attaching himself too absolutely to her. At that time, +she says, his love was not so great but that absence would have +diverted him from it. Nor did she consider his affection +exclusive. In fact, she had no doubt that the six months which +his profession obliged him to pass every year in Paris would, +"after a few days of malaise and tears," have given him back to +"his habits of elegance, exquisite success, and intellectual +coquetry." The correctness of the facts and the probability of +the supposition may be doubted. At any rate, the reasons which +led her to assume the non-exclusiveness of Chopin's affection are +simply childish. That he spoke to her of a romantic love-affair +he had had in Poland, and of sweet attractions he had afterwards +experienced in Paris, proves nothing. What she says about his +mother having been his only passion is still less to the point. +But reasoning avails little, and the strength of Chopin's love +was not put to the test. He went, indeed, in the autumn of 1839 +to Paris, but not alone; George Sand, professedly for the sake of +her children's education, went there likewise. "We were driven by +fate," she says, "into the bonds of a long connection, and both +of us entered into it unawares." The words "driven by fate," and +"entered into it unawares," sound strange, if we remember that +they apply not to a young girl who, inexperienced and confiding, +had lost herself in the mazes of life, but to a novelist skilled +in the reading of human hearts, to a constantly-reasoning and +calculating woman, aged 35, who had better reasons than poor +Amelia in Schiller's play for saying "I have lived and loved." + +After all this reasoning, moralising, and sentimentalising, it is +pleasant to be once more face to face with facts, of which the +following letters, written by Chopin to Fontana during the months +from June to October, 1839, contain a goodly number. The rather +monotonous publishing transactions play here and there again a +prominent part, but these Nohant letters are on the whole more +interesting than the Majorca letters, and decidedly more varied +as regards contents than those he wrote from Marseilles--they +tell us much more of the writer's tastes and requirements, and +even reveal something of his relationship to George Sand. Chopin, +it appears to me, did not take exactly the same view of this +relationship as the novelist. What will be read with most +interest are Chopin's directions as to the decoration and +furnishing of his rooms, the engagement of a valet, the ordering +of clothes and a hat, the taking of a house for George Sand, and +certain remarks made en passant on composers and other less-known +people. + + [I.] + + ...The best part of your letter is your address, which I had + already forgotten, and without which I do not know if I would + have answered you so soon; but the worst is the death of + Albrecht. [FOOTNOTE: See p.27 foot-note 7.] + + You wish to know when I shall be back. When the misty and + rainy weather begins, for I must breathe fresh air. + + Johnnie has left. I don't know if he asked you to forward to + me the letters from my parents should any arrive during his + absence and be sent to his usual address. Perhaps he thought + of it, perhaps not. I should be very sorry if any of them + miscarried. It is not long since I had a letter from home, + they will not write soon, and by this time he, who is so kind + and good, will be in good health and return. + + I am composing here a Sonata in B flat minor, in which will be + the Funeral March which you have already. There is an allegro, + then a "Scherzo" in E flat minor, the "March," and a short + "Finale" of about three pages. The left hand unisono with the + right hand are gossiping [FOOTNOTE: "Lewa reka unisono z + prawa, ogaduja po Marszu."] after the March. I have a new + "Nocturne" in G major, which will go along with the Nocturne + in G minor, [FOOTNOTE: "Deux Nocturnes," Op.37.] if you + remember such a one. + + You know that I have four new mazurkas: one from Palma in E + minor, three from here in B major, A flat major, and C sharp + minor. [FOOTNOTE: Quatre mazurkas, Op. 41.] They seem to me + pretty, as the youngest children usually do when the parents + grow old. + + Otherwise I do nothing; I correct for myself the Parisian + edition of Bach; not only the stroke-makers' [FOOTNOTE: In + Polish strycharz, the usual meaning of which is "brickmaker." + Chopin may have played upon the word. A mistake, however, is + likewise possible, as the Polish for engraver is sztycharz.] + (engravers') errors, but, I think, the harmonic errors + committed by those who pretend to understand Bach. I do not do + it with the pretension that I understand him better than they, + but from a conviction that I sometimes guess how it ought to + be. + + You see I have praised myself enough to you. + + Now, if Grzymata will visit me (which is doubtful), send me + through him Weber for four hands. Also the last of my Ballade + in manuscript, as I wish to change something in it. I should + like very much to have your copy of the last mazurkas, if you + have such a thing, for I do not know if my gallantry went so + far as to give you a copy. + + Pleyel wrote to me that you were very obliging, and have + corrected the Preludes. Do you know how much Wessel paid him + for them? It would be well to know this for the future. + + My father has written to me that my old sonata has been + published by Haslinger, and that the Germans praise it. + [FOOTNOTE: There must have been some misunderstanding; the + Sonata, Op. 4, was not published till 1851.] + + I have now, counting those you have, six manuscripts; the + devil take them if they get them for nothing. Pleyel did not + do me any service with his offers, for he thereby made + Schlesinger indifferent about me. But I hope this will be set + right, f wrote to ask him to let me know if he had been paid + for the piano sent to Palma, and I did so because the French + consul in Majorca, whom I know very well, was to be changed, + and had he not been paid, it would have been very difficult + for me to settle this affair at such a distance. Fortunately, + he is paid, and very liberally, as he wrote to me only last + week. + + Write to me what sort of lodgings you have. Do you board at + the club? + + Woyciechowski wrote to me to compose an oratorio. I answered + him in the letter to my parents. Why does he build a sugar- + refinery and not a monastery of Camaldolites or a nunnery of + Dominican sisters! + + + [2.] + + I give you my most hearty thanks for your upright, friendly, + not English but Polish soul. + + Select paper (wall-paper) such as I had formerly, tourterelle + (dove colour), only bright and glossy, for the two rooms, also + dark green with not too broad stripes. For the anteroom + something else, but still respectable. Nevertheless, if there + are any nicer and more fashionable papers that are to your + liking, and you think that I also will like them, then take + them. I prefer the plain, unpretending, and neat ones to the + common shopkeeper's staring colours. Therefore, pearl colour + pleases me, for it is neither loud nor does it look vulgar. I + thank you for the servant's room, for it is much needed. + + Now, as to the furniture: you will make the best of it if you + look to it yourself. I did not dare to trouble you with it, + but if you will be so kind, take it and arrange it as it ought + to be. I shall ask Grzymala to give money for the removal. I + shall write to him about it at once. As to the bed and writing- + desk, it may be necessary to give them to the cabinet-maker to + be renewed. In this case you will take the papers out of the + writing-desk, and lock them up somewhere else. I need not tell + you what you ought to do. Act as you like and judge what is + necessary. Whatever you may do will be well done. You have my + full confidence: this is one thing. + + Now the second. + + You must write to Wessel--doubtless you have already written + about the Preludes. Let him know that I have six new + manuscripts, for which I want 300 francs each (how many pounds + is that?). If you think he would not give so much, let me know + first. Inform me also if Probst is in Paris. Further look out + for a servant. I should prefer a respectable honest Pole. Tell + also Grzymala of it. Stipulate that he is to board himself; no + more than 80 francs. I shall not be in Paris before the end of + October--keep this, however, to yourself. + + My dear friend, the state of Johnnie's health weighs sometimes + strangely on my heart. May God give him what he stands in need + of, but he should not allow himself to be cheated...However, + this is neither here nor there. The greatest truth in the + world is that I shall always love you as a most honest and + kind man and Johnnie as another. + + I embrace you both, write each of you and soon, were it of + nothing more than the weather.--Your old more than ever long- + nosed + + FREDERICK. + + + [3.] + + According to your description and that of Grzymala you have + found such capital rooms that we are now thinking you have a + lucky hand, and for this reason a man--and he is a great man, + being the portier of George's house--who will run about to + find a house for her, is ordered to apply to you when he has + found a few; and you with your elegant tact (you see how I + flatter you) will also examine what he has found, and give + your opinion thereon. The main point is that it should be + detached, if possible; for instance, a little hotel. Or + something in a courtyard, with a view into a garden, or, if + there be no garden, into a large court-yard; nota bene, very + few lodgers--elegant--not higher than the second story. + Perhaps some corps de logis, but small, or something like + Perthuis's house, or even smaller. Lastly, should it be in + front, the street must not be noisy. In one word, something + you judge would be good for her. If it could be near me, so + much the better; but if it cannot be, this consideration need + not prevent you. + + It seems to me that a little hotel in the new streets--such as + Clichy, Blanche, or Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, as far as Rue des + Martyrs--would be most suitable. Moreover, I send you a list + of the streets where Mr. Mardelle--the portier of the Hotel + Narbonne, Rue de la Harpe, No. 89, which belongs to George-- + will look for a house. If in your leisure time you also looked + out for something in our part of the town, it would be very + nice. Fancy, I don't know why, but we think that you will find + something wonderfully good, although it is already late. + + The price she wishes to pay is from 2,000 to 2,500 francs, you + might also give a couple of hundred francs more if anything + extra fine should turn up. Grzymala and Arago promised to look + out for something, but in spite of Grzymala's efforts nothing + acceptable has thus far been found. I have written to him that + he should employ you also in this business of mine (I say of + MINE, for it is just the same as if it were mine). I shall + write to him again to-day and tell him that I have asked you + to give your help and use all your talents. It is necessary + that there should be three bedrooms, two of which must be + beside each other and one separated, for instance, by the + drawing-room. Adjoining the third there will be required a + well-lighted cabinet for her study. The other two may be + small, this one, the third, also not very large. Besides this + a drawing-room and dining-room in proportion. A pretty large + kitchen. Two rooms for the servants, and a coal-cellar. The + rooms must of course have inlaid floors, be newly laid, if + possible, and require no repairs. But a little hotel or a + separate part of a house in a court-yard looking into a garden + would be most desirable. There must be tranquillity, + quietness, no blacksmith in the neighbourhood. Respectable + stairs. The windows exposed to the sun, absolutely to the + south. Further, there must be no smoke, no bad odour, but a + fine view, a garden, or at least a large court. A garden would + be best. In the Faubourg St. Germain are many gardens, also in + the Faubourg St. Honore. Find something quickly, something + splendid, and near me. As soon as you have any chance, write + immediately, don't be lazy; or get hold of Grzymala, go and + see, both of you, take et que cela finisse. I send you a plan + of the arrangement of the apartments. If you find something + like this, draw the plan, or take it at once, which will be + better than letting it slip out of your hands. + + Mr. Mardelle is a decent man, and no fool, he was not always a + portier. He is ordered to go and see you whenever he finds + anything. You must also on your part be on the look-out, but + let us keep that between us. I embrace you and Johnnie also. + You will have our true gratitude when you find a house. + + [a diagram of the apartments is inserted here in the letter.] + + +----------------------------------------------------------------+ + | | | | | | + | Study | Bedroom. | Drawing room. | Bedroom. | Servants’ room. | + | | | | | | + |----------------------------------------------------------------| + | | | | + | | Dining room | | + | | | | + |----------------------------------------------------------------| + | | | | + | | Lobby | | + | | | | + +----------------------------------------------------------------+ + + Pas de voisinage, surtout blacksmith, nor anything that + belongs to him. For God's sake I beg of you take an active + interest in the matter, my dear friend! + + + [4.] + + I thank you for all your kind actions. + + In the anteroom you will direct the grey curtains to be hung + which were in my cabinet with the piano, and in the bedroom + the same that were in the bedroom, only under them the white + muslin ones which were under the grey ones. + + I should like to have a little press in my bedroom, unless + there be not room enough, or the drawing-room be too bare + between the windows. + + If the little sofa, the same which stood in the dining-room, + could be covered with red, with the same stuff with which the + chairs are covered, it might be placed in the drawing-room; + but as it would be necessary to call in the upholsterer for + that, it may be difficult. + + It is a good thing that Domaradzki is going to be married, for + surely he will give me back the 80 francs after the wedding. I + should like also to see Podczaski married, and Nakw. + (Nakwaska), and Anthony also. Let this remain between this + paper, myself, and you. + + Find me a valet. Kiss Madame Leo (surely the first commission + will be the more pleasant to you, wherefore I relieve you of + the second if you will do the first). + + Let me know about Probst, whether he is in Paris or not. Do + not forget Wessel. Tell Gutmann that I was much pleased that + he asked for me at least once. To Moscheles, should he be in + Paris, order to be given an injection of Neukomm's oratorios, + prepared with Berlioz's "Cellini" and Doehler's Concerto. Give + Johnnie from me for his breakfast moustaches of sphinxes and + kidneys of parrots, with tomato sauce powdered with little + eggs of the microscopic world. You yourself take a bath in + whale's infusion as a rest from all the commissions I give + you, for I know that you will do willingly as much as time + will permit, and I shall do the same for you when you are + married--of which Johnnie will very likely inform me soon. + Only not to Ox, for that is my party. + + + [5.] + + My dear friend,--In five, six, or seven days I shall be in + Paris. Get things prepared as quickly as possible; if not all, + let me find at least the rooms papered and the bed ready. + + I am hastening my arrival as the presence of George Sand is + necessary on account of a piece to be played. [FOOTNOTE: + "Cosima." The first representation, at the Comedie Francaise, + did not take place until April, 1840.] But this remains + between us. We have fixed our departure for the day after to- + morrow; thus, counting a few days for delay, we shall see each + other on Wednesday or Thursday. + + Besides the different commissions I gave you, especially that + in the last letter about her house, which after our arrival + will be off your shoulders--but till then, for God's sake, be + obliging--besides all this, I say, I forgot to ask you to + order for me a hat from my Duport in your street, Chaussee + d'Antin. He has my measure, and knows how light I want it and + of what kind. Let him give the hat of this year's shape, not + too much exaggerated, for I do not know how you are dressing + yourself just now. Again, besides this, call in passing at + Dautremont's, my tailor's, on the Boulevards, and order him to + make me at once a pair of grey trousers. You will yourself + select a dark-grey colour for winter trousers; something + respectable, not striped, but plain and elastic. You are an + Englishman, so you know what I require. Dautremont will be + glad to hear that I am coming. Also a quiet black velvet + waistcoat, but with very little and no loud pattern, something + very quiet but very elegant. Should he not have the best + velvet of this kind, let him make a quiet, fine silk + waistcoat, but not too much open. If the servant could be got + for less than 80 francs, I should prefer it; but as you have + already found one, let the matter rest. + + My very dear friend, pardon me once more for troubling you, + but I must. In a few days we shall see each other, and embrace + for all this. + + I beg of you, for God's sake, do not say to any Poles that I + am coming so soon, nor to any Jewess either, as I should like + to reserve myself during the first few days only for you, + Grzymala, and Johnnie. Give them my love; to the latter I + shall write once more. + + I expect that the rooms will be ready. Write constantly to me, + three times a day if you like, whether you have anything to + say or not. Before leaving here I shall once more write to + you. + + + Monday. + + You are inappreciable! Take Rue Pigal [Pigalle], both houses, + without asking anybody. Make haste. If by taking both houses + you can diminish a little the price, well; if not, take them + for 2,500 francs. Do not let them slip out of your hands, for + we think them the best and most excellent. SHE regards you as + my most logical and best--and I would add: the most splenetic, + Anglo-Polish, from my soul beloved--friend. + + + [6.] + + The day after to-morrow, Thursday, at five o'clock in the + morning, we start, and on Friday at three, four, certainly at + five o'clock, I shall be in Rue Tronchet, No. 5. I beg of you + to inform the people there of this, I wrote to Johnnie to-day + to retain for me that valet, and order him to wait for me at + Rue Tronchet on Friday from noon. Should you have time to call + upon me at that time, we would most heartily embrace each + other. Once more my and my companion's most sincere thanks for + Rue Pigalle. + + Now, keep a sharp look-out on the tailor, he must have the + clothes ready by Friday morning, so that I can change my + clothes as soon as I come. Order him to take them to Rue + Tronchet, and deliver them there to the valet Tineau--if I + mistake not, that is his name. Likewise the hat from Dupont, + [FOOTNOTE: In the preceding letter it was Duport] and for that + I shall alter for you the second part of the Polonaise till + the last moment of my life. Yesterday's version also may not + please you, although I racked my brains with it for at least + eighty seconds. + + I have written out my manuscripts in good order. There are six + with your Polonaises, not counting the seventh, an impromptu, + which may perhaps be worthless--I do not know myself, it is + too new. But it would be well if it be not too much in the + style of Orlowski, Zimmermann, or Karsko-Konski, [FOOTNOTE: + Chopin's countryman, the pianist and composer Antoine Kontski] + or Sowinski, or other similar animals. For, according to my + reckoning, it might fetch me about 800 francs. That will be + seen afterwards. + + As you are such a clever man, you might also arrange that no + black thoughts and suffocating coughs shall annoy me in the + new rooms. Try to make me good. Change, if you can, many + episodes of my past. It would also not be a bad thing if I + should find a few years of great work accomplished. By this + you will greatly oblige me, also if you would make yourself + younger or bring about that we had never been born.--Your old + + FREDERICK. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + + +1839-1842. + + + +RETURN OF GEORGE SAND AND CHOPIN TO PARIS.--GEORGE SAND IN THE +RUE PIGALLE.--CHOPIN IN THE RUE TRONCHET: REMINISCENCES OF +BRINLEY RICHARDS AND MOSCHELES.--SOIREES AT LEO'S AND ST. CLOUD.- +-CHOPIN JOINS MADAME SAND IN THE RUE PIGALLE.--EXTRACTS FROM +GEORGE SAND'S CORRESPONDANCE; A LETTER OF MADAME SAND'S TO +CHOPIN; BALZAC ANECDOTES.--MADAME SAND AND CHOPIN DO NOT GO TO +NOHANT IN 1840.--COMPOSITIONS OF THIS PERIOD.--ABOUT CHOPIN AS A +PIANIST.--LETTERS WRITTEN TO FONTANA IN THE SUMMER AND AUTUMN OF +1841. + + + +Although Chopin and George Sand came to Paris towards the end of +October, 1839, months passed before the latter got into the house +which Fontana had taken for her. This we learn from a letter +written by her to her friend Gustave Papet, and dated Paris, +January, 1840, wherein we read:-- + + At last I am installed in the Rue Pigalle, 16, only since the + last two days, after having fumed, raged, stormed, and sworn + at the upholsterers, locksmith, &c., &c. What a long, + horrible, unbearable business it is to lodge one's self here! + + [FOOTNOTE: In the letter, dated Paris, October, 1839, + preceding, in the George Sand "Correspondance," the one from + which the above passage is extracted, occur the following + words: "Je suis enfin installee chez moi a Paris." Where this + chez moi was, I do not know.] + +How greatly the interiors of George Sand's pavilions in the Rue +Pigalle differed from those of Senor Gomez's villa and the cells +in the monastery of Valdemosa, may be gathered from Gutmann's +description of two of the apartments. + +[FOOTNOTE: I do not guarantee the correctness of all the +following details, although I found them in a sketch of Gutmann's +life inspired by himself ("Der Lieblings-schuler Chopin's", No. 3 +of "Schone Geister," by Bernhard Stavenow, Bremen, 1879), and +which he assured me was trustworthy. The reasons of my scepticism +are--1, Gutmann's imaginative memory and tendency to show himself +off to advantage; 2, Stavenow's love of fine writing and a good +story; 3, innumerable misstatements that can be indisputably +proved by documents.] + +Regarding the small salon, he gives only the general information +that it was quaintly fitted up with antique furniture. But of +George Sand's own room, which made a deeper impression upon him, +he mentions so many particulars--the brown carpet covering the +whole floor, the walls hung with a dark-brown ribbed cloth +(Ripsstoff), the fine paintings, the carved furniture of dark +oak, the brown velvet seats of the chairs, the large square bed, +rising but little above the floor, and covered with a Persian rug +(Teppich)--that it is easy to picture to ourselves the tout- +ensemble of its appearance. Gutmann tells us that he had an early +opportunity of making these observations, for Chopin visited his +pupil the very day after his arrival (?), and invited him at once +to call on George Sand in order to be introduced to her. When +Gutmann presented himself in the small salon above alluded to, he +found George Sand seated on an ottoman smoking a cigarette. She +received the young man with great cordiality, telling him that +his master had often spoken to her of him most lovingly. Chopin +entered soon after from an adjoining apartment, and then they all +went into the dining-room to have dinner. When they were seated +again in the cosy salon, and George Sand had lit another +cigarette, the conversation, which had touched on a variety of +topics, among the rest on Majorca, turned on art. It was then +that the authoress said to her friend: "Chop, Chop, show Gutmann +my room that he may see the pictures which Eugene Delacroix +painted for me." + +Chopin on arriving in Paris had taken up his lodgings in the Rue +Tronchet, No. 5, and resumed teaching. One of his pupils there +was Brinley Richards, who practised under him one of the books of +studies. Chopin also assisted the British musician in the +publication, by Troupenas, of his first composition, having +previously looked over and corrected it. Brinley Richards +informed me that Chopin, who played rarely in these lessons, +making his corrections and suggestions rather by word of mouth +than by example, was very languid, indeed so much so that he +looked as if he felt inclined to lie down, and seemed to say: "I +wish you would come another time." + +About this time, that is in the autumn or early in the winter of +1839, Moscheles came to Paris. We learn from his diary that at +Leo's, where he liked best to play, he met for the first time +Chopin, who had just returned from the country, and whose +acquaintance he was impatient to make. I have already quoted what +Moscheles said of Chopin's appearance--namely, that it was +exactly like [identificirt mit] his music, both being delicate +and dreamy [schwarmerisch]. His remarks on his great +contemporary's musical performances are, of course, still more +interesting to us. + + He played to me at my request, and now for the first time I + understand his music, and can also explain to myself the + enthusiasm of the ladies. His ad libitum playing, which with + the interpreters of his music degenerates into disregard of + time, is with him only the most charming originality of + execution; the dilettantish harsh modulations which strike me + disagreeably when I am playing his compositions no longer + shock me, because he glides lightly over them in a fairy-like + way with his delicate fingers; his piano is so softly breathed + forth that he does not need any strong forte in order to + produce the wished-for contrasts; it is for this reason that + one does not miss the orchestral-like effects which the German + school demands from a pianoforte-player, but allows one's self + to be carried away, as by a singer who, little concerned about + the accompaniment, entirely follows his feeling. In short, he + is an unicum in the world of pianists. He declares that he + loves my music very much, and at all events he knows it very + well. He played me some studies and his latest work, the + "Preludes," and I played him many of my compositions. + +In addition to this characterisation of the artist Chopin, +Moscheles' notes afford us also some glimpses of the man. "Chopin +was lively, merry, nay, exceedingly comical in his imitations of +Pixis, Liszt, and a hunchbacked pianoforte-player." Some days +afterwards, when Moscheles saw him at his own house, he found him +an altogether different Chopin:-- + + I called on him according to agreement with Ch. and E., who + are also quite enthusiastic about him, and who were + particularly struck with the "Prelude" in A flat major in 6/8 + time with the ever-recurring pedal A flat. Only the Countess + O. [Obreskoff] from St. Petersburg, who adores us artists en + bloc, was there, and some gentlemen. Chopin's excellent pupil + Gutmann played his master's manuscript Scherzo in C sharp + minor. Chopin himself played his manuscript Sonata in B flat + minor with the Funeral March. + +Gutmann relates that Chopin sent for him early in the morning of +the day following that on which he paid the above-mentioned visit +to George Sand, and said to him:-- + + Pardon me for disturbing you so early in the morning, but I + have just received a note from Moscheles, wherein he expresses + his joy at my return to Paris, and announces that he will + visit me at five in the afternoon to hear my new compositions. + Now I am unfortunately too weak to play my things to him; so + you must play. I am chiefly concerned about this Scherzo. + +Gutmann, who did not yet know the work (Op. 39), thereupon sat +down at Chopin's piano, and by dint of hard practising managed to +play it at the appointed hour from memory, and to the +satisfaction of the composer. Gutmann's account does not tally in +several of its details with Moscheles'. As, however, Moscheles +does not give us reminiscences, but sober, business-like notes +taken down at the time they refer to, and without any attempt at +making a nice story, he is the safer authority. Still, thus much +at least we may assume to be certain:--Gutmann played the +Scherzo, Op. 39, on this occasion, and his rendering of it was +such as to induce his master to dedicate it to him. + +Comte de Perthuis, the adjutant of King Louis Philippe, who had +heard Chopin and Moscheles repeatedly play the latter's Sonata in +E flat major for four hands, spoke so much and so +enthusiastically about it at Court that the royal family, wishing +"to have also the great treat," invited the two artists to come +to St. Cloud. The day after this soiree Moscheles wrote in his +diary:-- + + Yesterday was a memorable day...at nine o'clock Chopin and I, + with Perthuis and his amiable wife, who had called for us, + drove out to St. Cloud in the heaviest showers of rain, and + felt so much the more comfortable when we entered the + brilliant, well-lighted palace. We passed through many state- + rooms into a salon carre, where the royal family was assembled + en petit comite. At a round table sat the queen with an + elegant work-basket before her (perhaps to embroider a purse + for me?); near her were Madame Adelaide, the Duchess of + Orleans, and ladies-in-waiting. The noble ladies were as + affable as if we had been old acquaintances...Chopin played + first a number of nocturnes and studies, and was admired and + petted like a favourite. After I also had played some old and + new studies, and been honoured with the same applause, we + seated ourselves together at the instrument--he again playing + the bass, which he always insists on doing. The close + attention of the little circle during my E flat major Sonata + was interrupted only by the exclamations "divine!" + "delicious!" After the Andante the queen whispered to a lady- + in-waiting: "Would it not be indiscreet to ask them to play it + again?" which naturally was equivalent to a command to repeat + it, and so we played it again with increased abandon. In the + Finale we gave ourselves up to a musical delirium. Chopin's + enthusiasm throughout the whole piece must, I believe, have + infected the auditors, who now burst forth into eulogies of + us. Chopin played again alone with the same charm, and called + forth the same sympathy as before; then I improvised... + + [FOOTNOTE: In the "Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik" of November 12, + 1839, we read that Chopin improvised on Grisar's "La Folle," + Moscheles on themes by Mozart. La Folle is a romance the + success of which was so great that a wit called it une folie + de salon. It had for some years an extraordinary popularity, + and made the composer a reputation.] + +To show his gratitude, the king sent the two artists valuable +presents: to Chopin a gold cup and saucer, to Moscheles a +travelling case. "The king," remarked Chopin, "gave Moscheles a +travelling case to get the sooner rid of him." The composer was +fond of and had a talent for throwing off sharp and witty +sayings; but it is most probable that on this occasion the words +were prompted solely by the fancy, and that their ill-nature was +only apparent. Or must we assume that the man Moscheles was less +congenial to Chopin than the artist? Moscheles was a Jew, and +Chopin disliked the Jews. As, however, the tempting opportunity +afforded by the nature of the king's present to Moscheles is +sufficient to account for Chopin's remark, and no proofs +warranting a less creditable explanation are forthcoming, it +would be unfair to listen to the suggestions of suspicion. + +George Sand tells us in the "Histoire de ma Vie" that Chopin +found his rooms in the Rue Tronchet cold and damp, and felt +sorely the separation from her. The consequence of this was that +the saintly woman, the sister of mercy, took, after some time, +pity upon her suffering worshipper, and once more sacrificed +herself. Not to misrepresent her account, the only one we have, +of this change in the domestic arrangements of the two friends, I +shall faithfully transcribe her delicately-worded statements:-- + + He again began to cough alarmingly, and I saw myself forced + either to give in my resignation as nurse, or to pass my life + in impossible journeyings to and fro. He, in order to spare me + these, came every day to tell me with a troubled face and a + feeble voice that he was wonderfully well. He asked if he + might dine with us, and he went away in the evening, shivering + in his cab. Seeing how he took to heart his exclusion from our + family life, I offered to let to him one of the pavilions, a + part of which I could give up to him. He joyfully accepted. He + had there his room, received there his friends, and gave there + his lessons without incommoding me. Maurice had the room above + his; I occupied the other pavilion with my daughter. + +Let us see if we cannot get some glimpses of the life in the +pavilions of the Rue Pigalle, No. 16. In the first months of +1840, George Sand was busy with preparations for the performance +of her drama Cosima, moving heaven and earth to bring about the +admission of her friend Madame Dorval into the company of the +Theatre-Francais, where her piece, in which she wished this lady +to take the principal part, was to be performed. Her son Maurice +passed his days in the studio of Eugene Delacroix; and Solange +gave much time to her lessons, and lost much over her toilet. Of +Grzymala we hear that he is always in love with all the beautiful +women, and rolls his big eyes at the tall Borgnotte and the +little Jacqueline; and that Madame Marliani is always up to her +ears in philosophy. This I gathered from George Sand's +Correspondance, where, as the reader will see presently, more is +to be found. + +George Sand to Chopin; Cambrai, August 13, 1840:-- + + I arrived at noon very tired, for it is 45 and 35 leagues from + Paris to this place. We shall relate to you good stories of + the bourgeois of Cambrai. They are beaux, they are stupid, + they are shopkeepers; they are the sublime of the genre. If + the Historical Procession does not console us, we are capable + of dying of ennui at the politeness which people show us. We + are lodged like princes. But what hosts, what conversations, + what dinners! We laugh at them when we are by ourselves, but + when we are before the enemy, what a pitiable figure we + selves, make! I am no longer desirous to see you come; but I + aspire to depart very quickly, and I understand why you do not + wish to give concerts. It is not unlikely that Pauline Viardot + may not sing the day after to-morrow, for want of a hall. We + shall, perhaps, leave a day sooner. I wish I were already far + away from the Cambresians, male and female. + + Good night! I am going to bed, I am overcome with fatigue. + + Love your old woman [votre vieille] as she loves you. + +From a letter written two days later to her son, we learn that +Madame Viardot after all gave two concerts at Cambrai. But +amusing as the letter is, we will pass it over as not concerning +us here. Of another letter (September 20,1840), likewise +addressed to her son, I shall quote only one passage, although it +contains much interesting matter about the friends and visitors +of the inmates of the pavilions of the Rue Pigalle, No. 16:-- + + Balzac came to dine here the day before yesterday. He is quite + mad. He has discovered the blue rose, for which the + horticultural societies of London and Belgium have promised a + reward of 500,000 francs (qui dit, dit-il). He will sell, + moreover, every grain at a hundred sous, and for this great + botanic production he will lay out only fifty centimes. + Hereupon Rollinat asked him naively:-- + + "Well, why, then, do you not set about it at once?" + + To which Balzac replied: + + "Oh! because I have so many other things to do; but I shall + set about it one of these days." + +Stavenow, in Schone Geister (see foot-note, p. 70), tells an +anecdote of Balzac, which may find a place here:-- + + One day Balzac had invited George Sand, Chopin, and Gutmann to + dinner. On that occasion he related to them that the next day + he would have to meet a bill of 30,000 francs, but that he had + not a sou in his pocket. Gutmann asked what he intended to do? + "Well," replied Balzac, "what shall I do? I wait quietly. + Before to-morrow something unexpected may turn up, and give me + the means to pay the sum." Scarcely had he said this when the + door bell rang. The servant entered and announced that a + gentleman was there who urgently wished to speak with M. + Balzac. + + Balzac rose and left the room. After a quarter of an hour he + came back in high spirits and said: + + "The 30,000 francs are found. My publisher wishes to bring out + a new edition of my works, and he offers me just this sum." + + George Sand, Chopin, and Gutmann looked at each other with a + smile, and thought--"Another one!" + + +George Sand to her son; Paris, September 4, 1840:-- + + We have had here great shows of troops. They have fione the + gendarme and cuisse the national guardsman. All Paris was in + agitation, as if there were to be a revolution. Nothing took + place, except that some passers-by were knocked down by the + police. + + There were places in Paris where it was dangerous to pass, as + these gentlemen assassinated right and left for the pleasure + of getting their hands into practice. Chopin, who will not + believe anything, has at last the proof and certainty of it. + + Madame Marliani is back. I dined at her house the day before + yesterday with the Abbe de Lamennais. Yesterday Leroux dined + here. Chopin embraces you a thousand times. He is always qui, + qui, qui, me, me, me. Rollinat smokes like a steam-boat. + Solange has been good for two or three days, but yesterday she + had a fit of temper [acces de fureur]. It is the Rebouls, the + English neighbours, people and dogs, who turn her head. + +In the summer of 1840 George Sand did not go to Nohant, and +Chopin seems to have passed most of, if not all, the time in +Paris. From a letter addressed to her half-brother, we learn that +the reason of her staying away from her country-seat was a wish +to economise:-- + + If you will guarantee my being able to pass the summer at + Nohant for 4,000 francs, I will go. But I have never been + there without spending 1,500 francs per month, and as I do not + spend here the half of this, it is neither the love of work, + nor that of spending, nor that of glory, which makes me + stay... + +George Sand's fits of economy never lasted very long. At any +rate, in the summer of 1841 we find her again at Nohant. But as +it is my intention to treat of Chopin's domestic life at Nohant +and in Paris with some fulness in special chapters, I shall now +turn to his artistic doings. + +In 1839 there appeared only one work by Chopin, Op. 28, the +"Preludes," but in the two following years as many as sixteen-- +namely, Op. 35-50. Here is an enumeration of these compositions, +with the dates of publication and the dedications. + +[FOOTNOTE: Both the absence of dedications in the case of some +compositions, and the persons to whom others are dedicated, have +a biographical significance. They tell us of the composer's +absence from Paris and aristocratic society, and his return to +them.] + +The "Vingt-quatre Preludes," Op. 28, published in September, +1839, have a twofold dedication, the French and English editions +being dedicated a son ami Pleyel, and the German to Mr. J. C. +Kessler. The publications of 1840 are: in May--Op. 35, "Sonate" +(B flat minor); Op. 36, "Deuxieme Impromptu" (F sharp minor); Op. +37, "Deux Nocturnes" (G minor and G major); in July--Op. 42, +"Valse" (A flat major); in September--Op. 38, "Deuxieme Ballade" +(F major), dedicated to Mr. R. Schumann; in October--Op. 39, +"Troisieme Scherzo" (C sharp minor), dedicated to Mr. A. Gutmann; +in November--Op. 40, "Deux Polonaises" (A major and C minor), +dedicated to Mr. J. Fontana; and in December--Op. 41, "Quatre +Mazurkas" (C sharp and E minor, B and A flat major), dedicated to +E. Witwicki. Those of 1841 are: in October--Op. 43, "Tarantelle" +(A flat major), without any dedication; and in November--Op. 44, +"Polonaise" (F sharp minor), dedicated to Madame la Princesse +Charles de Beauvau; Op. 45, "Prelude" (C sharp minor), dedicated +to Madame la Princesse Elizabeth Czernicheff; Op. 46, "Allegro de +Concert" (A major), dedicated to Mdlle. F. Muller; Op. 47, +"Troisieme Ballade" (A flat major), dedicated to Mdlle. P. de +Noailles; Op. 48, "Deux Nocturnes" (C minor and F sharp minor), +dedicated to Mdlle. L. Duperre; Op. 49, "Fantaisie" (F minor), +dedicated to Madame la Princesse C. de Souzzo; and Op. 50, "Trois +Mazurkas" (G and A flat major, and C sharp minor), dedicated to +Mr. Leon Smitkowski. + +Chopin's genius had now reached the most perfect stage of its +development, and was radiating with all the intensity of which +its nature was capable. Notwithstanding such later creations as +the fourth "Ballade," Op. 52, the "Barcarolle," Op. 60, and the +"Polonaise," Op. 53, it can hardly be said that the composer +surpassed in his subsequent works those which he had published in +recent years, works among which were the first three ballades, +the preludes, and a number of stirring polonaises and charming +nocturnes, mazurkas, and other pieces. + +However, not only as a creative artist, but also as an executant, +Chopin was at the zenith of his power. His bodily frame had +indeed suffered from disease, but as yet it was not seriously +injured, at least, not so seriously as to disable him to +discharge the functions of a musical interpreter. Moreover, the +great majority of his compositions demanded from the executant +other qualities than physical strength, which was indispensable +in only a few of his works. A writer in the "Menestrel" (April +25, 1841) asks himself the question whether Chopin had progressed +as a pianist, and answers: "No, for he troubles himself little +about the mechanical secrets of the piano; in him there is no +charlatanism; heart and genius alone speak, and in these respects +his privileged organisation has nothing to learn." Or rather let +us say, Chopin troubled himself enough about the mechanical +secrets of the piano, but not for their own sakes: he regarded +them not as ends, but as means to ends, and although mechanically +he may have made no progress, he had done so poetically. Love and +sorrow, those most successful teachers of poets and musicians, +had not taught him in vain. + +It was a fortunate occurrence that at this period of his career +Chopin was induced to give a concert, and equally fortunate that +men of knowledge, judgment, and literary ability have left us +their impressions of the event. The desirability of replenishing +an ever-empty purse, and the instigations of George Sand, were no +doubt the chief motive powers which helped the composer to +overcome his dislike to playing in public. + +"Do you practise when the day of the concert approaches?" asked +Lenz. [FOOTNOTE: Die grossen Pianoforte-Virtusen unstrer Zeit, p. +36.] "It is a terrible time for me," was Chopin's answer; "I +dislike publicity, but it is part of my position. I shut myself +up for a fortnight and play Bach. That is my preparation; I never +practise my own compositions." What Gutmann told me confirms +these statements. Chopin detested playing in public, and became +nervous when the dreaded time approached. He then fidgeted a +great deal about his clothes, and felt very unhappy if one or the +other article did not quite fit or pinched him a little. On one +occasion Chopin, being dissatisfied with his own things, made use +of a dress-coat and shirt of his pupil Gutmann. By the way, the +latter, who gave me this piece of information, must have been in +those days of less bulk, and, I feel inclined to add, of less +height, than he was when I became acquainted with him. + +Leaving the two concerts given by Chopin in 1841 and 1842 to be +discussed in detail in the next chapter, I shall now give a +translation of the Polish letters which he wrote in the summer +and autumn of 1841 to Fontana. The letters numbered 4 and 5 are +those already alluded to on p. 24 (foot-note 3) which Karasowski +gives as respectively dated by Chopin: "Palma, November 17, +1838"; and "Valdemosa, January 9, 1839." But against these dates +militate the contents: the mention of Troupenas, with whom the +composer's business connection began only in 1840 (with the +Sonata, Op. 35); the mention of the Tarantelle, which was not +published until 1841; the mention (contradictory to an earlier +inquiry--see p. 30) of the sending back of a valet nowhere else +alluded to; the mention of the sending and arrival of a piano, +irreconcilable with the circumstances and certain statements in +indisputably correctly-dated letters; and, lastly, the absence of +all mention of Majorca and the Preludes, those important topics +in the letters really from that place and of that time. +Karasowski thinks that the letters numbered 1, 2, 3, and 9 were +of the year 1838, and those numbered 6, 7, and 8 of the year +1839; but as the "Tarantelle," Op. 43, the "Polonaise," Op. 44, +the "Prelude," Op. 45, the "Allegro de Concert," Op. 46, the +third "Ballade," Op. 47, the two "Nocturnes," Op. 48, and the +"Fantaisie," Op. 49, therein mentioned, were published in 1841, I +have no doubt that they are of the year 1841. The mention in the +ninth letter of the Rue Pigalle, 16, George Sand's and Chopin's +abode in Paris, of Pelletan, the tutor of George Sand's son +Maurice, and of the latter's coming to Paris, speaks likewise +against 1838 and for 1841, 1840 being out of the question, as +neither George Sand nor Chopin was in this year at Nohant. What +decides me especially to reject the date 1839 for the seventh +letter is that Pauline Garcia had then not yet become the wife of +Louis Viardot. There is, moreover, an allusion to a visit of +Pauline Viardot to Nohant in the summer of 1841 in one of George +Sand's letters (August 13, 1841). In this letter occurs a passage +which is important for the dating both of the fifth and the +seventh letter. As to the order of succession of the letters, it +may be wrong, it certainly does not altogether satisfy me; but it +is the result of long and careful weighing of all the pros and +cons. I have some doubt about the seventh letter, which, read by +the light of George Sand's letter, ought perhaps to be placed +after the ninth. But the seventh letter is somewhat of a puzzle. +Puzzles, owing to his confused statements and slipshod style, +are, however, not a rare thing in Chopin's correspondence. The +passage in the above-mentioned letter of George Sand runs thus: +"Pauline leaves me on the 16th [of August]; Maurice goes on the +17th to fetch his sister, who should be here on the 23rd." + + + [I.] Nohant [1841]. + + My very dear friend,--I arrived here yesterday, Thursday. For + Schlesinger [FOOTNOTE: The Paris music-publisher.] I have + composed a Prelude in C sharp minor [Op. 45], which is short, + as he wished it. Seeing that, like Mechetti's [FOOTNOTE: The + Vienna music-publisher.] Beethoven, this has to come out at + the New Year, do not yet give my Polonaise to Leo (although + you have already transcribed it), for to-morrow I shall send + you a letter for Mechetti, in which I shall explain to him + that, if he wishes something short, I will give him for the + Album instead of the mazurka (which is already old) the NEW + prelude. It is well modulated, and I can send it without + hesitation. He ought to give me 300 francs for it, n'est-ce + pas? Par-dessus le marche he may get the mazurka, only he must + not print it in the Album. + + Should Troupenas, [FOOTNOTE: Eugene Troupenas, the Paris music- + publisher.] that is, Masset, [FOOTNOTE: Masset (his daughter, + Madame Colombier, informed me) was the partner of Troupenas, + and managed almost the whole business, Troupenas being in weak + health, which obliged him to pass the last ten winters of his + life at Hyeres.] make any difficulties, do not give him the + pieces a farthing cheaper, and tell him that if he does not + wish to print them all--which I should not like--I could sell + them at a better price to others. + + Now of something else. + + You will find in the right-hand drawer of my writing-desk (in + the place where the cash-box always is) a sealed parcel + addressed to Madame Sand. Wrap this parcel in wax-cloth, seal + it, and send it by post to Madame Sand's address. Sew on the + address with a strong thread, that it may not come off the wax- + cloth. It is Madame Sand who asks me to do this. I know you + will do it perfectly well. The key, I think, is on the top + shelf of the little cabinet with the mirror. If it should not + be there, get a locksmith to open the drawer. + + I love you as an old friend. Embrace Johnnie.--Your + + FREDERICK. + + + [2.] Nohant [1841]. + + Thanks for forwarding the parcel. I send you the Prelude, in + large characters for Schlesinger and in small characters for + Mechetti. Clip the MS. of the Polonaise to the same size, + number the pages, and fold it like the Prelude, add to the + whole my letter to Mechetti, and deliver it into Leo's own + hands, praying him to send it by the first mail, as Mechetti + is waiting for it. + + The letter to Haslinger [FOOTNOTE: The Vienna music- + publisher.] post yourself; and if you do not find Schlesinger + at home leave the letter, but do not give him the MS. until he + tells you that he accepts the Prelude as a settlement of the + account. If he does not wish to acquire the right of + publication for London, tell him to inform me of it by letter. + Do not forget to add the opus on the Polonaise and the + following number on the Prelude--that is, on the copies that + are going to Vienna. + + I do not know how Czerniszewowa is spelt. Perhaps you will + find under the vase or on the little table near the bronze + ornament a note from her, from her daughter, or from the + governess; if not, I should be glad if you would go--they know + you already as my friend--to the Hotel de Londres in the Place + Vendome, and beg in my name the young Princess to give you her + name in writing and to say whether it is Tscher or Tcher. Or + better still, ask for Mdlle. Krause, the governess; tell her + that I wish to give the young Princess a surprise; and inquire + of her whether it is usual to write Elisabeth and + Tschernichef, or ff. [FOOTNOTE: Chopin dedicated the Prelude, + Op. 45, to Mdlle. la Princesse Elisabeth Czernicheff.] + + If you do not wish to do this, don't be bashful with me, and + write that you would rather be excused, in which case I shall + find it out by some other means. But do not yet direct + Schlesinger to print the title. Tell him I don't know how to + spell. Nevertheless, I hope that you will find at my house + some note from them on which will be the name.... + + I conclude because it is time for the mail, and I wish that my + letter should reach Vienna without fail this week. + + + [3.] Nohant, Sunday [1841]. + + I send you the Tarantella [Op. 43]. Please to copy it. But + first go to Schlesinger, or, better still, to Troupenas, and + see the collection of Rossini's songs published by Troupenas. + In it there is a Tarantella in F. I do not know whether it is + written in 6/8 or 12/8 time. As to my composition, it does not + matter which way it is written, but I should prefer it to be + like Rossini's. Therefore, if the latter be in 12/8 or in C + with triplets, make in copying one bar out of two. It will be + thus: [here follows one bar of music, bars four and five of + the Tarantella as it is printed.] [FOOTNOTE: This is a + characteristic instance of Chopin's carelessness in the + notation of his music. To write his Tarantella in 12/8 or C + would have been an egregious mistake. How Chopin failed to see + this is inexplicable to me.] + + I beg of you also to write out everything in full, instead of + marking repeats. Be quick, and give it to Leo with my letter + to Schubert. [FOOTNOTE: Schuberth, the Hamburg music- + publisher.] You know he leaves for Hamburg before the 8th of + next month, and I should not like to lose 500 francs. + + As regards Troupenas, there is no hurry. If the time of my + manuscript is not right, do not deliver the latter, but make a + copy of it. Besides this, make a third copy of it for Wessel. + It will weary you to copy this nasty thing so often; but I + hope I shall not compose anything worse for a long time. I + also beg of you to look up the number of the last opus-- + namely, the last mazurkas, or rather the waltz published by + Paccini [FOOTNOTE: Pacini, a Paris music-publisher. He + published the Waltz in A flat major, Op. 42, in the summer of + 1840, if not earlier.]--and give the following number to the + Tarantella. + + I am keeping my mind easy, for I know you are willing and + clever. I trust you will receive from me no more letters + burdened with commissions. Had I not been with only one foot + at home before my departure you would have none of these + unpleasantnesses. Attend to the Tarantella, give it to Leo, + and tell him to keep the money he may receive till I come + back. Once more I beg of you to excuse my troubling you so + much. To-day I received the letter from my people in Poland + you sent me. Tell the portier to give you all the letters + addressed to me. + + + [4.] + + My dear friend,--As you are so good, be so to the end. Go to + the transport commission-office of Mr. Hamberg et Levistal + successeurs de Mr. Corstel fils aine et Cie, rue des Marais + St. Martin, No. 51, a Paris, and direct them to send at once + to Pleyel for the piano I am to have, so that it may go off + the next day. Say at the office that it is to be forwarded par + un envoy [sic] accelere et non ordinaire. Such a transport + costs of course far more, but is incomparably quicker. It will + probably cost five francs per cwt. I shall pay here. Only + direct them to give you a receipt, on which they will write + how many cwts. the piano weighs, when it leaves, and when it + will arrive at Chateauroux. If the piano is conveyed by + roulage [land-transport]--which goes straight to Toulouse and + leaves goods only on the route--the address must not be a la + Chatre, [FOOTNOTE: Instead of "la Chatre" we have in + Karasowski's Polish book "la Chatie," which ought to warn us + not to attribute all the peculiar French in this letter to + Chopin, who surely knew how to spell the name of the town in + the neighbourhood of the familiar Nohant.] but Madame + Dudevant, a Chateauroux, as I wrote above. [FOOTNOTE: "Address + of the piano: Madame Dudevant, a Chateauroux. Bureau Restant + chez M. Vollant Patureau." This is what Chopin wrote above.] + At the last-mentioned place the agency has been informed, and + will forward it at once. You need not send me the receipt, we + should require it only in case of some unforeseen reclamation. + The correspondent in Chateauroux says that PAR LA VOYE + ACCELERE [SIC] it will come from Paris in four days. If this + is so, let him bind himself to deliver the piano at + Chateauroux in four or five days. + + Now to other business. + + Should Pleyel make any difficulties, apply to Erard; I think + that the latter in all probability ought to be serviceable to + you. Only do not act hastily, and first ascertain how the + matter really stands. + + As to the Tarantella, seal it and send it to Hamburg. To- + morrow I shall write you of other affairs, concerning + Troupenas, &c. + + Embrace Johnnie, and tell him to write. + + + [5.] + + Thanks for all the commissions you have executed so well. To- + day, that is on the 9th, I received the piano and the other + things. Do not send my little bust to Warsaw, it would + frighten them, leave it in the press. Kiss Johnnie for his + letter. I shall write him a few lines shortly. + + To-morrow I shall very likely send back my old servant, who + loses his wits here. He is an honest man and knows how to + serve, but he is tiresome, and makes one lose one's patience. + I shall send him back, telling him to wait for me in Paris. If + he appears at the house, do not be frightened. + + Latterly the weather has been only so-so. + + The man in Chateauroux was waiting three days for the piano; + yesterday, after receiving your letter, I gave orders that he + should be recalled. To-day I do not yet know what kind of tone + the piano has, as it is not yet unpacked; this great event is + to take place to-morrow. As to the delay and misunderstanding + in sending it, do not make any inquiries; let the matter rest, + it is not worth a quarrel. You did the best you could. A + little ill-humour and a few days lost in expectation are not + worth a pinch of snuff. Forget, therefore, my commissions and + your transaction; next time, if God permits us to live, + matters will turn out better. + + I write you these few words late at night. Once more I thank + you, most obliging of men, for the commissions, which are not + yet ended, for now comes the turn of the Troupenas business, + which will hang on your shoulders. I shall write to you on + this subject more fully some other time, and to-day I wish you + good night. But don't have dreams like Johnnie--that I died; + but rather dream that I am about to be born, or something of + the sort. + + In fact, I am feeling now as calm and serene as a baby in + swaddling-clothes; and if somebody wished to put me in leading- + strings, I should be very glad--nota bene, with a cap thickly + lined with wadding on my head, for I feel that at every moment + I should stumble and turn upside down. Unfortunately, instead + of leading-strings there are probably awaiting me crutches, if + I approach old age with my present step. I once dreamt that I + was dying in a hospital, and this is so strongly rooted in my + mind that I cannot forget it--it is as if I had dreamt it + yesterday. If you survive me, you will learn whether we may + believe in dreams. + + And now I often dream with my eyes open what may be said to + have neither rhyme nor reason in it. + + That is why I write you such a foolish letter, is it? + + Send me soon a letter from my people, and love your old + + FREDERICK. + + + [6.] Nohant [1841]. + + Thanks for your very kind letter. Unseal all you judge + necessary. + + Do not give the manuscripts to Troupenas till Schubert has + informed you of the day of publication. The answer will very + likely come soon through Leo. + + What a pity that the Tarantella is gone to Berlin, for, as you + know from Schubert's letter, Liszt is mixed up in this + monetary affair, and I may have some unpleasantness. He is a + thin-skinned Hungarian, and may think that I do not trust him + because I directed that the manuscripts should not be given + otherwise than for cash. I do not know, but I have a + presentiment of a disagreeable mess. Do not say anything about + it to the ailing Leo; go and see him if you think it + necessary, give him my compliments and thanks (although + undeserved), and ask pardon for troubling him so much. After + all, it is kind of him to take upon him the forwarding of my + things. Give my compliments, also to Pleyel, and ask him to + excuse my not writing to him (do not say anything about his + sending me a very inferior piano). + + I beg of you to put into the letter-box at the Exchange + yourself the letter to my parents, but I say do it yourself, + and before 4 o'clock. Excuse my troubling you, but you know of + what great importance my letter is to my people. + + Escudier has very likely sent you that famous album. If you + wish you may ask Troupenas to get you a copy as if it were for + me; but if you don't wish, say nothing. + + [FOOTNOTE: Leon Escudier, I suppose. The brothers Marie and + Leon Escudier established a music business in the latter part + of the fourth decade of this century; but when soon after both + married and divided their common property, Marie got their + journal "La France Musicale" and Leon the music-business. They + wrote and published together various books on music and + musicians.] + + Still one more bother. + + At your leisure transcribe once more this unlucky Tarantella, + which will be sent to Wessel when the day [of publication] is + known. If I tire you so much with this Tarentella, you may be + sure that it is for the last time. From here, I am sure you + will have no more manuscript from me. If there should not be + any news from Schubert within a week, please write to me. In + that case you would give the manuscript to Troupenas. But I + shall write him about it. + + + [7.] Nohant [1841], Friday evening. + + My dear Julius,--I send you a letter for Bonnet; read, seal, + and deliver it. And if in passing through the streets in which + you know I can lodge, you find something suitable for me, + please write to me. Just now the condition about the staircase + exists no longer. [FOOTNOTE: Chopin felt so much stronger that + high stairs were no longer any objection to lodgings.] I also + send you a letter to Dessauer [FOOTNOTE: Joseph Dessauer, a + native of Prague, best known by his songs. He stayed in Paris + in 1833, and afterwards settled in Vienna. George Sand + numbered him among her friends.] in answer to his letter which + Madame Deller sent me from Austria. He must already be back to + Paris; be sure and ask Schlesinger, who will be best able to + inform you of this. + + Do not give Dessauer many particulars about me; do not tell + him that you are looking for rooms, nor Anthony either, for he + will mention it to Mdlle. de Rozieres, and she is a babbler + and makes the least thing a subject for gossip. Some of her + gossipings have already reached me here in a strange way. You + know how great things sometimes grow out of nothing if they + pass through a mouth with a loose tongue. Much could be said + on this head. + + As to the unlucky Tarantella, you may give it to Troupenas + (that is, to Masset); but, if you think otherwise, send it by + post to Wessel, only insist on his answering at once that he + has received it. The weather has been charming here for the + last few days, but my music--is ugly. Madame Viardot spent a + fortnight here; we occupied ourselves less with music than + with other things. + + Please write to me whatever you like, but write. + + May Johnnie be in good health! + + But remember to write on Troupenas's copy: Hamburg, Schubert; + Wessel, London. + + In a few days I shall send you a letter for Mechetti in + Vienna, to whom I promised to give some compositions. If you + see Dessauer or Schlesinger, ask if it is absolutely necessary + to pay postage for the letters sent to Vienna.--I embrace you, + adieu. + + CHOPIN. + + + [8.] + + Nohant, Sunday [1841]. + + What you have done you have done well. Strange world! Masset + is a fool, so also is Pelletan. Masset knew of Pacini's waltz + and that I promised it to the "Gazette" for the Album. I did + not wish to make any advances to him. If he does not wish them + at 600 francs, with London (the price of my USUAL manuscripts + was 300 francs with him)--three times five being fifteen--I + should have to give so much labour for 1,500 francs--that + cannot be. So much the more as I told him when I had the first + conversation with him that it might happen that I could not + let him have my things at this price. For instance, he cannot + expect that I should give him twelve Etudes or a new Methode + de Piano for 300 francs. The Allegro maestoso ["Allegro de + Concert," Op. 46] which I send you to-day I cannot give for + 300 francs, but only for 600 francs, nor the "Fantasia" [Op. + 49], for which I ask 500 francs. Nevertheless, the "Ballade" + [the third, Op. 47], the Nocturnes ["Deux Nocturnes," Op. 48], + and Polonaise [F sharp minor, Op. 44], I shall let him have at + 300 francs, for he has already formerly printed such things. + In one word, for Paris I give these five compositions for + 2,000 francs. If he does not care for them, so much the + better. I say it entre nous--for Schlesinger will most + willingly buy them. But I should not like him to take me for a + man who does not keep his word in an agreement. "Il n'y avait + qu'une convention facile d'honnete homme a honnete homme." + therefore, he should not complain of my terms, for they are + very easy. I want nothing but to come out of this affair + respectably. You know that I do not sell myself. But tell him + further that if I were desirous of taking advantage of him or + of cheating him, I could write fifteen things per year, but + worthless ones, which he would buy at 300 francs and I would + have a better income. Would it be an honest action? + + My dear friend, tell him that I write seldom, and spend but + little. He must not think that I wish to raise the price. But + when you yourself see my manuscript flies, [FOOTNOTE: An + allusion to his small, fine writing.] you will agree with me + that I may ask 600 francs when I was paid 300 francs for the + Tarantella and 500 for the Bolero. + + For God's sake take good care of the manuscripts, do not + squeeze, dirty, or tear them. I know you are not capable of + doing anything of the sort, but I love my WRITTEN TEDIOUSNESS + [NUDY, tediousness; NUTY, notes] so much that I always fear + that something might happen to them. + + To-morrow you will receive the Nocturne, and at the end of the + week the Ballade and Fantasia; I cannot get my writing done + sooner. Each of these things you will transcribe; your copies + will remain in Paris. If copying wearies you, console yourself + with thinking that you are doing it for THE REMISSION OF YOUR + SINS. I should not like to give my little spider-feet to any + copyist who would daub coarsely. Once more I make this + request, for had I again to write these eighteen pages, I + should most certainly go wrong in my mind. + + I send you a letter from Hartel. + + Try to get another valet instead of the one you have. I shall + probably be in Paris during the first days of November. To- + morrow I will write to you again. + + Monday +morning. + + On reading your letter attentively, I see that Masset does not + ask for Paris. Leave this point untouched if you can. Mention + only 3,000 francs pour les deux pays, and 2,000 francs for + Paris itself if he particularly asks about it. Because la + condition des deux pays is still easier, and for me also more + convenient. If he should not want it, it must be because he + seeks an opportunity for breaking with me. In that case, wait + for his answer from London. Write to him openly and frankly, + but always politely, and act cautiously and coolly, but mind, + not to me, for you know how much loves you your... + + + [9.] Nohant [1841]. + + My dear friend,--You would be sure to receive my letters and + compositions. You have read the German letters, sealed them, + and done everything I asked you, have you not? As to Wessel, + he is a fool and a cheat. Write him whatever you like, but + tell him that I do not intend to give up my rights to the + Tarantella, as he did not send it back in time. If he + sustained losses by my compositions, it is most likely owing + to the foolish titles he gave them, in spite of my directions. + Were I to listen to the voice of my soul, I would not send him + anything more after these titles. Say as many sharp things to + him as you can. + + [FOOTNOTE: Here are some specimens of the publisher's + ingenious inventiveness:--"Adieu a Varsovie" (Rondeau, Op. 1), + "Hommage a Mozart" (Variations, Op. 2), "La Gaite" + (Introduction et Polonaise, Op. 3), "La Posiana" (Rondeau a la + Mazur, Op. 5), "Murmures de la Seine" (Nocturnes, Op. 9), "Les + Zephirs" (Nocturnes, Op. 15), "Invitation a la Valse" (Valse, + Op. 18), "Souvenir d'Andalousie" (Bolero, Op. 19), "Le banquet + infernal" (Premier Scherzo, Op. 20), "Ballade ohne Worte" + [Ballad without words] (Ballade, Op. 23), "Les Plaintives" + (Nocturnes, Op. 27), "La Meditation" (Deuxieme Scherzo, Op. + 31), "Il lamento e la consolazione" (Nocturnes, Op. 32), "Les + Soupirs" (Nocturnes, Op. 37), and "Les Favorites" (Polonaises, + Op. 40). The mazurkas generally received the title of + "Souvenir de la Pologne."] + + Madame Sand thanks you for the kind words accompanying the + parcel. Give directions that my letters may be delivered to + Pelletan, Rue Pigal [i.e., Pigalle], 16, and impress it very + strongly on the portier. The son of Madame Sand will be in + Paris about the 16th. I shall send you, through him, the MS. + of the Concerto ["Allegro de Concert"] and the Nocturnes [Op. + 46 and 48]. + +These letters of the romantic tone-poet to a friend and fellow- +artist will probably take the reader by surprise, nay, may even +disillusionise him. Their matter is indeed very suggestive of a +commercial man writing to one of his agents. Nor is this feature, +as the sequel will show, peculiar to the letters just quoted. +Trafficking takes up a very large part of Chopin's Parisian +correspondence; [FOOTNOTE: I indicate by this phrase +comprehensively the whole correspondence since his settling in +the French capital, whether written there or elsewhere.] of the +ideal within him that made him what he was as an artist we catch, +if any, only rare glimmerings and glimpses. + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + + +TWO PUBLIC CONCERTS, ONE IN 1841 AND ANOTHER IN 1842. --CHOPIN'S +STYLE OF PLAYING: TECHNICAL QUALITIES; FAVOURABLE PHYSICAL +CONDITIONS; VOLUME OF TONE; USE OF THE PEDALS; SPIRITUAL +QUALITIES; TEMPO RUBATO; INSTRUMENTS.--HIS MUSICAL SYMPATHIES AND +ANTIPATHIES.--OPINIONS ON MUSIC AND MUSICIANS. + + + +The concert which Chopin gave in 1841, after several years of +retirement, took place at Pleyel's rooms on Monday, the 26th of +April. It was like his subsequent concerts a semi-public rather +than a public one, for the audience consisted of a select circle +of pupils, friends, and partisans who, as Chopin told Lenz, took +the tickets in advance and divided them among themselves. As most +of the pupils belonged to the aristocracy, it followed as a +matter of course that the concert was emphatically what Liszt +calls it, "un concert de fashion." The three chief musical papers +of Paris: the "Gazette Musicale," the "France Musicale," and the +"Menestrel" were unanimous in their high, unqualified praise of +the concert-giver, "the king of the fete, who was overwhelmed +with bravos." The pianoforte performances of Chopin took up by +far the greater part of the programme, which was varied by two +arias from Adam's "La Rose de Peronne," sung by Mdme. Damoreau-- +Cinti, who was as usual "ravissante de perfection," and by +Ernst's "Elegie," played by the composer himself "in a grand +style, with passionate feeling and a purity worthy of the great +masters." Escudier, the writer of the notice in the "France +Musicale," says of Ernst's playing: "If you wish to hear the +violin weep, go and hear Ernst; he produces such heart-rending, +such passionate sounds, that you fear every moment to see his +instrument break to pieces in his hands. It is difficult to carry +farther the expression of sadness, of suffering, and of despair." + +To give the reader an idea of the character of the concert, I +shall quote largely from Liszt's notice, in which he not only +sets forth the merits of the artists, but also describes the +appearance of the room and the audience. First, however, I must +tell a pretty anecdote of which this notice reminds me. When +Liszt was moving about among the audience during the intervals of +the concert, paying his respects here and there, he came upon M. +Ernest Legouve. The latter told him of his intention to give an +account of the concert in the "Gazette Musicale." Liszt thereupon +said that he had a great wish to write one himself, and M. +Legouve, although reluctantly, gave way. When it came to the ears +of Chopin that Liszt was going to report on the concert, he +remarked: "Il me donnera un petit royaume dans son empire" (He +will give me a little kingdom in his empire). + +[FOOTNOTE: Since I wrote the above, M. Legouve has published his +"Soixante ans de Souvenirs," and in this book gives his version +of the story, which, it is to be hoped, is less. incorrect than +some other statements of his relating to Chopin: "He [Chopin] had +asked me to write a report of the concert. Liszt claimed the +honour. I hastened to announce this good news to Chopin, who +quietly said to me: "I should have liked better if it had been +you." "What are you thinking of my dear friend! An article by +Liszt, that is a fortunate thing for the public and for you. +Trust in his admiration for your talent. I promise you qu'il vous +fera un beau royaume.'--'Oui, me dit-il en souriant, dans son +empire!'"] + +These few words speak volumes. But here is what Liszt wrote about +the concert in the "Gazette musicale" of May 2, 1841:-- + + Last Monday, at eight o'clock in the evening, M. Pleyel's + rooms were brilliantly lighted up; numerous carriages brought + incessantly to the foot of a staircase covered with carpet and + perfumed with flowers the most elegant women, the most + fashionable young men, the most celebrated artists, the + richest financiers, the most illustrious noblemen, a whole + elite of society, a whole aristocracy of birth, fortune, + talent, and beauty. + + A grand piano was open on a platform; people crowded round, + eager for the seats nearest it; they prepared to listen, they + composed them-selves, they said to themselves that they must + not lose a chord, a note, an intention, a thought of him who + was going to seat himself there. And people were right in + being thus eager, attentive, and religiously moved, because he + for whom they waited, whom they wished to hear, admire, and + applaud, was not only a clever virtuoso, a pianist expert in + the art of making notes [de faire des notes], not only an + artist of great renown, he was all this and more than all + this, he was Chopin... + + ...If less eclat has gathered round his name, if a less bright + aureole has encircled his head, it is not because he had not + in him perhaps the same depth of feeling as the illustrious + author of "Conrad Wallenrod" and the "Pilgrims," [FOOTNOTE: + Adam Mickiewicz.] but his means of expression were too + limited, his instrument too imperfect; he could not reveal his + whole self by means of a piano. Hence, if we are not mistaken, + a dull and continual suffering, a certain repugnance to reveal + himself to the outer world, a sadness which shrinks out of + sight under apparent gaiety, in short, a whole individuality + in the highest degree remarkable and attractive. + + ...It was only rarely, at very distant intervals, that Chopin + played in public; but what would have been for anyone else an + almost certain cause of oblivion and obscurity was precisely + what assured to him a fame above the caprices of fashion, and + kept him from rivalries, jealousies, and injustice. Chopin, + who has taken no part in the extreme movement which for + several years has thrust one on another and one against + another the executive artists from all quarters of the world, + has been constantly surrounded by faithful adepts, + enthusiastic pupils, and warm friends, all of whom, while + guarding him against disagreeable contests and painful + collisions, have not ceased to spread abroad his works, and + with them admiration for his name. Moreover, this exquisite, + altogether lofty, and eminently aristocratic celebrity has + remained unattacked. A complete silence of criticism already + reigns round it, as if posterity were come; and in the + brilliant audience which flocked together to hear the too long + silent poet there was neither reticence nor restriction, + unanimous praise was on the lips of all. + + ...He has known how to give to new thoughts a new form. That + element of wildness and abruptness which belongs to his + country has found its expression in bold dissonances, in + strange harmonies, while the delicacy and grace which belong + to his personality were revealed in a thousand contours, in a + thousand embellishments of an inimitable fancy. + + In Monday's concert Chopin had chosen in preference those of + his works which swerve more from the classical forms. He + played neither concerto, nor sonata, nor fantasia, nor + variations, but preludes, studies, nocturnes, and mazurkas. + Addressing himself to a society rather than to a public, he + could show himself with impunity as he is, an elegiac poet, + profound, chaste, and dreamy. He did not need either to + astonish or to overwhelm, he sought for delicate sympathy + rather than for noisy enthusiasm. Let us say at once that he + had no reason to complain of want of sympathy. From the first + chords there was established a close communication between him + and his audience. Two studies and a ballade were encored, and + had it not been for the fear of adding to the already great + fatigue which betrayed itself on his pale face, people would + have asked for a repetition of the pieces of the programme one + by one... + +An account of the concert in La France musicale of May 2, 1841, +contained a general characterisation of Chopin's artistic +position with regard to the public coinciding with that given by +Liszt, but the following excerpts from the other parts of the +article may not be unacceptable to the reader:-- + + We spoke of Schubert because there is no other nature which + has a more complete analogy with him. The one has done for the + piano what the other has done for the voice...Chopin was a + composer from conviction. He composes for himself, and what he + composes he performs for himself...Chopin is the pianist of + sentiment PAR EXCELLENCE. One may say that Chopin is the + creator of a school of pianoforte-playing and of a school of + composition. Indeed, nothing equals the lightness and + sweetness with which the artist preludes on the piano, nothing + again can be placed by the side of his works full of + originality, distinction, and grace. Chopin is an exceptional + pianist who ought not to be, and cannot be, compared with + anyone. + +The words with which the critic of the Menestrel closes his +remarks, describe well the nature of the emotions which the +artist excited in his hearers:-- + + In order to appreciate Chopin rightly, one must love gentle + impressions, and have the feeling for poetry: to hear Chopin + is to read a strophe of Lamartine....Everyone went away full + of sweet joy and deep reverie (recueillement). + +The concert, which was beyond a doubt a complete success, must +have given Chopin satisfaction in every respect. At any rate, he +faced the public again before a year had gone by. In the Gazette +Musicale of February 20, 1842, we read that on the following +evening, Monday, at Pleyel's rooms, the haute societe de Paris et +tous les artistes s'y donneront rendez-vous. The programme of the +concert was to be as follows:-- + + + 1. Andante suivi de la 3ieme Ballade, par Chopin. + + 2. Felice Donzella, air de Dessauer. + + 3. Suite de Nocturnes, Preludes et Etudes, par Chopin. + + 4. Divers fragments de Handel, chante par Madame Viardot- + Garcia. + + 5. Solo pour Violoncello, par M. Franchomme. + + 6. Nocturne, Preludes, Mazurkas et Impromptu. + + 7. Le Chene et le Roseau, chante par Madame Viardot-Garcia, + accompagne par Chopin. + + +Maurice Bourges, who a week later reports on the concert, states +more particularly what Chopin played. He mentions three mazurkas +in A flat major, B major, and A minor; three studies in A flat +major, F minor, and C minor; the Ballade in A flat major; four +nocturnes, one of which was that in F sharp minor; a prelude in D +flat; and an impromptu in G (G flat major?). Maurice Bourges's +account is not altogether free from strictures. He finds Chopin's +ornamentations always novel, but sometimes mannered (manierees). +He says: "Trop de recherche fine et minutieuse n'est pas +quelquefois sans pretention et san froideur." But on the whole +the critique is very laudatory. "Liszt and Thalberg excite, as is +well known, violent enthusiasm; Chopin also awakens enthusiasm, +but of a less energetic, less noisy nature, precisely because he +causes the most intimate chords of the heart to vibrate." + +From the report in the "France musicale" we see that the audience +was not less brilliant than that of the first concert:-- + + ...Chopin has given in Pleyel's hall a charming soiree, a fete + peopled with adorable smiles, delicate and rosy faces, small + and well-formed white hands; a splendid fete where simplicity + was combined with grace and elegance, and where good taste + served as a pedestal to wealth. Those ugly black hats which + give to men the most unsightly appearance possible were very + few in number. The gilded ribbons, the delicate blue gauze, + the chaplets of trembling pearls, the freshest roses and + mignonettes, in short, a thousand medleys of the prettiest and + gayest colours were assembled, and intersected each other in + all sorts of ways on the perfumed heads and snowy shoulders of + the most charming women for whom the princely salons contend. + The first success of the seance was for Madame George Sand. As + soon as she appeared with her two charming daughters [daughter + and cousin?], she was the observed of all observers. Others + would have been disturbed by all those eyes turned on her like + so many stars; but George Sand contented herself with lowering + her head and smiling... + +This description is so graphic that one seems to see the actual +scene, and imagines one's self one of the audience. It also +points out a very characteristic feature of these concerts-- +namely, the preponderance of the fair sex. As regards Chopin's +playing, the writer remarks that the genre of execution which +aims at the imitation of orchestral effects suits neither +Chopin's organisation nor his ideas:-- + + In listening to all these sounds, all these nuances, which + follow each other, intermingle, separate, and reunite to + arrive at one and the same goal, melody, do you not think you + hear little fairy voices sighing under silver bells, or a rain + of pearls falling on crystal tables? The fingers of the + pianist seem to multiply ad infinitum; it does not appear + possible that only two hands can produce effects of rapidity + so precise and so natural... + +I shall now try to give the reader a clearer idea of what +Chopin's style of playing was like than any and all of the +criticisms and descriptions I have hitherto quoted can have done. +And I do this not only in order to satisfy a natural curiosity, +but also, and more especially, to furnish a guide for the better +understanding and execution of the master's works. Some, seeing +that no music reflects more clearly its author's nature than that +of Chopin, may think that it would be wiser to illustrate the +style of playing by the style of composition, and not the style +of composition by the style of playing. Two reasons determine me +to differ from them. Our musical notation is an inadequate +exponent of the conceptions of the great masters--visible signs +cannot express the subtle shades of the emotional language; and +the capabilities of Chopin the composer and of Chopin the +executant were by no means coextensive--we cannot draw +conclusions as to the character of his playing from the character +of his Polonaises in A major (Op. 40) and in A flat (Op. 53), and +certain movements of the Sonata in B flat minor (Op. 35). The +information contained in the following remarks is derived partly +from printed publications, partly from private letters and +conversations; nothing is admitted which does not proceed from +Chopin's pupils, friends, and such persons as have frequently +heard him. + +What struck everyone who had the good fortune to hear Chopin was +the fact that he was a pianist sui generis. Moscheles calls him +an unicum; Mendelssohn describes him as "radically original" +(Gruneigentumlich); Meyerbeer said of him that he knew no +pianist, no composer for the piano, like him; and thus I could go +on quoting ad infinitum. A writer in the "Gazette musicale" (of +the year 1835, I think), who, although he places at the head of +his article side by side the names of Liszt, Hiller, Chopin, and- +-Bertini, proved himself in the characterisation of these +pianists a man of some insight, remarks of Chopin: "Thought, +style, conception, even the fingering, everything, in fact, +appears individual, but of a communicative, expansive +individuality, an individuality of which superficial +organisations alone fail to recognise the magnetic influence." +Chopin's place among the great pianists of the second quarter of +this century has been felicitously characterised by an anonymous +contemporary: Thalberg, he said, is a king, Liszt a prophet, +Chopin a poet, Herz an advocate, Kalkbrenner a minstrel, Madame +Pleyel a sibyl, and Doehler a pianist. + +But if our investigation is to be profitable, we must proceed +analytically. It will be best to begin with the fundamental +technical qualities. First of all, then, we have to note the +suppleness and equality of Chopin's fingers and the perfect +independence of his hands. "The evenness of his scales and +passages in all kinds of touch," writes Mikuli, "was unsurpassed, +nay, prodigious." Gutmann told me that his master's playing was +particularly smooth, and his fingering calculated to attain this +result. A great lady who was present at Chopin's last concert in +Paris (1848), when he played among other works his Valse in D +flat (Op. 64, No. 1), wished to know "le secret de Chopin pour +que les gammes fussent si COULEES sur le piano." Madame Dubois, +who related this incident to me, added that the expression was +felicitous, for this "limpidite delicate" had never been +equalled. Such indeed were the lightness, delicacy, neatness, +elegance, and gracefulness of Chopin's playing that they won for +him the name of Ariel of the piano. The reader will remember how +much Chopin admired these qualities in other artists, notably in +Mdlle. Sontag and in Kalkbrenner. + +So high a degree and so peculiar a kind of excellence was of +course attainable only under exceptionally favourable conditions, +physical as well as mental. The first and chief condition was a +suitably formed hand. Now, no one can look at Chopin's hand, of +which there exists a cast, without perceiving at once its +capabilities. It was indeed small, but at the same time it was +thin, light, delicately articulated, and, if I may say so, highly +expressive. Chopin's whole body was extraordinarily flexible. +According to Gutmann, he could, like a clown, throw his legs over +his shoulders. After this we may easily imagine how great must +have been the flexibility of his hands, those members of his body +which he had specially trained all his life. Indeed, the +startlingly wide-spread chords, arpeggios, &c., which constantly +occur in his compositions, and which until he introduced them had +been undreamt-of and still are far from being common, seemed to +offer him no difficulty, for he executed them not only without +any visible effort, but even with a pleasing ease and freedom. +Stephen Heller told me that it was a wonderful sight to see one +of those small hands expand and cover a third of the keyboard. It +was like the opening of the mouth of a serpent which is going to +swallow a rabbit whole. In fact, Chopin appeared to be made of +caoutchouc. + +In the criticisms on Chopin's public performances we have met +again and again with the statement that he brought little tone +out of the piano. Now, although it is no doubt true that Chopin +could neither subdue to his sway large audiences nor successfully +battle with a full orchestra, it would be a mistake to infer from +this that he was always a weak and languid player. Stephen +Heller, who declared that Chopin's tone was rich, remembered +hearing him play a duet with Moscheles (the latter's duet, of +which Chopin was so fond), and on this occasion the Polish +pianist, who insisted on playing the bass, drowned the treble of +his partner, a virtuoso well known for his vigour and brilliancy. +Were we, however, to form our judgment on this single item of +evidence, we should again arrive at a wrong conclusion. Where +musical matters--i.e., matters generally estimated according to +individual taste and momentary impressibility alone--are +concerned, there is safety only in the multitude of witnesses. +Let us, therefore, hear first what Chopin's pupils have got to +say on this point, and then go and inquire further. Gutmann said +that Chopin played generally very quietly, and rarely, indeed +hardly ever, fortissimo. The A flat major Polonaise (Op. 53), for +instance, he could not thunder forth in the way we are accustomed +to hear it. As for the famous octave passages which occur in it, +he began them pianissimo and continued thus without much increase +in loudness. And, then, Chopin never thumped. M. Mathias remarks +that his master had extraordinary vigour, but only in flashes. +Mikuli's preface to his edition of the works of Chopin affords +more explicit information. We read there:-- + + The tone which Chopin brought out of the instrument was + always, especially in the cantabiles, immense (riesengross), + only Field could perhaps in this respect be compared to him. A + manly energy gave to appropriate passages overpowering effect-- + energy without roughness (Rohheit); but, on the other hand, + he knew how by delicacy--delicacy without affectation--to + captivate the hearer. + +We may summarise these various depositions by saying with Lenz +that, being deficient in physical strength, Chopin put his all in +the cantabile style, in the connections and combinations, in the +detail. But two things are evident, and they ought to be noted: +(1) The volume of tone, of pure tone, which Chopin was capable of +producing was by no means inconsiderable; (2) he had learnt the +art of economising his means so as to cover his shortcomings. +This last statement is confirmed by some remarks of Moscheles +which have already been quoted--namely, that Chopin's piano was +breathed forth so softly that he required no vigorous forte to +produce the desired contrasts; and that one did not miss the +orchestral effects which the German school demanded from a +pianist, but allowed one's self to be carried away as by a singer +who takes little heed of the accompaniment and follows his own +feelings. + +In listening to accounts of Chopin's style of playing, we must +not leave out of consideration the time to which they refer. What +is true of the Chopin of 1848 is not true of the Chopin of 1831 +nor of 1841. In the last years of his life he became so weak that +sometimes, as Stephen Heller told me, his playing was hardly +audible. He then made use of all sorts of devices to hide the +want of vigour, often modifying the original conception of his +compositions, but always producing beautiful effects. Thus, to +give only one example (for which and much other interesting +information I am indebted to Mr. Charles Halle), Chopin played at +his last concert in Paris (February, 1848) the two forte passages +towards the end of the Barcarole, not as they are printed, but +pianissimo and with all sorts of dynamic finesses. Having +possessed himself of the most recondite mysteries of touch, and +mastered as no other pianist had done the subtlest gradations of +tone, he even then, reduced by disease as he was, did not give +the hearer the impression of weakness. At least this is what Mr. +Otto Goldschmidt relates, who likewise was present at this +concert. There can be no doubt that what Chopin aimed at chiefly, +or rather, let us say, what his physical constitution permitted +him to aim at, was quality not quantity of tone. A writer in the +"Menestrel" (October 21, 1849) remarks that for Chopin, who in +this was unlike all other pianists, the piano had always too much +tone; and that his constant endeavour was to SENTIMENTALISE the +timbre, his greatest care to avoid everything which approached +the fracas pianistique of the time. + +Of course, a true artist's touch has besides its mechanical also +its spiritual aspect. With regard to this it is impossible to +overlook the personal element which pervaded and characterised +Chopin's touch. M. Marmontel does not forget to note it in his +"Pianistes Celebres." He writes:-- + + In the marvellous art of carrying and modulating the tone, in + the expressive, melancholy manner of shading it off, Chopin + was entirely himself. He had quite an individual way of + attacking the keyboard, a supple, mellow touch, sonorous + effects of a vaporous fluidity of which only he knew the + secret. + +In connection with Chopin's production of tone, I must not omit +to mention his felicitous utilisation of the loud and soft +pedals. It was not till the time of Liszt, Thalberg, and Chopin +that the pedals became a power in pianoforte-playing. Hummel did +not understand their importance, and failed to take advantage of +them. The few indications we find in Beethoven's works prove that +this genius began to see some of the as yet latent possibilities. +Of the virtuosi, + +Moscheles was the first who made a more extensive and artistic +use of the pedals, although also he employed them sparingly +compared with his above-named younger contemporaries. Every +pianist of note has, of course, his own style of pedalling. +Unfortunately, there are no particulars forthcoming with regard +to Chopin's peculiar style; and this is the more to be regretted +as the composer was very careless in his notation of the pedals. +Rubinstein declares that most of the pedal marks in Chopin's +compositions are wrongly placed. If nothing more, we know at +least thus much: "No pianist before him [Chopin] has employed the +pedals alternately or simultaneously with so much tact and +ability," and "in making constantly use of the pedal he obtained +des harmonies ravissantes, des bruissements melodiques qui +etonnaient et charmaient." [FOOTNOTE: Marmontel: "Les Pianistes +celebres."] + +The poetical qualities of Chopin's playingare not so easily +defined as the technical ones. Indeed, if they are definable at +all they are so only by one who, like Liszt, is a poet as well as +a great pianist. I shall, therefore, transcribe from his book +some of the most important remarks bearing on this matter. + +After saying that Chopin idealised the fugitive poesy inspired by +fugitive apparitions like "La Fee aux Miettes," "Le Lutin +d'Argail," &c., to such an extent as to render its fibres so thin +and friable that they seemed no longer to belong to our nature, +but to reveal to us the indiscreet confidences of the Undines, +Titanias, Ariels, Queen Mabs, and Oberons, Liszt proceeds thus:-- + + When this kind of inspiration laid hold of Chopin his playing + assumed a distinctive character, whatever the kind of music he + executed might be--dance-music or dreamy music, mazurkas or + nocturnes, preludes or scherzos, waltzes or tarantellas, + studies or ballades. He imprinted on them all one knows not + what nameless colour, what vague appearance, what pulsations + akin to vibration, that had almost no longer anything material + about them, and, like the imponderables, seemed to act on + one's being without passing through the senses. Sometimes one + thought one heard the joyous tripping of some amorously- + teasing Peri; sometimes there were modulations velvety and + iridescent as the robe of a salamander; sometimes one heard + accents of deep despondency, as if souls in torment did not + find the loving prayers necessary for their final deliverance. + At other times there breathed forth from his fingers a despair + so mournful, so inconsolable, that one thought one saw Byron's + Jacopo Foscari come to life again, and contemplated the + extreme dejection of him who, dying of love for his country, + preferred death to exile, being unable to endure the pain of + leaving Venezia la bella! + +It is interesting to compare this description with that of +another poet, a poet who sent forth his poetry daintily dressed +in verse as well as carelessly wrapped in prose. Liszt tells us +that Chopin had in his imagination and talent something "qui, par +la purete de sa diction, par ses accointances avec La Fee aux +Miettes et Le Lutin d'Argail, par ses rencon-tres de Seraphine et +de Diane, murmurant a son oreille leurs plus confidentielles +plaintes, leurs reves les plus innommes," [FOOTNOTE: The +allusions are to stories by Charles Nodier. According to Sainte- +Beuve, "La Fee aux Miettes" was one of those stories in which the +author was influenced by Hoffmann's creations.] reminded him of +Nodier. Now, what thoughts did Chopin's playing call up in Heine? + + Yes, one must admit that Chopin has genius in the full sense + of the word; he is not only a virtuoso, he is also a poet; he + can embody for us the poesy which lives within his soul, he is + a tone-poet, and nothing can be compared to the pleasure which + he gives us when he sits at the piano and improvises. He is + then neither a Pole, nor a Frenchman, nor a German, he reveals + then a higher origin, one perceives then that he comes from + the land of Mozart, Raphael, and Goethe, his true fatherland + is the dream-realm of poesy. When he sits at the piano and + improvises I feel as though a countryman from my beloved + native land were visiting me and telling me the most curious + things which have taken place there during my + absence...Sometimes I should like to interrupt him with + questions: And how is the beautiful little water-nymph who + knows how to fasten her silvery veil so coquettishly round her + green locks? Does the white-bearded sea-god still persecute + her with his foolish, stale love? Are the roses at home still + in their flame-hued pride? Do the trees still sing as + beautifully in the moonlight? + +But to return to Liszt. A little farther on than the passage I +quoted above he says:-- + + In his playing the great artist rendered exquisitely that kind + of agitated trepidation, timid or breathless, which seizes the + heart when one believes one's self in the vicinity of + supernatural beings, in presence of those whom one does not + know either how to divine or to lay hold of, to embrace or to + charm. He always made the melody undulate like a skiff borne + on the bosom of a powerful wave; or he made it move vaguely + like an aerial apparition suddenly sprung up in this tangible + and palpable world. In his writings he at first indicated this + manner which gave so individual an impress to his virtuosity + by the term tempo rubato: stolen, broken time--a measure at + once supple, abrupt, and languid, vacillating like the flame + under the breath which agitates it, like the corn in a field + swayed by the soft pressure of a warm air, like the top of + trees bent hither and thither by a keen breeze. + + But as the term taught nothing to him who knew, said nothing + to him who did not know, understand, and feel, Chopin + afterwards ceased to add this explanation to his music, being + persuaded that if one understood it, it was impossible not to + divine this rule of irregularity. Accordingly, all his + compositions ought to be played with that kind of accented, + rhythmical balancement, that morbidezza, the secret of which + it was difficult to seize if one had not often heard him play. + +Let us try if it is not possible to obtain a clearer notion of +this mysterious tempo rubato. Among instrumentalists the "stolen +time" was brought into vogue especially by Chopin and Liszt. But +it is not an invention of theirs or their time. Quanz, the great +flutist (see Marpurg: "Kritische Beitrage." Vol. I.), said that +he heard it for the first time from the celebrated singer Santa +Stella Lotti, who was engaged in 1717 at the Dresden Opera, and +died in 1759 at Venice. Above all, however, we have to keep in +mind that the tempo rubato is a genus which comprehends numerous +species. In short, the tempo rubato of Chopin is not that of +Liszt, that of Liszt is not that of Henselt, and so on. As for +the general definitions we find in dictionaries, they can afford +us no particular enlightenment. But help comes to us from +elsewhere. Liszt explained Chopin's tempo rubato in a very +poetical and graphic manner to his pupil the Russian pianist +Neilissow:--"Look at these trees!" he said, "the wind plays in +the leaves, stirs up life among them, the tree remains the same, +that is Chopinesque rubato." But how did the composer himself +describe it? From Madame Dubois and other pupils of Chopin we +learn that he was in the habit of saying to them: "Que votre main +gauche soit votre maitre de chapelle et garde toujours la mesure" +(Let your left hand be your conductor and always keep time). +According to Lenz Chopin taught also: "Angenommen, ein Stuck +dauert so und so viel Minuten, wenn das Ganze nur so lange +gedauert hat, im Einzelnen kann's anders sein!" (Suppose a piece +lasts so and so many minutes, if only the whole lasts so long, +the differences in the details do not matter). This is somewhat +ambiguous teaching, and seems to be in contradiction to the +preceding precept. Mikuli, another pupil of Chopin's, explains +his master's tempo rubato thus:--"While the singing hand, either +irresolutely lingering or as in passionate speech eagerly +anticipating with a certain impatient vehemence, freed the truth +of the musical expression from all rhythmical fetters, the other, +the accompanying hand, continued to play strictly in time." We +get a very lucid description of Chopin's tempo rubato from the +critic of the Athenaeum who after hearing the pianist-composer at +a London matinee in 1848 wrote:--"He makes free use of tempo +rubato; leaning about within his bars more than any player we +recollect, but still subject to a presiding measure such as +presently habituates the ear to the liberties taken." Often, no +doubt, people mistook for tempo rubato what in reality was a +suppression or displacement of accent, to which kind of playing +the term is indeed sometimes applied. The reader will remember +the following passage from a criticism in the "Wiener +Theaterzeitung" of 1829:--"There are defects noticeable in the +young man's [Chopin's] playing, among which is perhaps especially +to be mentioned the non-observance of the indication by accent of +the commencement of musical phrases." Mr. Halle related to me an +interesting dispute bearing on this matter. The German pianist +told Chopin one day that he played in his mazurkas often 4/4 +instead of 3/4 time. Chopin would not admit it at first, but when +Mr. Halle proved his case by counting to Chopin's playing, the +latter admitted the correctness of the observation, and laughing +said that this was national. Lenz reports a similar dispute +between Chopin and Meyerbeer. In short, we may sum up in +Moscheles' words, Chopin's playing did not degenerate into +Tactlosigkeit [lit., timelessness], but it was of the most +charming originality. Along with the above testimony we have, +however, to take note of what Berlioz said on the subject: +"Chopin supportait mal le frein de la mesure; il a pousse +beaucoup trap loin, selon moi, l'independance rhythmique." +Berlioz even went so far as to say that "Chopin could not play +strictly in time [ne pouvait pas jouer regulierement]." + +Indeed, so strange was Chopin's style that when Mr. Charles Halle +first heard him play his compositions he could not imagine how +what he heard was represented by musical signs. But strange as +Chopin's style of playing was he thinks that its peculiarities +are generally exaggerated. The Parisians said of Rubinstein's +playing of compositions of Chopin: "Ce n'est pas ca!" Mr. Halle +himself thinks that Rubinstein's rendering of Chopin is clever, +but not Chopinesque. Nor do Von Bulow's readings come near the +original. As for Chopin's pupils, they are even less successful +than others in imitating their master's style. The opinion of one +who is so distinguished a pianist and at the same time was so +well acquainted with Chopin as Mr. Halle is worth having. Hearing +Chopin often play his compositions he got so familiar with that +master's music and felt so much in sympathy with it that the +composer liked to have it played by him, and told him that when +he was in the adjoining room he could imagine he was playing +himself. + +But it is time that we got off the shoals on which we have been +lying so long. Well, Lenz shall set us afloat:-- + + In the undulation of the motion, in that suspension and unrest + [Hangen und Bangen], in the rubato as he understood it, Chopin + was captivating, every note was the outcome of the best taste + in the best sense of the word. If he introduced an + embellishment, which happened only rarely, it was always a + kind of miracle of good taste. Chopin was by his whole nature + unfitted to render Beethoven or Weber, who paint on a large + scale and with a big brush. Chopin was an artist in crayons + [Pastellmaler], but an INCOMPARABLE one! By the side of Liszt + he might pass with honour for that master's well-matched wife + [ebenburtige Frau, i.e., wife of equal rank]. Beethoven's B + flat major Sonata, Op. 106, and Chopin exclude each other. + +One day Chopin took Lenz with him to the Baronne Krudner and her +friend the Countess Scheremetjew to whom he had promised to play +the variations of Beethoven's Sonata in A flat major (Op. 26). +And how did he play them? + + Beautifully [says Lenz], but not so beautifully as his own + things, not enthrallingly [packend], not en relief, not as a + romance increasing in interest from variation to variation. He + whispered it mezza voce, but it was incomparable in the + cantilena, infinitely perfect in the phrasing of the + structure, ideally beautiful, but FEMININE! Beethoven is a man + and never ceases to be one! + + Chopin played on a Pleyel, he made it a point never to give + lessons on another instrument; they were obliged to get a + Pleyel. All were charmed, I also was charmed, but only with + the tone of Chopin, with his touch, with his sweetness and + grace, with the purity of his style. + +Chopin's purity of style, self-command, and aristocratic reserve +have to be quite especially noted by us who are accustomed to +hear the master's compositions played wildly, deliriously, +ostentatiously. J. B. Cramer's remarks on Chopin are significant. +The master of a bygone age said of the master of the then +flourishing generation:-- + + I do not understand him, but he plays beautifully and + correctly, oh! very correctly, he does not give way to his + passion like other young men, but I do not understand him. + +What one reads and hears of Chopin's playing agrees with the +account of his pupil Mikuli, who remarks that, with all the +warmth which Chopin possessed in so high a degree, his rendering +was nevertheless temperate [massvoll], chaste, nay, aristocratic, +and sometimes even severely reserved. When, on returning home +from the above-mentioned visit to the Russian ladies, Lenz +expressed his sincere opinion of Chopin's playing of Beethoven's +variations, the master replied testily: "I indicate (j'indique); +the hearer must complete (parachever) the picture." And when +afterwards, while Chopin was changing his clothes in an adjoining +room, Lenz committed the impertinence of playing Beethoven's +theme as he understood it, the master came in in his shirt- +sleeves, sat down beside him, and at the end of the theme laid +his hand on Lenz's shoulder and said: "I shall tell Liszt of it; +this has never happened to me before; but it is beautiful--well, +BUT MUST ONE THEN ALWAYS SPEAK SO PASSIONATELY (si +declamatoirement)?" The italics in the text, not those in +parentheses, are mine. I marked some of Chopin's words thus that +they might get the attention they deserve. "Tell me with whom you +associate, and I will tell you who you are." Parodying this +aphorism one might say, not without a good deal of truth: Tell me +what piano you use, and I will tell you what sort of a pianist +you are. Liszt gives us all the desirable information as to +Chopin's predilection in this respect. But Lenz too has, as we +have seen, touched on this point. Liszt writes:-- + + While Chopin was strong and healthy, as during the first years + of his residence in Paris, he used to play on an Erard piano; + but after his friend Camille Pleyel had made him a present of + one of his splendid instruments, remarkable for their metallic + ring and very light touch, he would play on no other maker's. + + If he was engaged for a soiree at the house of one of his + Polish or French friends, he would often send his own + instrument, if there did not happen to be a Pleyel in the + house. + + Chopin was very partial to [affectionnait] Pleyel's pianos, + particularly on account of their silvery and somewhat veiled + sonority, and of the easy touch which permitted him to draw + from them sounds which one might have believed to belong to + those harmonicas of which romantic Germany has kept the + monopoly, and which her ancient masters constructed so + ingeniously, marrying crystal to water. + +Chopin himself said:-- + + When I am indisposed, I play on one of Erard's pianos and + there I easily find a ready-made tone. But when I feel in the + right mood and strong enough to find my own tone for myself, I + must have one of Pleyel's pianos. + +From the fact that Chopin played during his visit to Great +Britain in 1848 at public concerts as well as at private parties +on instruments of Broadwood's, we may conclude that he also +appreciated the pianos of this firm. In a letter dated London, +48, Dover Street, May 6, 1848, he writes to Gutmann: "Erard a ete +charmant, il m'a fait poser un piano. J'ai un de Broadwood et un +de Pleyel, ce qui fait 3, et je ne trouve pas encore le temps +pour les jouer." And in a letter dated Edinburgh, August 6, and +Calder House, August 11, he writes to Franchomme: "I have a +Broadwood piano in my room, and the Pleyel of Miss Stirling in +the salon." + +Here, I think, will be the fittest place to record what I have +learnt regarding Chopin's musical taste and opinions on music and +musicians, and what will perhaps illustrate better than any other +part of this book the character of the man and artist. His +opinions of composers and musical works show that he had in a +high degree les vices de ses qualites. The delicacy of his +constitution and the super-refinement of his breeding, which put +within his reach the inimitable beauties of subtlest tenderness +and grace that distinguish his compositions and distinguished his +playing, were disqualifications as well as qualifications. "Every +kind of uncouth roughness [toutes les rudesses sauvages] inspired +him with aversion," says Liszt. "In music as in literature and in +every-day life everything which bordered on melodrama was torture +to him." In short, Chopin was an aristocrat with all the +exclusiveness of an aristocrat. + +The inability of men of genius to appreciate the merit of one or +the other of their great predecessors and more especially of +their contemporaries has often been commented on and wondered at, +but I doubt very much whether a musician could be instanced whose +sympathies were narrower than those of Chopin. Besides being +biographically important, the record of the master's likings and +dislikings will teach a useful lesson to the critic and furnish +some curious material for the psychological student. + +Highest among all the composers, living and dead, Chopin esteemed +Mozart. Him he regarded as "the ideal type, the poet par +excellence." It is related of Chopin--with what truth I do not +know--that he never travelled without having either the score of +"Don Giovanni" or that of the "Requiem" in his portmanteau. +Significant, although not founded on fact, is the story according +to which he expressed the wish that the "Requiem" should be +performed at his funeral service. Nothing, however, shows his +love for the great German master more unmistakably and more +touchingly than the words which on his death-bed he addressed to +his dear friends the Princess Czartoryska and M. Franchomme: "You +will play Mozart together, and I shall hear you." And why did +Chopin regard Mozart as the ideal type, the poet par excellence? +Liszt answers: "Because Mozart condescended more rarely than any +other composer to cross the steps which separate refinement from +vulgarity." But what no doubt more especially stirred +sympathetic chords in the heart of Chopin, and inspired him with +that loving admiration for the earlier master, was the sweetness, +the grace, and the harmoniousness which in Mozart's works reign +supreme and undisturbed--the unsurpassed and unsurpassable +perfect loveliness and lovely perfection which result from a +complete absence of everything that is harsh, hard, awkward, +unhealthy, and eccentric. And yet, says Liszt of Chopin:-- + + His sybaritism of purity, his apprehension of what was + commonplace, were such that even in "Don Giovanni," even in + this immortal chef-d'oeuvre, he discovered passages the + presence of which we have heard him regret. His worship of + Mozart was not thereby diminished, but as it were saddened. + +The composer who next to Mozart stood highest in Chopin's esteem +was Bach. "It was difficult to say," remarks Mikuli, "which of +the two he loved most." Chopin not only, as has already been +mentioned, had works of Bach on his writing-table at Valdemosa, +corrected the Parisian edition for his own use, and prepared +himself for his concerts by playing Bach, but also set his pupils +to study the immortal cantor's suites, partitas, and preludes and +fugues. Madame Dubois told me that at her last meeting with him +(in 1848) he recommended her "de toujours travailler Bach," +adding that that was the best means of making progress. + +Hummel, Field, and Moscheles were the pianoforte composers who +seem to have given Chopin most satisfaction. Mozart and Bach were +his gods, but these were his friends. Gutmann informed me that +Chopin was particularly fond of Hummel; Liszt writes that Hummel +was one of the composers Chopin played again and again with the +greatest pleasure; and from Mikuli we learn that of Hummel's +compositions his master liked best the Fantasia, the Septet, and +the Concertos. Liszt's statement that the Nocturnes of Field were +regarded by Chopin as "insuffisants" seems to me disproved by +unexceptionable evidence. Chopin schooled his pupils most +assiduously and carefully in the Nocturnes as well as in the +Concertos of Field, who was, to use Madame Dubois's words, "an +author very sympathetic to him." Mikuli relates that Chopin had a +predilection for Field's A flat Concerto and the Nocturnes, and +that, when playing the latter, he used to improvise the most +charming embellishments. To take liberties with another artist's +works and complain when another artist takes liberties with your +own works is very inconsistent, is it not? But it is also +thoroughly human, and Chopin was not exempt from the common +failing. One day when Liszt did with some composition of Chopin's +what the latter was in the habit of doing with Field's Nocturnes, +the enraged composer is said to have told his friend to play his +compositions as they were written or to let them alone. M. +Marmontel writes:-- + + Either from a profound love of the art or from an excess of + conscience personelle, Chopin could not bear any one to touch + the text of his works. The slightest modification seemed to + him a grave fault which he did not even forgive his intimate + friends, his fervent admirers, Liszt not excepted. I have many + a time, as well as my master, Zimmermann, caused Chopin's + sonatas, concertos, ballades, and allegros to be played as + examination pieces; but restricted as I was to a fragment of + the work, I was pained by the thought of hurting the composer, + who considered these alterations a veritable sacrilege. + +This, however, is a digression. Little need be added to what has +already been said in another chapter of the third composer of the +group we were speaking of. Chopin, the reader will remember, told +Moscheles that he loved his music, and Moscheles admitted that he +who thus complimented him was intimately acquainted with it. From +Mikuli we learn that Moscheles' studies were very sympathetic to +his master. As to Moscheles' duets, they were played by Chopin +probably more frequently than the works of any other composer, +excepting of course his own works. We hear of his playing them +not only with his pupils, but with Osborne, with Moscheles +himself, and with Liszt, who told me that Chopin was fond of +playing with him the duets of Moscheles and Hummel. + +Speaking of playing duets reminds me of Schubert, who, Gutmann +informed me, was a favourite of Chopin's. The Viennese master's +"Divertissement hongrois" he admired without reserve. Also the +marches and polonaises a quatre mains he played with his pupils. +But his teaching repertoire seems to have contained, with the +exception of the waltzes, none of the works a deux mains, neither +the sonatas, nor the impromptus, nor the "Moments musicals." This +shows that if Schubert was a favourite of Chopin's, he was so +only to a certain extent. Indeed, Chopin even found fault with +the master where he is universally regarded as facile princeps. +Liszt remarks:-- + + In spite of the charm which he recognised in some of + Schubert's melodies, he did not care to hear those whose + contours were too sharp for his ear, where feeling is as it + were denuded, where one feels, so to speak, the flesh + palpitate and the bones crack under the grasp of anguish. A + propos of Schubert, Chopin is reported to have said: "The + sublime is dimmed when it is followed by the common or the + trivial." + +I shall now mention some of those composers with whom Chopin was +less in sympathy. In the case of Weber his approval, however, +seems to have outweighed his censure. At least Mikuli relates +that the E minor and A flat major Sonatas and the "Concertstuck" +were among those works for which his master had a predilection, +and Madame Dubois says that he made his pupils play the Sonatas +in C and in A flat major with extreme care. Now let us hear Lenz:- +- + + He could not appreciate Weber; he spoke of "opera," + "unsuitable for the piano" [unklaviermassig]! On the whole, + Chopin was little in sympathy with the GERMAN spirit in music, + although I heard him say: "There is only ONE SCHOOL, the + German!" + +Gutmann informed me that he brought the A flat major Sonata with +him from Germany in 1836 or 1837, and that Chopin did not know it +then. It is hard enough to believe that Liszt asked Lenz in 1828 +if the composer of the "Freischutz" had also written for the +piano, but Chopin's ignorance in 1836 is much more startling. Did +fame and publications travel so slowly in the earlier part of the +century? Had genius to wait so long for recognition? If the +statement, for the correctness of which Gutmann alone is +responsible, rests on fact and not on some delusion of memory, +this most characteristic work of Weber and one of the most +important items of the pianoforte literature did not reach +Chopin, one of the foremost European pianists, till twenty years +after its publication, which took place in December, 1816. + +That Chopin had a high opinion of Beethoven may be gathered from +a story which Lenz relates in an article written for the +"Berliner Musikzeitung" (Vol. XXVI). Little Filtsch--the talented +young Hungarian who made Liszt say: "I shall shut my shop when he +begins to travel"--having played to a select company invited by +his master the latter's Concerto in E minor, Chopin was so +pleased with his pupil's performance that he went with him to +Schlesinger's music-shop, asked for the score of "Fidelio," and +presented it to him with the words:--"I am in your debt, you have +given me great pleasure to-day, I wrote the concerto in a happy +time, accept, my dear young friend, the great master work! read +in it as long as you live and remember me also sometimes." But +Chopin's high opinion of Beethoven was neither unlimited nor +unqualified. His attitude as regards this master, which +Franchomme briefly indicated by saying that his friend loved +Beethoven, but had his dislikes in connection with him, is more +fully explained by Liszt. + + However great his admiration for the works of Beethoven might + be, certain parts of them seemed to him too rudely fashioned. + Their structure was too athletic to please him; their wraths + seemed to him too violent [leurs courroux lui semblaient trop + rugissants]. He held that in them passion too closely + approaches cataclysm; the lion's marrow which is found in + every member of his phrases was in his opinion a too + substantial matter, and the seraphic accents, the Raphaelesque + profiles, which appear in the midst of the powerful creations + of this genius, became at times almost painful to him in so + violent a contrast. + +I am able to illustrate this most excellent general description +by some examples. Chopin said that Beethoven raised him one +moment up to the heavens and the next moment precipitated him to +the earth, nay, into the very mire. Such a fall Chopin +experienced always at the commencement of the last movement of +the C minor Symphony. Gutmann, who informed me of this, added +that pieces such as the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata (C +sharp minor) were most highly appreciated by his master. One day +when Mr. Halle played to Chopin one of the three Sonatas, Op. 31 +(I am not sure which it was), the latter remarked that he had +formerly thought the last movement VULGAR. From this Mr. Halle +naturally concluded that Chopin could not have studied the works +of Beethoven thoroughly. This conjecture is confirmed by what we +learn from Lenz, who in 1842 saw a good deal of Chopin, and +thanks to his Boswellian inquisitiveness, persistence, and +forwardness, made himself acquainted with a number of interesting +facts. Lenz and Chopin spoke a great deal about Beethoven after +that visit to the Russian ladies mentioned in a foregoing part of +this chapter. They had never spoken of the great master before. +Lenz says of Chopin:-- + + He did not take a very serious interest in Beethoven; he knew + only his principal compositions, the last works not at all. + This was in the Paris air! People knew the symphonies, the + quartets of the middle period but little, the last ones not at + all. + +Chopin, on being told by Lenz that Beethoven had in the F minor +Quartet anticipated Mendelssohn, Schumann, and him; and that the +scherzo prepared the way for his mazurka-fantasias, said: "Bring +me this quartet, I do not know it." According to Mikuli Chopin +was a regular frequenter of the concerts of the Societe des +Concerts du Conservatoire and of the Alard, Franchomme, &c., +quartet party. But one of the most distinguished musicians living +in Paris, who knew Chopin's opinion of Beethoven, suspects that +the music was for him not the greatest attraction of the +Conservatoire concerts, that in fact, like most of those who went +there, he considered them a fashionable resort. True or not, the +suspicion is undeniably significant. "But Mendelssohn," the +reader will say, "surely Chopin must have admired and felt in +sympathy with this sweet-voiced, well-mannered musician?" +Nothing, however, could be farther from the truth. Chopin hated +Mendelssohn's D minor Trio, and told Halle that that composer had +never written anything better than the first Song without Words. +Franchomme, stating the case mildly, says that Chopin did not +care much for Mendelssohn's music; Gutmann, however, declared +stoutly that his master positively disliked it and thought it +COMMON. This word and the mention of the Trio remind me of a +passage in Hiller's "Mendelssohn: Letters and Recollections," in +which the author relates how, when his friend played to him the D +minor Trio after its completion, he was favourably impressed by +the fire, spirit, and flow, in one word, the masterly character +of the work, but had some misgivings about certain pianoforte +passages, especially those based on broken chords, which, +accustomed as he was by his constant intercourse with Liszt and +Chopin during his stay of several years in Paris to the rich +passage work of the new school, appeared to him old-fashioned. +Mendelssohn, who in his letters repeatedly alludes to his +sterility in the matter of new pianoforte passages, allowed +himself to be persuaded by Hiller to rewrite the pianoforte part, +and was pleased with the result. It is clear from the above that +if Mendelssohn failed to give Chopin his due, Chopin did more +than apply the jus talionis. + +Schumann, however, found still less favour in the eyes of Chopin +than Mendelssohn; for whilst among the works which, for instance, +Madame Dubois, who was Chopin's pupil for five years, studied +under her master, Mendelssohn was represented at least by the +Songs without Words and the G minor Concerto, Schumann was +conspicuous by his total absence. And let it be remarked that +this was in the last years of Chopin's life, when Schumann had +composed and published almost all his important works for +pianoforte alone and many of his finest works for pianoforte with +other instruments. M. Mathias, Chopin's pupil during the years +1839-1844, wrote to me: "I think I recollect that he had no great +opinion of Schumann. I remember seeing the "Carnaval," Op. 9, on +his table; he did not speak very highly of it." In 1838, when +Stephen Heller was about to leave Augsburg for Paris, Schumann +sent him a copy of his "Carnaval" (published in September, 1837), +to be presented to Chopin. This copy had a title-page printed in +various colours and was most tastefully bound; for Schumann knew +Chopin's love of elegance, and wished to please him. Soon after +his arrival in Paris, Heller called on the Polish musician and +found him sitting for his portrait. On receiving the copy of the +"Carnaval" Chopin said: "How beautifully they get up these things +in Germany!" but uttered not a word about the music. However, we +shall see presently what his opinion of it was. Some time, +perhaps some years, after this first meeting with Chopin, Heller +was asked by Schlesinger whether he would advise him to publish +Schumann's "Carnaval." Heller answered that it would be a good +speculation, for although the work would probably not sell well +at first, it was sure to pay in the long run. Thereupon +Schlesinger confided to Heller what Chopin had told him--namely, +that the "Carnaval" was not music at all. The contemplation of +this indifference and more than indifference of a great artist to +the creations of one of his most distinguished contemporaries is +saddening, especially if we remember how devoted Schumann was to +Chopin, how he admired him, loved him, upheld him, and idolised +him. Had it not been for Schumann's enthusiastic praise and +valiant defence Chopin's fame would have risen and spread, more +slowly in Germany. + +"Of virtuoso music of any kind I never saw anything on his desk, +nor do I think anybody else ever did," says Mikuli.. This, +although true in the main, is somewhat too strongly stated. +Kalkbrenner, whose "noisy virtuosities [virtuosites tapageuses] +and decorative expressivities [expressivites decoratives]" Chopin +regarded with antipathy, and Thalberg, whose shallow elegancies +and brilliancies he despised, were no doubt altogether banished +from his desk; this, however, seems not to have been the case +with Liszt, who occasionally made his appearance there. Thus +Madame Dubois studied under Chopin Liszt's transcription of +Rossini's "Tarantella" and of the Septet from Donizetti's "Lucia +di Lammermoor." But the compositions of Liszt that had Chopin's +approval were very limited in number. Chopin, who viewed making +concessions to bad taste at the cost of true art and for the sake +of success with the greatest indignation, found his former friend +often guilty of this sin. In 1840 Liszt's transcription of +Beethoven's "Adelaide" was published in a supplement to the +Gazette musicale. M. Mathias happened to come to Chopin on the +day when the latter had received the number of the journal which +contained the piece in question, and found his master furious, +outre, on account of certain cadenzas which he considered out of +place and out of keeping. + +We have seen in one of the earlier chapters how little Chopin +approved of Berlioz's matter and manner; some of the ultra- +romanticist's antipodes did not fare much better. As for Halevy, +Chopin had no great opinion of him; Meyerbeer's music he heartily +disliked; and, although not insensible to Auber's French esprit +and liveliness, he did not prize this master's works very highly. +Indeed, at the Italian opera-house he found more that was to his +taste than at the French opera-houses. Bellini's music had a +particular charm for Chopin, and he was also an admirer of +Rossini. + +The above notes exemplify and show the truth of Liszt's remark:-- + + In the great models and the master-works of art Chopin sought + only what corresponded with his nature. What resembled it + pleased him; what differed from it hardly received justice + from him. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + + +1843-1847. + + + +CHOPIN'S PECUNIARY CIRCUMSTANCES, AND BUSINESS EXPERIENCES WITH +PUBLISHERS.--LETTERS TO FRANCHOMME.--PUBLICATIONS FROM 1842-7.-- +SOJOURNS AT NOHANT.--LISZT, MATTHEW ARNOLD, GEORGE SAND, CHARLES +ROLLINAT, AND EUGENE DELACROIX ON NOHANT AND LIFE AT NOHANT.-- +CHOPIN'S MODE OF COMPOSITION.--CHOPIN AND GEORGE SAND TAKE UP +THEIR PARIS QUARTERS IN THE CITE D'ORLEANS.--THEIR WAY OF LIFE +THERE, PARTICULARLY CHOPIN'S, AS DESCRIBED BY HIS PUPILS LINDSAY +SLOPER, MATHIAS, AND MADAME DUBOIS, AND MORE ESPECIALLY BY LENZ, +MADAME SAND HERSELF, AND PROFESSOR ALEXANDER CHODZKO (DOMESTIC +RELATIONS, APARTMENTS, MANNERS, SYMPATHIES, HIS TALENT FOR +MIMICRY, GEORGE SAND'S FRIENDS, AND HER ESTIMATE OF CHOPIN'S +CHARACTER). + + + +Chopin's life from 1843 to 1847 was too little eventful to lend +itself to a chronologically progressive narrative. I shall, +therefore, begin this chapter with a number of letters written by +the composer during this period to his friend Franchomme, and +then endeavour to describe Chopin's mode of life, friends, +character, &c. + +The following fascicle of letters, although containing less about +the writer's thoughts, feelings, and doings than we could wish, +affords nevertheless matter of interest. At any rate, much +additional light is thrown on Chopin's pecuniary circumstances +and his dealings with his publishers. + +Impecuniosity seems to have been a chronic state with the artist +and sometimes to have pressed hard upon him. On one occasion it +even made him write to the father of one of his pupils, and ask +for the payment of the fees for five lessons (100 francs). M. +Mathias tells me that the letter is still in his possession. One +would hardly have expected such a proceeding from a grand +seigneur like Chopin, and many will, no doubt, ask, how it was +that a teacher so much sought after, who got 20 francs a lesson, +and besides had an income from his compositions, was reduced to +such straits. The riddle is easily solved. Chopin was open-handed +and not much of an economist: he spent a good deal on pretty +trifles, assisted liberally his needy countrymen, made handsome +presents to his friends, and is said to have had occasionally to +pay bills of his likewise often impecunious lady-love. Moreover, +his total income was not so large as may be supposed, for +although he could have as many pupils as he wished, he never +taught more than five hours a day, and lived every year for +several months in the country. And then there is one other point +to be taken into consideration: he often gave his lessons gratis. +From Madame Rubio I learned that on one occasion when she had +placed the money for a series of lessons on the mantel-piece, the +master declined to take any of it, with the exception of a 20- +franc piece, for which sum he put her name down on a subscription +list for poor Poles. Lindsay Sloper, too, told me that Chopin +declined payment for the lessons he gave him. + +Chopin's business experiences were not, for the most part, of a +pleasant nature; this is shown as much by the facts he mentions +in his letters as by the distrust with which he speaks of the +publishers. Here are some more particulars on the same subject. +Gutmann says that Chopin on his return from Majorca asked +Schlesinger for better terms. But the publisher, whilst +professing the highest opinion of the composer's merit, regretted +that the sale of the compositions was not such as to allow him to +pay more than he had hitherto done. [FOOTNOTE: Chopin's letters +show that Gutmann's statement is correct. Troupenas was Chopin's +publisher for some time after his return from Majorca.] Stephen +Heller remembered hearing that Breitkopf and Hartel, of Leipzig, +wrote to their Paris agent informing him that they would go on +publishing Chopin's compositions, although, considering their by +no means large sale, the terms at which they got them were too +high. Ed. Wolff related to me that one day he drove with his +countryman to the publisher Troupenas, to whom Chopin wished to +sell his Sonata (probably the one in B flat minor). When after +his negotiations with the publisher Chopin was seated again in +the carriage, he said in Polish: "The pig, he offered me 200 +francs for my Sonata!" Chopin's relations with England were even +less satisfactory. At a concert at which Filtsch played, Chopin +introduced Stephen Heller to Wessel or to a representative ofthat +firm, but afterwards remarked: "You won't find them pleasant to +deal with." Chopin at any rate did not find them pleasant to deal +with. Hearing that Gutmann was going to London he asked his pupil +to call at Wessel's and try to renew the contract which had +expired. The publisher on being applied to answered that not only +would he not renew the contract, but that he would not even print +Chopin's compositions if he got them for nothing. Among the +pieces offered was the Berceuse. With regard to this story of +Gutmann's it has, however, to be stated that, though it may have +some foundation of fact, it is not true as he told it; for Wessel +certainly had published the Berceuse by June 26, 1845, and also +published in the course of time the five following works. Then, +however, the connection was broken off by Wessel. Chopin's +grumblings at his English publisher brings before us only one +side of the question. The other side comes in view in the +following piece of information with which Wessel's successor, Mr. +Edwin Ashdown, favoured me:--"In 1847 Mr. Wessel got tired of +buying Chopin's works, which at that time had scarcely any sale, +and discontinued the agreement, his last assignment from Chopin +(of Op. 60, 61, and 62) being dated July 17, 1847." Wessel +advertised these works on September 26, 1846. + +Although in the first of the following letters the day, month, +and year when it was written are not mentioned, and the second +and third inform us only of the day and month, but not of the +year, internal evidence shows that the first four letters form +one group and belong to the year 1844. Chopin places the date +sometimes at the head, sometimes at the foot, and sometimes in +the middle of his letters; to give it prominence I shall place it +always at the head, but indicate where he places it in the +middle. + +Chateau de Nohant, near La Chatre, Indre [August 1, 1844]. + + Dearest [Cherissime],--I send you [FOOTNOTE: In addressing + Franchomme Chopin makes use of the pronoun of the second + person singular.] the letter from Schlesinger and another for + him. Read them. He wishes to delay the publication, and I + cannot do so. If he says NO, give my manuscripts to Maho + [FOOTNOTE: See next letter.] so that he may get M. Meissonnier + [FOOTNOTE: A Paris music-publisher. He brought out in the + following year (1845) Chopin's Op. 57, Berceuse, and Op. 58, + Sonate (B minor). The compositions spoken of in this and the + next two letters are Op. 55, Deux Nocturnes, and Op. 56, Trois + Mazurkas.] to take them for the same price, 600 francs, I + believe that he (Schlesinger) will engrave them. They must be + published on the 20th. But you know it is only necessary to + register the title on that day. I ask your pardon for + troubling you with all these things. I love you, and apply to + you as I would to my brother. Embrace your children. My + regards to Madame Franchomme.--Your devoted friend, + + F. Chopin. + + A thousand compliments from Madame Sand. + + + Chateau de Nohant, Indre, August 2 [1844]. + + Dearest,--I was in great haste yesterday when I wrote to you + to apply at Meissonnier's through Maho IF SCHLESINGER REFUSES + my compositions. I forgot that Henri Lemoine [FOOTNOTE: A + Paris music-publisher.] paid Schlesinger a very high price for + my studies, and that I had rather have Lemoine engrave my + manuscripts than Meissonnier. I give you much trouble, dear + friend, but here is a letter for H. Lemoine, which I send to + you. Read it, and arrange with him. He must either publish the + compositions or register the titles on the 20th of this month + (August); ask from him only 300 francs for each, which makes + 600 francs for the two. Tell him he need not pay me till my + return to Paris if he likes. Give him even the two for 500 + francs if you think it necessary. I had rather do that than + give them to Meissonnier for 600 francs, as I wrote to you + yesterday without reflecting. If you have in the meantime + already arranged something with M., it is a different matter. + If not, do not let them go for less than 1,000 francs. For + Maho, who is the correspondent of Haertel (who pays me well) + might, knowing that I sell my compositions for so little in + Paris, make me lower my price in Germany. I torment you much + with my affairs. It is only in case Schlesinger persists in + his intention not to publish this month. If you think Lemoine + would give 800 francs for the two works, ask them. I do not + mention THE PRICE to him so as to leave you complete freedom. + I have no time to lose before the departure of the mail. I + embrace you, dear brother--write me a line.--Yours devotedly, + + Chopin. + + My regards to Madame. A thousand kisses to your children. + + + + Nohant, Monday, August 4 [1844]. + + Dearest,--I relied indeed on your friendship--therefore the + celerity with which you have arranged the Schlesinger affair + for me does not surprise me at all. I thank you from the + bottom of my heart, and await the moment when I shall be able + to do as much for you. I imagine all is well in your home-- + that Madame Franchomme and your dear children are well--and + that you love me as I love you.--Yours devotedly, + + F. CH. + + Madame Sand embraces your dear big darling [fanfan], and sends + you a hearty grasp of the hand. + + + Chateau de Nohant, September 20, 1844. + + Dearest,--If I did not write you before, it was because I + thought I should see you again this week in Paris. My + departure being postponed, I send you a line for Schlesinger + so that he may remit to you the price of my last manuscripts, + that is to say, 600 francs (100 of which you will keep for + me). I hope he will do it without making any difficulty about + it--if not, ask him at once for a line in reply (without + getting angry), send it to me, and I shall write immediately + to M. Leo to have the 500 francs you had the kindness to lend + me remitted to you before the end of the month. + + What shall I say? I often think of our last evening spent with + my dear sister. [FOOTNOTE: His sister Louise, who had been on + a visit to him.] How glad she was to hear you! She wrote to me + about it since from Strasburg, and asked me to remember her to + you and Madame Franchomme. I hope you are all well, and that I + shall find you so. Write to me, and love me as I love you. + Your old + + [A scrawl.] + + A thousand compliments to Madame. I embrace your dear + children. A thousand compliments from Madame Sand. + + + [Date.] + + I send you also a receipt for Schlesinger which you will give + up to him for the money only. Once more, do not be vexed if he + makes any difficulties. I embrace you. + + C. + + + August 30, 1845. + + Very dear friend,--Here are three manuscripts for Brandus, + [FOOTNOTE: Brandus, whose name here appears for the first time + in Chopin's letters, was the successor of Schlesinger.] and + three for Maho, who will remit to you Haertel's price for them + (1,500 francs). Give the manuscripts only at the moment of + payment. Send a note for 500 francs in your next letter, and + keep the rest for me. I give you much trouble, I should like + to spare you it--but--but----. + + Ask Maho not to change the manuscripts destined for Haertel, + because, as I shall not correct the Leipzig proofs, it is + important that my copy should be clear. Also ask Brandus to + send me two proofs, one of which I may keep. + + Now, how are you? and Madame Franchomme and her dear children? + I know you are in the country--(if St. Germain may be called + country)--that ought to do you all infinite good in the fine + weather which we continue to have. Look at my erasures! I + should not end if I were to launch out into a chat with you, + and I have not time to resume my letter, for Eug. Delacroix, + who wishes much to take charge of my message for you, leaves + immediately. He is the most admirable artist possible--I have + spent delightful times with him. He adores Mozart--knows all + his operas by heart. + + Decidedly I am only making blots to-day--pardon me for them. + Au revoir, dear friend, I love you always, and I think of you + every day. + + Give my kind regards to Madame Franchomme, and embrace the + dear children. + + + September 22, 1845. + + Very dear friend,--I thank you with all my heart for all your + journeys after Maho, and your letter which I have just + received with the money. The day of the publication seems to + me good, and I have only to ask you again not to let Brandus + fall asleep on my account or over my accounts. + + + Nohant, July 8, 1846. + + Very dear friend,--It was not because I did not think of it + that I have not written to you sooner, but because I wished to + send you at the same time my poor manuscripts, which are not + yet finished. In the meantime here is a letter for M. Brandus. + When you deliver it to him, be so kind as to ask him for a + line in reply, which you will have the goodness to send to me; + because if any unforeseen event occurs, I shall have to apply + to Meissonnier, their offers being equal. + + My good friend,--I am doing my utmost to work, but I do not + get on; and if this state of things continues, my new + productions will no longer remind people either of the + WARBLING OF LINNETS [gazouillement des fauvettes] [FOOTNOTE: + This is an allusion to a remark which somebody made on his + compositions.] or even of BROKEN CHINA [porcelaine cassee]. I + must resign myself. + + Write to me. I love you as much as ever. + + A thousand kind regards to Madame Franchomme, and many + compliments from my sister Louise. I embrace your dear + children. + + + [Date.] + + Madame Sand begs to be remembered to you and Madame + Franchomme. + + Chateau de Nohant, near La Chatre, September 17, 1846. + + Very dear friend,--I am very sorry that Brandus is away, and + that Maho is not yet in a position to receive the manuscripts + that he has so often asked me for this winter. One must + therefore wait; meanwhile I beg you will be so kind as to go + back AS SOON as you judge it possible, for I should not now + like this to be a long business, having sent my copy to London + at the same time as to you. Do not tell them this--if they are + CLEVER tradesmen [marchands habiles] they may cheat me like + honest people [en honnetes gens]. As this is all my present + fortune I should prefer the affair to turn out differently. + Also have the kindness not to consign my manuscripts to them + without receiving the money agreed upon, and send me + immediately a note for 500 francs in your letter. You will + keep the rest for me till my arrival in Paris, which will take + place probably in the end of October. I thank you a thousand + times, dear friend, for your good heart and friendly offers. + Keep your millions for me till another time--is it not already + too much to dispose of your time as I do? + + [Here follow compliments to and friendly enquiries after + Franchomme's family.] + + Madame Sand sends you a thousand compliments and desires to be + remembered to Madame Franchomme. + + [Date.] + + I shall answer Madame Rubio. [FOOTNOTE: Nee Vera de + Kologriwof, a pupil of Chopin's and teacher of music in Paris; + she married Signor Rubio, an artist, and died in the summer of + 1880 at Florence.] If Mdlle. Stirling [FOOTNOTE: A Scotch lady + and pupil of Chopin's; I shall have to say more about her by- + and-by. Madame Erskine was her elder sister.] is at St. + Germain, do not forget to remember me to her, also to Madame + Erskine. + +This will be the proper place to mention the compositions of the +years 1842-47, about the publication of many of which we have +read so much in the above letters. There is no new publication to +be recorded in 1842. The publications of 1843 were: in February-- +Op. 51, Allegro vivace, Troisieme Impromptu (G flat major), +dedicated to Madame la Comtesse Esterhazy; in December--Op. 52, +Quatrieme Ballade (F minor), dedicated to Madame la Baronne C. de +Rothschild; Op. 53, Huitieme Polonaise (A flat major), dedicated +to Mr. A. Leo; and Op. 54, Scherzo, No. 4 (E major), dedicated to +Mdlle. J. de Caraman. Those of 1844 were: in August--Op. 55, Deux +Nocturnes (F minor and E flat major), dedicated to Mdlle. J. H. +Stirling; and Op. 56, Trois Mazurkas (A minor, A flat major, and +F sharp minor), dedicated to Mdlle. C. Maberly. Those of 1845: in +May--Op. 57, Berceuse (D flat major), dedicated to Mdlle. Elise +Gavard; and in June--Op. 58, Sonate (B minor), dedicated to +Madame la Comtesse E. de Perthuis. Those of 1846: in April--Op. +59, Trois Mazurkas (A minor, A flat major, and F sharp minor); +and in September--Op. 60, Barcarole (F sharp major), dedicated to +Madame la Baronne de Stockhausen; Op. 61, Polonaise-Fantaisie (A +flat major), dedicated to Madame A. Veyret; and Op. 62, Deux +Nocturnes (B major and E major), dedicated to Mdlle. R. de +Konneritz. Those of 1847: in September--Op. 63, Trois Mazurkas (B +major, F minor, and C sharp minor), dedicated to Madame la +Comtesse L. Czosnowska, and Op. 64, Trois Valses (D flat major, C +sharp minor, and A flat major), respectively dedicated to Madame +la Comtesse Delphine Potocka, Madame la Baronne Nathaniel de +Rothschild, and Madame la Baronne Bronicka; and lastly, in +October--Op. 65, Sonate (G minor), pour piano et violoncelle, +dedicated to Mr. A. Franchomme. + +From 1838 to 1846 Chopin passed regularly every year, with the +exception of 1840, three or four months at Nohant. The musical +papers announced Chopin's return to town sometimes at the +beginning of October, sometimes at the beginning of November. In +1844 he must either have made a longer stay at Nohant than usual +or paid it a visit during the winter, for in the "Gazette +musicale" of January 5, 1845, we read: "Chopin has returned to +Paris and brought with him a new grand Sonata and variantes. +These two important works will soon be published." + +[FOOTNOTE: The new Sonata here mentioned is the one in B minor, +Op. 58, which was published in June, 1845. As to the other item +mentioned, I am somewhat puzzled. Has the word to be taken in its +literal sense of "various readings," i.e., new readings of works +already known (the context, however, does not favour this +supposition), or does it refer to the ever-varying evolutions of +the Berceuse, Op. 57. published in May, 1845, or, lastly, is it +simply a misprint?] + +George Sand generally prolonged her stay at Nohant till pretty +far into the winter, much to the sorrow of her malade ordinaire +(thus Chopin used to style himself), who yearned for her return +to Paris. + +According to Liszt, the country and the vie de chateau pleased +Chopin so much that for the sake of enjoying them he put up with +company that did not please him at all. George Sand has a +different story to tell. She declares that the retired life and +the solemnity of the country agreed neither with Chopin's +physical nor with his moral health; that he loved the country +only for a fortnight, after which he bore it only out of +attachment to her; and that he never felt regret on leaving it. +Whether Chopin loved country life or not, whether he liked George +Sand's Berry friends and her guests from elsewhere or not, we may +be sure that he missed Paris and his accustomed Paris society. + +"Of all the troubles I had not to endure but to contend against, +the sufferings of my malade ordinaire were not the least," says +George Sand. "Chopin always wished for Nohant, and never could +bear it." And, speaking of the later years, when the havoc made +in Chopin's constitution by the inroads of his malady showed +itself more and more, she remarks: "Nohant had become repugnant +to him. His return in the spring still filled him with ecstatic +joy for a short time. But as soon as he began to work everything +round him assumed a gloomy aspect." + +Before we peep into Chopin's room and watch him at work, let us +see what the chateau of Nohant and life there were like. "The +railway through the centre of France went in those days [August, +1846] no further than Vierzon," [FOOTNOTE: The opening of the +extension of the line to Chateauroux was daily expected at that +time.] writes Mr. Matthew Arnold in an account of a visit paid by +him to George Sand:-- + + From Vierzon to Chateauroux one travelled by an ordinary + diligence, from Chateauroux to La Chatre by a humbler + diligence, from La Chatre to Broussac by the humblest + diligence cf. all. At Broussac diligence ended, and PATACHE + began. Between Chateauroux and La Chatre, a mile or two before + reaching the latter place, the road passes by the village of + Nohant. The chateau of Nohant, in which Madame Sand lived, is + a plain house by the roadside, with a walled garden. Down in + the meadows not far off flows the Indre, bordered by trees. + +The Chateau of Nohant is indeed, as Mr. Matthew Arnold says, a +plain house, only the roof with its irregularly distributed +dormars and chimney-stacks of various size giving to it a touch +of picturesqueness. On the other hand, the ground-floor, with its +central door flanked on each side by three windows, and the seven +windowed story above, impresses one with the sense of +spaciousness. + +Liszt, speaking of a three months' stay at Nohant made by himself +and his friend the Comtesse d'Agoult in the summer of 1837--i.e., +before the closer connection of George Sand and Chopin began-- +relates that the hostess and her guests spent the days in reading +good books, receiving letters from absent friends, taking long +walks on the banks of the Indre, and in other equally simple +occupations and amusements. In the evenings they assembled on the +terrace. There, where the light of the lamps cast fantastic +shadows on the neighbouring trees, they sat listening to the +murmuring of the river and the warbling of the nightingales, and +breathing in the sweet perfume of the lime-trees and the stronger +scent of the larches till the Countess would exclaim: "There you +are again dreaming, you incorrigible artists! Do you not know +that the hour for working has come?" And then George Sand would +go and write at the book on which she was engaged, and Liszt +would betake himself to the old scores which he was studying with +a view to discover some of the great masters' secrets. [FOOTNOTE: +Liszt. "Essays and Reisebriefe eines Baccalaureus der Tonkunst." +Vol. II., pp. 146 and 147 of the collected works.] + +Thus was Nohant in quiet days. But the days at Nohant were by no +means always quiet. For George Sand was most hospitable, kept +indeed literally open house for her friends, and did so +regardless of credit and debit. The following passage from a +letter written by her in 1840 from Paris to her half-brother +Hippolyte Chatiron gives us a good idea of the state of matters:- +- + + If you will guarantee my being able to pass the summer at + Nohant for 4,000 francs, I will go. But I have never been + there without spending 1,500 francs per month, and as I do not + spend here the half of this, it is neither the love of work, + nor that of spending, nor that of GLORY, which makes me stay. + I do not know whether I have been pillaged; but I am at a loss + how to avoid it with my nonchalance, in so vast a house, and + so easy a kind of life as that of Nohant. Here I can see + clearly; everything is done under my eyes as I understand and + wish it. At Nohant--let this remain between us--you know that + before I am up a dozen people have often made themselves at + home in the house. What can I do? Were I to pose as a good + manager [econome] they would accuse me of stinginess; were I + to let things go on, I should not be able to provide for them. + Try if you can find a remedy for this. + +In George Sand's letters many glimpses may be caught of the life +at Nohant. To some of them I have already drawn the reader's +attention in preceding chapters; now I shall point out a few +more. + + + George Sand to Madame Marliani; Nohant, August 13, 1841:-- + + I have had all my nights absorbed by work and fatigue. I have + passed all my days with Pauline [Viardot] in walking, playing + at billiards, and all this makes me so entirely go out of my + indolent character and lazy habits that, at night, instead of + working quickly, I fall stupidly asleep at every + line....Viardot [Louis Viardot, the husband of Pauline] passes + his days in poaching with my brother and Papet; for the + shooting season has not yet begun, and they brave the laws, + divine and human. Pauline reads with Chopin whole scores at + the piano. She is always good-natured and charming, as you + know her. + + + George Sand to Mdlle. Rozieres: Nohant, October 15, 1841:-- + + Papet is in the depths of the forests; in "Erymanthe" at + least, hunting the wild boar. Chopin is in Paris, and he has + relapsed, as he says, into his triples croches + [demisemiquavers]. + + + George Sand to Mdlle. Rozieres; Nohant, May 9, 1842:-- + + Quick to work! Your master, the great Chopin, has forgotten + (that for which he nevertheless cares a great deal) to buy a + beautiful present for Francoise, my faithful servant, whom he + adores, and he is very right. + + He begs of you therefore to send him, IMMEDIATELY, four yards + of lace, two fingers broad at least, within the price of ten + francs a yard; further, a shawl of whatever material you like, + within the price of forty francs....This, then, is the superb + present which your HONOURED MASTER asks you to get for him, + with an eagerness worthy of the ardour which he carries into + his gifts, and of the impatience which he puts into little + things. + +Charles Rollinat, a friend of George Sand's, the brother of one +of George Sand's most intimate and valued friends, Francois +Rollinat, published in "Le Temps" (September 1, 1874) a charming +"Souvenir de Nohant," which shows us the the chateau astir with a +more numerous company:-- + + The hospitality there [he writes] was comfortable, and the + freedom absolute. There were guns and dogs for those who loved + hunting, boats and nets for those who loved fishing, a + splendid garden to walk in. Everyone did as he liked. Liszt + and Chopin composed; Pauline Garcia studied her role of the + "Prophete"; the mistress of the house wrote a romance or a + drama; and it was the same with the others. At six o'clock + they assembled again to dine, and did not part company till + two or three o'clock in the morning. + Chopin rarely played. He could only be prevailed upon to play + when he was sure of perfection. Nothing in the world would + have made him consent to play indifferently. Liszt, on the + contrary, played always, well or badly. + +[FOOTNOTE: Charles Rollinat, a younger brother of Francois, went +afterwards to Russia, where, according to George Sand (see letter +to Edmond Plauchut, April 8, 1874), he was for twenty-five years +"professeur de musique et haut enseignement, avec une bonne place +du gouvernement." He made a fortune and lost it, retaining only +enough to live upon quietly in Italy. He tried then to supplement +his scanty income by literary work (translations from the +Russian). George Sand, recalling the days of long ago, says: "Il +chantait comme on ne chante plus, excepte Pauline [Viardot- +Garcia]!"] + +Unfortunately, the greater portion of M. Rollinat's so-called +Souvenir consists of "poetry WITHOUT truth." Nevertheless, we +will not altogether ignore his pretty stories. + +One evening when Liszt played a piece of Chopin's with +embellishments of his own, the composer became impatient and at +last, unable to restrain himself any longer, walked up to Liszt +and said with his ENGLISH PHLEGM:-- + + "I beg of you, my dear friend, if you do me the honour to play + a piece of mine, to play what is written, or to play something + else. It is only Chopin who has the right to alter Chopin." + + "Well! play yourself!" said Liszt, rising from his seat a + little irritated, + + "With pleasure," said Chopin. + + At that moment a moth extinguished the lamp. Chopin would not + have it relighted, and played in the dark. When he had + finished his delighted auditors overwhelmed him with + compliments, and Liszt said: + + "Ah, my friend, you were right! The works of a genius like you + are sacred; it is a profanation to meddle with them. You are a + true poet, and I am only a mountebank." + + Whereupon Chopin replied: "We have each our genre." + +M. Rollinat then proceeds to tell his readers that Chopin, +believing he had eclipsed Liszt that evening, boasted of it, and +said: "How vexed he was!" It seems that the author felt that this +part of the story put a dangerously severe strain on the +credulity of his readers, for he thinks it necessary to assure +them that these were the ipsissima verba of Chopin. Well, the +words in question came to the ears of Liszt, and he resolved at +once to have his revenge. + +Five days afterwards the friends were again assembled in the same +place and at the same time. Liszt asked Chopin to play, and had +all the lights put out and all the curtains drawn; but when +Chopin was going to the piano, Liszt whispered something in his +ear and sat down in his stead. He played the same composition +which Chopin had played on the previous occasion, and the +audience was again enchanted. At the end of the piece Liszt +struck a match and lighted the candles which stood on the piano. +Of course general stupefaction ensued. + + "What do you say to it?" said Liszt to his rival. + "I say what everyone says; I too believed it was Chopin." + "You see," said the virtuoso rising, "that Liszt can be Chopin + when he likes; but could Chopin be Liszt?" + +Instead of commenting on the improbability of a generous artist +thus cruelly taunting his sensitive rival, I shall simply say +that Liszt had not the slightest recollection of ever having +imitated Chopin's playing in a darkened room. There may be some +minute grains of truth mixed up with all this chaff of fancy-- +Chopin's displeasure at the liberties Liszt took with his +compositions was no doubt one of them--but it is impossible to +separate them. + +M. Rollinat relates also how in 184-, when Chopin, Liszt, the +Comtesse d'Agoult, Pauline Garcia, Eugene Delacroix, the actor +Bocage, and other celebrities were at Nohant, the piano was one +moonlit night carried out to the terrace; how Liszt played the +hunting chorus from Weber's Euryanthe, Chopin some bars from an +impromptu he was then composing; how Pauline Garcia sang Nel cor +piu non mi sento, and a niece of George Sand a popular air; how +the echo answered the musicians; and how after the music the +company, which included also a number of friends from the +neighbouring town, had punch and remained together till dawn. But +here again M. Rollinat's veracity is impugned on all sides. +Madame Viardot-Garcia declares that she was never at Nohant when +Liszt was there; and Liszt did not remember having played on the +terrace of the chateau. Moreover, seeing that the first +performance of the Prophete took place on April 16, 1849, is it +likely that Madame Pauline Garcia was studying her part before or +in 1846? And unless she did so she could not meet Chopin at +Nohant when she was studying it. + +M. Rollinat is more trustworthy when he tells us that there was a +pretty theatre and quite an assortment of costumes at the +chateau; that the dramas and comedies played there were +improvised by the actors, only the subject and the division into +scenes being given; and that on two pianos, concealed by +curtains, one on the right and one on the left of the stage, +Chopin and Liszt improvised the musical part of the +entertainment. All this is, however, so much better and so much +more fully told by George Sand (in Dernieres Pages: Le Theatre +des Marionnettes de Nohant) that we will take our information +from her. It was in the long nights of a winter that she +conceived the plan of these private theatricals in imitation of +the comedia dell' arte--namely, of "pieces the improvised +dialogue of which followed a written sketch posted up behind the +scenes." + + They resembled the charades which are acted in society and + which are more or less developed according to the ensemble and + the talent of the performers. We had begun with these. By + degrees the word of the charade disappeared and we played + first mad saynetes, then comedies of intrigues and adventures, + and finally dramas of incidents and emotions. The whole thing + began by pantomime, and this was of Chopin's invention; he + occupied the place at the piano and improvised, while the + young people gesticulated scenes and danced comic ballets. I + leave you to imagine whether these now wonderful, now charming + improvisations quickened the brains and made supple the legs + of our performers. He led them as he pleased and made them + pass, according to his fancy, from the droll to the severe, + from the burlesque to the solemn, from the graceful to the + passionate. We improvised costumes in order to play + successively several roles. As soon as the artist saw them + appear, he adapted his theme and his accent in a marvellous + manner to their respective characters. This went on for three + evenings, and then the master, setting out for Paris, left us + thoroughly stirred up, enthusiastic, and determined not to + suffer the spark which had electrified us to be lost. + +To get away from the quicksands of Souvenirs--for George Sand's +pages, too, were written more than thirty years after the +occurrences she describes, and not published till 1877--I shall +make some extracts from the contemporaneous correspondence of +George Sand's great friend, the celebrated painter Eugene +Delacroix. [FOOTNOTE: Lettres de Eugene Delacroix (1815 a 1863) +recucillies et publiees par M. Philippe Burty. Paris, 1878.] The +reader cannot fail to feel at once the fresh breeze of reality +that issues from these letters, which contain vivid sketches full +of natural beauties and free from affectation and striving after +effect:-- + + + Nohant, June 7, 1842. + + ...The place is very pleasant, and the hosts do their utmost + to please me. When we are not assembled to dine, breakfast, + play at billiards, or walk, we are in our rooms, reading, or + resting on our sofas. Now and then there come to you through + the window opening on the garden, whiffs of the music of + Chopin, who is working in his room; this mingles with the song + of the nightingales and the odour of the roses. You see that + so far I am not much to be pitied, and, nevertheless, work + must come to give the grain of salt to all this. This life is + too easy, I must purchase it with a little racking of my + brains; and like the huntsman who eats with more appetite when + he has got his skin torn by bushes, one must strive a little + after ideas in order to feel the charm of doing nothing. + + + Nohant, June 14, 1842. + + ...Although I am in every respect most agreeably + circumstanced, both as regards body and mind, for I am in much + better health, I have not been able to prevent myself from + thinking of work. How strange! this work is fatiguing, and yet + the species of activity it gives to the mind is necessary to + the body itself. In vain did I try to get up a passion for + billiards, in which I receive a lesson every day, in vain have + I good conversations on all the subjects that please me, music + that I seize on the wing and by whiffs, I have felt the need + of doing something. I have begun a Sainte-Anne for the parish, + and I have already set it agoing. + + + Nohant, June 22, 1842. + + ...Pen and ink certainly become more and more repugnant to me. + I have no more than you any event to record. I lead a monastic + life, and as monotonous as it well can be. No event varies the + course of it. We expected Balzac, who has not come, and I am + not sorry. He is a babbler who would have destroyed this + harmony of NONCHALANCE which I am enjoying thoroughly; at + intervals a little painting, billiards, and walking, that is + more than is necessary to fill up the days. There is not even + the distraction of neighbours and friends from the environs; + in this part of the country everyone remains at home and + occupies him self with his oxen and his land. One would become + a fossil here in a very short time. + + I have interminable private interviews with Chopin, whom I + love much, and who is a man of a rare distinction; he is the + most true artist I have met. He is one of the few one can + admire and esteem. Madame Sand suffers frequently from violent + headaches and pains in her eyes, which she tries to master as + much as possible and with much strength of will, so as not to + weary us with what she suffers. + + The greatest event of my stay has been a peasants' ball on the + lawn of the chateau with the best bagpipers of the place. The + people of this part of the country present a remarkable type + of gentleness and good nature; ugliness is rare here, though + beauty is not often seen, but there is not that kind of fever + which is observable in the peasants of the environs of Paris. + All the women have the appearance of those sweet faces one + sees only in the pictures of the old masters. They are all + Saint Annes. + +Amidst the affectations, insincerities, and superficialities of +Chopin's social intercourse, Delacroix's friendship--we have +already seen that the musician reciprocated the painter's +sentiments--stands out like a green oasis in a barren desert. +When, on October 28, 1849, a few days after Chopin's death, +Delacroix sent a friend a ticket for the funeral service of the +deceased, he speaks of him as "my poor and dear Chopin." But the +sincerity of Delacroix's esteem and the tenderness of his love +for Chopin are most fully revealed in some lines of a letter +which he wrote on January 7, 1861, to Count Czymala [Grzymala]:-- + + When I have finished [the labours that took up all his time], + I shall let you know, and shall see you again, with the + pleasure I have always had, and with the feelings your kind + letter has reanimated in me. With whom shall I speak of the + incomparable genius whom heaven has envied the earth, and of + whom I dream often, being no longer able to see him in this + world nor to hear his divine harmonies. + + If you see sometimes the charming Princess Marcelline + [Czartoryska], another object of my respect, place at her feet + the homage of a poor man who has not ceased to be full of the + memory of her kindnesses and of admiration for her talent, + another bond of union with the seraph whom we have lost and + who, at this hour, charms the celestial spheres. + +The first three of the above extracts from Delacroix's letters +enable us to form a clear idea of what the everyday life at +Nohant was like, and after reading them we can easily imagine +that its monotony must have had a depressing effect on the +company-loving Chopin. But the drawback was counterbalanced by an +advantage. At Paris most of Chopin's time was occupied with +teaching and the pleasures of society, at Nohant he could devote +himself undisturbed and undistracted to composition. And there is +more than sufficient evidence to prove that in this respect +Chopin utilised well the quiet and leisure of his rural +retirement. + +Few things excite the curiosity of those who have a taste for art +and literature so much as an artist's or poet's mode of creation. +With what interest, for instance, do we read Schindler's account +of how Beethoven composed his Missa Solemnis--of the master's +absolute detachment from the terrestrial world during the time he +was engaged on this work; of his singing, shouting, and stamping, +when he was in the act of giving birth to the fugue of the Credo! +But as regards musicians, we know, generally speaking, very +little on the subject; and had not George Sand left us her +reminiscences, I should not have much to tell the reader about +Chopin's mode of creation. From Gutmann I learned that his master +worked long before he put a composition to paper, but when it was +once in writing did not keep it long in his portfolio. The latter +part of this statement is contradicted by a remark of the better- +informed Fontana, who, in the preface to Chopin's posthumous +works, says that the composer, whether from caprice or +nonchalance, had the habit of keeping his manuscripts sometimes a +very long time in his portfolio before giving them to the public. +As George Sand observed the composer with an artist's eye and +interest, and had, of course, better opportunities than anybody +else to observe him, her remarks are particularly valuable. She +writes:-- + + His creation was spontaneous and miraculous. He found it + without seeking it, without foreseeing it. It came on his + piano suddenly, complete, sublime, or it sang in his head + during a walk, and he was impatient to play it to himself. But + then began the most heart-rending labour I ever saw. It was a + series of efforts, of irresolutions, and of frettings to seize + again certain details of the theme he had heard; what he had + conceived as a whole he analysed too much when wishing to + write it, and his regret at not finding it again, in his + opinion, clearly defined, threw him into a kind of despair. He + shut himself up in his room for whole days, weeping, walking, + breaking his pens, repeating and altering a bar a hundred + times, writing and effacing it as many times, and recommencing + the next day with a minute and desperate perseverance. He + spent six weeks over a single page to write it at last as he + had noted it down at the very first. + + I had for a long time been able to make him consent to trust + to this first inspiration. But when he was no longer disposed + to believe me, he reproached me gently with having spoiled him + and with not being severe enough for him. I tried to amuse + him, to take him out for walks. Sometimes, taking away all my + brood in a country char a bancs, I dragged him away in spite + of himself from this agony. I took him to the banks of the + Creuse, and after being for two or three days lost amid + sunshine and rain in frightful roads, we arrived, cheerful and + famished, at some magnificently-situated place where he seemed + to revive. These fatigues knocked him up the first day, but he + slept. The last day he was quite revived, quite rejuvenated in + returning to Nohant, and he found the solution of his work + without too much effort; but it was not always possible to + prevail upon him to leave that piano which was much oftener + his torment than his joy, and by degrees he showed temper when + I disturbed him. I dared not insist. Chopin when angry was + alarming, and as, with me, he always restrained himself, he + seemed almost to choke and die. + +A critic remarks in reference to this account that Chopin's mode +of creation does not show genius, but only passion. From which we +may conclude that he would not, like Carlyle, have defined genius +as the power of taking infinite pains. To be sure, the great +Scotchman's definition is inadequate, but nothing is more false +than the popular notion that the great authors throw off their +works with the pleasantest ease, that creation is an act of pure +enjoyment. Beethoven's sketch-books tell a different story; so do +also Balzac's proof-sheets and the manuscripts of Pope's version +of the Iliad and Odyssey in the British Museum. Dr. Johnson +speaking of Milton's MSS. observed truly: "Such reliques show how +excellence is acquired." Goethe in writing to Schiller asks him +to return certain books of "Wilhelm Meister" that he may go over +them A FEW TIMES before sending them to the press. And on re- +reading one of these books he cut out one third of its contents. +Moreover, if an author writes with ease, this is not necessarily +a proof that he labours little, for he may finish the work before +bringing it to paper. Mozart is a striking instance. He has +himself described his mode of composing--which was a process of +accumulation, agglutination, and crystallisation--in a letter to +a friend. The constitution of the mind determines the mode of +working. Some qualities favour, others obstruct the realisation +of a first conception. Among the former are acuteness and +quickness of vision, the power of grasping complex subjects, and +a good memory. But however varied the mode of creation may be, an +almost unvarying characteristic of the production of really +precious and lasting artwork is ungrudging painstaking, such as +we find described in William Hunt's "Talks about Art":--"If you +could see me dig and groan, rub it out and start again, hate +myself and feel dreadfully! The people who do things easily, +their things you look at easily, and give away easily." Lastly +and briefly, it is not the mode of working, but the result of +this working which demonstrates genius. + +As Chopin disliked the pavilion in the Rue Pigalle, George Sand +moved with her household in 1842 to the quiet, aristocratic- +looking Cite (Court or Square) d'Orleans, where their friend +Madame Marliani arranged for them a vie de famille. To get to the +Cite d'Orleans one has to pass through two gateways--the first +leads from the Rue Taitbout (close to the Rue St. Lazare), into a +small out-court with the lodge of the principal concierge; the +second, into the court itself. In the centre is a grass plot with +four flower-beds and a fountain; and between this grass plot and +the footpath which runs along the houses extends a carriage +drive. As to the houses which form the square, they are well and +handsomely built, the block opposite the entrance making even +some architectural pretensions. Madame Sand's, Madame Marliani's, +and Chopin's houses, which bore respectively the numbers 5, 4, +and 3, were situated on the right side, the last-mentioned being +just in the first right-hand corner on entering from the out- +court. On account of the predilection shown for it by artists and +literary men as a place of abode, the Court d'Orldans has not +inaptly been called a little Athens. Alexander Dumas was one of +the many celebrities who lived there at one time or other; and +Chopin had for neighbours the famous singer Pauline Viardot- +Garcia, the distinguished pianoforte-professor Zimmermann, and +the sculptor Dantan, from whose famous gallery of caricatures, or +rather charges, the composer's portrait was not absent. Madame +Marliani, the friend of George Sand and Chopin, who has already +repeatedly been mentioned in this book, was the wife of Manuel +Marliani, Spanish Consul in Paris, author, [FOOTNOTE: Especially +notable among his political and historical publications in +Spanish and French is: "Histoire politique de l'Espagne moderne +suivie d'un apercu sur les finances." 2 vols. in 8vo (Paris, +1840).] politician, and subsequently senator. Lenz says that +Madame Marliani was a Spanish countess and a fine lady; and +George Sand describes her as good-natured and active, endowed +with a passionate head and maternal heart, but destined to be +unhappy because she wished to make the reality of life yield to +the ideal of her imagination and the exigences of her +sensibility. + +Some excerpts from a letter written by George Sand on November +12, 1842, to her friend Charles Duvernet, and a passage from Ma +Vie will bring scene and actors vividly before us:-- + + We also cultivate billiards; I have a pretty little table, + which I hire for twenty francs a month, in my salon, and + thanks to kind friendships we approach Nohant life as much as + is possible in this melancholy Paris. What makes things + country-like also is that I live in the same square as the + family Marliani, Chopin in the next pavilion, so that without + leaving this large well-lighted and sanded Court d'Orleans, we + run in the evening from one to another like good provincial + neighbours. We have even contrived to have only one pot + [marmite], and eat all together at Madame Marliani's, which is + more economical and by far more lively than taking one's meals + at home. It is a kind of phalanstery which amuses us, and + where mutual liberty is much better guaranteed than in that of + the Fourierists... + + Solange is at a boarding-school, and comes out every Saturday + to Monday morning. Maurice has resumed the studio con furia, + and I, I have resumed Consuelo like a dog that is being + whipped; for I have idled on account of my removal and the + fitting up of my apartments... + + Kind regards and shakes of the hand from Viardot, Chopin, and + my children. + +The passge [sic: passage] from Ma Vie, which contains some +repetitions along with a few additional touches, runs as follows:- +- + + She [Madame Marliani] had fine apartments between the two we + [George Sand and Chopin] occupied. We had only a large planted + and sanded and always clean court to cross in order to meet, + sometimes, in her rooms, sometimes in mine, sometimes in + Chopin's when he was inclined to give us some music. We dined + with her at common expense. It was a very good association, + economical like all associations, and enabled one to see + society at Madame Marliani's, my friends more privately in my + apartments, and to take up my work at the hour when it suited + me to withdraw. Chopin rejoiced also at having a fine, + isolated salon where he could go to compose or to dream. But + he loved society, and made little use of his sanctuary except + to give lessons in it. + +Although George Sand speaks only of a salon, Chopin's official +residence, as we may call it, consisted of several rooms. They +were elegantly furnished and always adorned with flowers--for he +loved le luxe and had the coquetterie des appartements. + +[FOOTNOTE: When I visited in 1880 M. Kwiatkowski in Paris, he +showed me some Chopin relics: 1, a pastel drawing by Jules +Coignet (representing Les Pyramides d'Egypte), which hung always +above the composer's piano; 2, a little causeuse which Chopin +bought with his first Parisian savings; 3, an embroidered easy- +chair worked and presented to him by the Princess Czartoiyska; +and 4, an embroidered cushion worked and presented to him by +Madame de Rothschild. If we keep in mind Chopin's remarks about +his furniture and the papering of his rooms, and add to the above- +mentioned articles those which Karasowski mentions as having been +bought by Miss Stirling after the composer's death, left by her +to his mother, and destroyed by the Russians along with his +letters in 1861 when in possession of his sister Isabella +Barcinska--his portrait by Ary Scheffer, some Sevres porcelain +with the inscription "Offert par Louis Philippe a Frederic +Chopin," a fine inlaid box, a present from one of the Rothschild +family, carpets, table-cloths, easy-chairs, &c., worked by his +pupils--we can form some sort of idea of the internal +arrangements of the pianist-composer's rooms.] + +Nevertheless, they exhibited none of the splendour which was to +be found in the houses of many of the celebrities then living in +Paris. "He observed," remarks Liszt, "on this point as well as in +the then so fashionable elegancies of walking-sticks, pins, +studs, and jewels, the instinctive line of the comme il faut +between the too much and the too little." But Chopin's letters +written from Nohant in 1839 to Fontana have afforded the reader +sufficient opportunities to make himself acquainted with the +master's fastidiousness and good taste in matters of furniture +and room decoration, above all, his horror of vulgar gaudiness. + +Let us try to get some glimpses of Chopin in his new home. +Lindsay Sloper, who--owing, no doubt, to a great extent at least, +to the letter of recommendation from Moscheles which he brought +with him--had got permission from Chopin to come for a lesson as +often as he liked at eight o'clock in the morning, found the +master at that hour not in deshabille, but dressed with the +greatest care. Another early pupil, M. Mathias, always fell in +with the daily-attending barber. M. Mathias told me also of +Chopin's habit of leaning with his back against the mantel-piece +while he was chatting at the end of the lesson. It must have been +a pretty sight to see the master in this favourite attitude of +his, his coat buttoned up to the chin (this was his usual style), +the most elegant shoes on his small feet, faultless exquisiteness +characterising the whole of his attire, and his small eyes +sparkling with esprit and sometimes with malice. + +Of all who came in contact with Chopin, however, no one made so +much of his opportunities as Lenz: some of his observations on +the pianist have already been quoted, those on the man and his +surroundings deserve likewise attention. [FOOTNOTE: W. von Lenz: +"Die Grossen Pianoforte-Virtuosen unserer Zeit."] Lenz came to +Paris in the summer or autumn of the year 1842; and as he wished +to study Chopin's mazurkas with the master himself, he awaited +impatiently his return from Nohant. At last, late in October, +Lenz heard from Liszt that Chopin had arrived in town; but Liszt +told him also that it was by no means an easy thing to get +lessons from Chopin, that indeed many had journeyed to Paris for +the purpose and failed even to get sight of him. To guard Lenz +against such a mishap, Liszt gave him a card with the words +"Laissez passer, Franz Liszt" on it, and advised him to call on +Chopin at two o'clock. The enthusiastic amateur was not slow in +availing himself of his artist friend's card and advice. But on +reaching his destination he was met in the anteroom by a male +servant--"an article of luxury in Paris, a rarissima avis in the +house of an artist," observes Lenz--who informed him that Chopin +was not in town. The visitor, however, was not to be put off in +this way, and insisted that the card should be taken in to +Chopin. Fortune favours the brave. A moment after the servant had +left the room the great artist made his appearance holding the +card in his hand: "a young man of middle height, slim, thin, with +a careworn, speaking face and the finest Parisian tournure." +Lenz does not hesitate to declare that he hardly ever met a +person so naturally elegant and winning. But here is what took +place at this interview. + + Chopin did not press me to sit down [says Lenz], I stood as + before a reigning sovereign. "What do you wish? a pupil of + Liszt's, an artist?" "A friend of Liszt's. I wish to have the + happiness of making, under your guidance, acquaintance with + your mazurkas, which I regard as a literature. Some of them I + have already studied with Liszt." I felt I had been + imprudent, but it was too late. "Indeed!" replied Chopin, with + a drawl, but in the politest tone, "what do you want me for + then? Please play to me what you have played with Liszt, I + have still a few minutes at my disposal"--he drew from his + fob an elegant, small watch--"I was on the point of going out, + I had told my servant to admit nobody, pardon me!" + +Lenz sat down at the piano, tried the gue of it--an expression at +which Chopin, who was leaning languidly on the piano and looking +with his intelligent eyes straight in his visitor's face, smiled-- +and then struck up the Mazurka in B flat major. When he came to +a passage in which Liszt had taught him to introduce a volata +through two octaves, Chopin whispered blandly:-- + + "This TRAIT is not your own; am I right? HE has shown it you-- + he must meddle with everything; well! he may do it, he plays + before THOUSANDS, I rarely before ONE. Well, this will do, I + will give you lessons, but only twice a week, I never give + more, it is difficult for me to find three-quarters of an + hour." He again looked at his watch. "What do you read then? + With what do you occupy yourself generally?" This was a + question for which I was well prepared. "George Sand and Jean + Jacques I prefer to all other writers," said I quickly. He + smiled, he was most beautiful at that moment. "Liszt has told + you this. I see, you are initiated, so much the better. Only + be punctual, with me things go by the clock, my house is a + pigeon-house (pigeonnier). I see already we shall become more + intimate, a recommendation from Liszt is worth something, you + are the first pupil whom he has recommended to me; we are + friends, we were comrades." + +Lenz had, of course, too imaginative a turn of mind to leave +facts in their native nakedness, but this tendency of his is too +apparent to need pointing out. What betrays him is the wonderful +family likeness of his portraits, a kind of vapid esprit, not +distantly related to silliness, with which the limner endows his +unfortunate sitters, Chopin as well as Liszt and Tausig. Indeed, +the portraits compared with the originals are like Dresden china +figures compared with Greek statuary. It seems to me also very +improbable that so perfect a gentleman as Chopin was should +subject a stranger to an examination as to his reading and +general occupation. These questions have very much the appearance +of having been invented by the narrator for the sake of the +answers. However, notwithstanding the many unmistakable +embellishments, Lenz's account was worth quoting, for after all +it is not without a basis of fact and truth. The following +reminiscences of the lively Russian councillor, although not +wanting in exaggerations, are less open to objections:-- + + I always made my appearance long before my hour and waited. + One lady after another came out, one more beautiful than the + other, on one occasion Mdlle. Laure Duperre, the daughter of + the admiral, whom Chopin accompanied to the staircase, she was + the most beautiful of all, and as straight as a palm; to her + Chopin has dedicated two of his most important Nocturnes (in C + minor and F sharp minor, Op. 48); she was at that time his + favourite pupil. In the anteroom I often met little Filtsch, + who, unfortunately, died too young, at the age of thirteen, a + Hungarian and a genius. He knew how to play Chopin! Of Filtsch + Liszt said in my presence at a soiree of the Comtesse + d'Agoult: "When the little one begins to travel, I shall shut + up my shop" (Quand le petit voyagera, je fermerai boutique). I + was jealous of Filtsch, Chopin had eyes only for him. + +How high an opinion the master had of this talented pupil appears +from his assertion that the boy played the E minor Concerto +better than he himself. Lenz mentions Filtsch and his playing of +the E minor Concerto only in passing in "Die grossen Pianoforte- +Virtuosen unserer Zeit," but devotes to them more of his leisure +in an article which appeared in the Berliner Musikzeitung (Vol. +XXVI.), the amusing gossip of which deserves notice here on +account of the light thrown by some of its details on Chopin's +ways and the company he received in his salon. On one occasion +when Filtsch had given his master particular satisfaction by a +tasteful rendering of the second solo of the first movement of +the E minor Concerto, Chopin said: "You have played this well, my +boy (mon garcon), I must try it myself." Lenz relates that what +now followed was indescribable: the little one (der Kleine) burst +into tears, and Chopin, who indeed had been telling them the +story of his artist life, said, as if speaking to himself, "I +have loved it! I have already once played it!" Then, turning to +Filtsch, he spoke these words: "Yours is a beautiful artist +nature (une belle nature d'artiste), you will become a great +artist." Whilst the youthful pianist was studying the Concerto +with Chopin, he was never allowed to play more than one solo at a +time, the work affecting too much the feelings of the composer, +who, moreover, thought that the whole was contained in every one +of the solos; and when he at last got leave to perform the whole, +an event for which he prepared himself by fasting and prayers of +the Roman Catholic Church, and by such reading as was pointed out +by his master, practising being forbidden for the time, Chopin +said to him: "As you have now mastered the movement so well, we +will bring it to a hearing." + +The reader must understand that I do not vouch for the strict +correctness of Lenz's somewhat melodramatic narrative; and having +given this warning I shall, to keep myself free from all +responsibility, simply translate the rest of what is yet to be +told:-- + + Chopin invited a party of ladies, George Sand was one of them, + and was as quiet as a mouse; moreover, she knew nothing of + music. The favoured pupils from the highest aristocracy + appeared with modest demeanour and full of the most profound + devotion, they glided silently, like gold-fishes in a vase, + one after another into the salon, and sat down as far as + possible from the piano, as Chopin liked people to do. Nobody + spoke, Chopin only nodded, and shook hands with one here and + there, not with all of them. The square pianoforte, which + stood in his cabinet, he had placed beside the Pleyel concert + grand in the salon, not without the most painful embarras to + him. The most insignificant trifle affected him; he was a noli + me tangere. He had said once, or rather had thought aloud: "If + I saw a crack more in the ceiling, I should not be able to + bring out a note." Chopin poured the whole dreamy, vaporous + instrumentation of the work into his incomparable + accompaniment. He played without book. I have never heard + anything that could be compared to the first tutti, which he + played alone on the piano. The little one did wonders. The + whole was an impression for all the rest of one's life. After + Chopin had briefly dismissed the ladies (he loved praise + neither for himself nor for others, and only George Sand was + permitted to embrace Filtsch), he said to the latter, his + brother, who always accompanied the little one, and me: "We + have yet to take a walk." It was a command which we received + with the most respectful bow. + +The destination of this walk was Schlesinger's music-shop, where +Chopin presented his promising young pupil with the score of +Beethoven's "Fidelio":-- + + "I am in your debt, you have given me much pleasure to-day. I + wrote the Concerto in happier days. Receive, my dear little + friend, this great master-work; read therein as long as you + live, and remember me also sometimes." The little one was as + if stunned, and kissed Chopin's hand. We were all deeply + moved, Chopin himself was so. He disappeared immediately + through the glass door on a level with the Rue Richelieu, into + which it leads. + +A scene of a very different nature which occurred some years +later was described to me by Madame Dubois. This lady, then still +Mdlle. O'Meara and a pupil of Chopin's, had in 1847 played, +accompanied on a second piano by her master, the latter's +Concerto in E minor at a party of Madame de Courbonne's. Madame +Girardin, who was among the guests, afterwards wrote most +charmingly and eulogistically about the young girl's beauty and +talent in one of her Lettres parisiennes, which appeared in La +Presse and were subsequently published in a collected form under +the title of "Le Vicomte de Launay." Made curious by Madame +Girardin's account, and probably also by remarks of Chopin and +others, George Sand wished to see the heroine of that much-talked- +of letter. Thus it came to pass that one day when Miss O'Meara +was having her lesson, George Sand crossed the Square d'Orleans +and paid Chopin a visit in his apartments. The master received +her with all the grace and amiability he was capable of. Noticing +that her pardessus was bespattered with mud, he seemed to be much +vexed, and the exquisitely-elegant gentleman (l'homme de toutes +les elegances ) began to rub off with his small, white hands the +stains which on any other person would have caused him disgust. +And Mdlle. O'Meara, child as she still was, watched what was +going on from the corner of her eye and thought: "Comme il aime +cette femme!" [FOOTNOTE: Madame A. Audley gives an altogether +incorrect account of this incident in her FREDERIC CHOPIN. Madame +Girardin was not one of the actors, and Mdlle. O'Meara did not +think the thoughts attributed to her.] + +Whenever Chopin's connection with George Sand is mentioned, one +hears a great deal of the misery and nothing or little of the +happiness which accrued to him out of it. The years of tenderness +and devotion are slurred over and her infidelities, growing +indifference, and final desertion are dwelt upon with undue +emphasis. Whatever those of Chopin's friends who were not also +George Sand's friends may say, we may be sure that his joys +outweighed his sorrows. Her resoluteness must have been an +invaluable support to so vacillating a character as Chopin's was; +and, although their natures were in many respects discordant, the +poetic element of hers cannot but have found sympathetic chords +in his. Every character has many aspects, but the world is little +disposed to see more than one side of George Sand's--namely, that +which is most conspicuous by its defiance of law and custom, and +finds expression in loud declamation and denunciation. To observe +her in one of her more lovable attitudes of mind, we will +transport ourselves from Chopin's to her salon. + +Louis Enault relates how one evening George Sand, who sometimes +thought aloud when with Chopin--this being her way of chatting-- +spoke of the peacefulness of the country and unfolded a picture +of the rural harmonies that had all the charming and negligent +grace of a village idyl, bringing, in fact, her beloved Berry to +the fireside of the room in the Square d'Orleans. + + "How well you have spoken!" said Chopin naively. + + "You think so?" she replied. "Well, then, set me to music!" + Hereupon Chopin improvised a veritable pastoral symphony, and + George Sand placing herself beside him and laying her hand + gently on his shoulder said: "Go on, velvet fingers [courage, + doigts de velour]!" + +Here is another anecdote of quiet home-life. George Sand had a +little dog which was in the habit of turning round and round in +the endeavour to catch its tail. One evening when it was thus +engaged, she said to Chopin: "If I had your talent, I would +compose a pianoforte piece for this dog." Chopin at once sat down +at the piano, and improvised the charming Waltz in D flat (Op. +64), which hence has obtained the name of Valse du petit chien. +This story is well known among the pupils and friends of the +master, but not always told in exactly the same way. According to +another version, Chopin improvised the waltz when the little dog +was playing with a ball of wool. This variation, however, does +not affect the pith of the story. + +The following two extracts tell us more about the intimate home- +life at Nohant and in the Court d'Orleans than anything we have +as yet met with. + + + Madame Sand to her son; October 17, 1843:-- + + Tell me if Chopin is ill; his letters are short and sad. Take + care of him if he is ailing. Take a little my place. He would + take my place with so much zeal if you were ill. + + + Madame Sand to her son; November 16, 1843:-- + + If you care for the letter which I have written you about her + [Solange], ask Chopin for it. It was for both of you, and it + has not given him much pleasure. He has taken it amiss, and + yet I did not wish to annoy him, God forbid! We shall all see + each other soon again, and hearty embraces [de bonnes + bigeades] [FOOTNOTE: Biger is in the Berry dialect "to kiss."] + all round shall efface all my sermons. + +In another of George Sand's letters to her son--it is dated +November 28, 1843--we read about Chopin's already often-mentioned +valet. Speaking of the foundation of a provincial journal, +"L'Eclaireur de l'Indre," by herself and a number of her friends, +and of their being on the look-out for an editor who would be +content with the modest salary of 2,000 francs, she says:-- + + This is hardly more than the wages of Chopin's domestic, and + to imagine that for this it is possible to find a man of + talent! First measure of the Committee of Public Safety: we + shall outlaw Chopin if he allows himself to have lackeys + salaried like publicists. + +Chopin treated George Sand with the greatest respect and +devotion; he was always aux petits soins with her. It is +characteristic of the man and exemplifies strikingly the delicacy +of his taste and feeling that his demeanour in her house showed +in no way the intimate relation in which he stood to the mistress +of it: he seemed to be a guest like any other occasional visitor. +Lenz wishes to make us believe that George Sand's treatment of +Chopin was unworthy of the great artist, but his statements are +emphatically contradicted by Gutmann, who says that her behaviour +towards him was always respectful. If the lively Russian +councillor in the passages I am going to translate describes +correctly what he heard and saw, he must have witnessed an +exceptional occurrence; it is, however, more likely that the bad +reception he received from the lady prejudiced him against her. + +Lenz relates that one day Chopin took him to the salon of Madame +Marliani, where there was in the evening always a gathering of +friends. + + George Sand [thus runs his account of his first meeting with + the great novelist] did not say a word when Chopin introduced + me. This was rude. Just for that reason I seated myself beside + her. Chopin fluttered about like a little frightened bird in + its cage, he saw something was going to happen. What had he + not always feared on this terrain? At the first pause in the + conversation, which was led by Madame Sand's friend, Madame + Viardot, the great singer whose acquaintance I was later to + make in St. Petersburg, Chopin put his arm through mine and + led me to the piano. Reader! if you play the piano you will + imagine how I felt! It was an upright or cottage piano [Steh- + oder Stutzflugel] of Pleyel's, which people in Paris regard as + a pianoforte. I played the Invitation in a fragmentary + fashion, Chopin gave me his hand in the most friendly manner, + George Sand did not say a word. I seated myself once more + beside her. I had obviously a purpose. Chopin looked anxiously + at us across the table, on which was burning the inevitable + carcel. + + "Are you not coming sometime to St. Petersburg," said I to + George Sand in the most polite tone, "where you are so much + read, so highly admired?" + + "I shall never lower myself by visiting a country of slaves!" + answered George Sand shortly. + + This was indecorous [unanstandig] after she had been uncivil. + + "After all, you are right NOT to come," I replied in the same + tone; "you might find the door closed! I was thinking of the + Emperor Nicholas." + + George Sand looked at me in astonishment, I plunged boldly + into her large, beautiful, brown, cow-like eyes. Chopin did + not seem displeased, I knew the movements of his head. + + Instead of giving any answer George Sand rose in a theatrical + fashion, and strode in the most manly way through the salon to + the blazing fire. I followed her closely, and seated myself + for the third time beside her, ready for another attack. + + She would be obliged at last to say something. + + George Sand drew an enormously thick Trabucco cigar out of her + apron pocket, and called out "Frederic! un fidibus!" + + This offended me for him, that perfect gentleman, my master; I + understood Liszt's words: "Pauvre Frederic!" in all their + significance. + + Chopin immediately came up with a fidibus. + + As she was sending forth the first terrible cloud of smoke, + George Sand honoured me with a word: + + "In St. Petersburg," she began, "I could not even smoke a + cigar in a drawing-room?" + + "In NO drawing-room have I ever seen anyone smoke a cigar, + Madame," I answered, not without emphasis, with a bow! + + George Sand fixed her eyes sharply upon me--the thrust had + gone home! I looked calmly around me at the good pictures in + the salon, each of which was lighted up by a separate lamp. + Chopin had probably heard nothing; he had returned to the + hostess at the table. + + Pauvre Frederic! How sorry I was for him, the great artist! + The next day the Suisse [hall-porter] in the hotel, Mr. + Armand, said to me: "A gentleman and a lady have been here, I + said you were not at home, you had not said you would receive + visitors; the gentleman left his name, he had no card with + him." I read: Chopin et Madame Sand. After this I quarrelled + for two months with Mr. Armand. + +George Sand was probably out of humour on the evening in +question; that it was not her usual manner of receiving visitors +may be gathered from what Chopin said soon after to Lenz when the +latter came to him for a lesson. "George Sand," he said, "called +with me on you. What a pity you were not at home! I regretted it +very much. George Sand thought she had been uncivil to you. You +would have seen how amiable she can be. You have pleased her." + +Alexander Chodzko, the learned professor of Slavonic literature +at the College de France, told me that he was half-a-dozen times +at George Sand's house. Her apartments were furnished in a style +in favour with young men. First you came into a vestibule where +hats, coats, and sticks were left, then into a large salon with a +billiard-table. On the mantel-piece were to be found the +materials requisite for smoking. George Sand set her guests an +example by lighting a cigar. M. Chodzko met there among others +the historian and statesman Guizot, the litterateur Francois, and +Madame Marliani. If Chopin was not present, George Sand would +often ask the servant what he was doing, whether he was working +or sleeping, whether he was in good or bad humour. And when he +came in all eyes were directed towards him. If he happened to be +in good humour George Sand would lead him to the piano, which +stood in one of the two smaller apartments adjoining the salon. +These smaller apartments were provided with couches for those who +wished to talk. Chopin began generally to prelude apathetically +and only gradually grew warm, but then his playing was really +grand. If, however, he was not in a playing mood, he was often +asked to give some of his wonderful mimetic imitations. On such +occasions Chopin retired to one of the side-rooms, and when he +returned he was irrecognisable. Professor Chodzko remembers +seeing him as Frederick the Great. + +Chopin's talent for mimicry, which even such distinguished actors +as Bocage and Madame Dorval regarded with admiration, is alluded +to by Balzac in his novel "Un Homme d'affaires," where he says of +one of the characters that "he is endowed with the same talent +for imitating people which Chopin, the pianist, possesses in so +high a degree; he represents a personage instantly and with +astounding truth." Liszt remarks that Chopin displayed in +pantomime an inexhaustible verve drolatique, and often amused +himself with reproducing in comical improvisations the musical +formulas and peculiar ways of certain virtuosos, whose faces and +gestures he at the same time imitated in the most striking +manner. These statements are corroborated by the accounts of +innumerable eye and ear-witnesses of such performances. One of +the most illustrative of these accounts is the following very +amusing anecdote. When the Polish musician Nowakowski [FOOTNOTE: +He visited Paris in 1838, 1841, and 1846, partly for the purpose +of making arrangements for the publication of his compositions, +among which are Etudes dedicated to Chopin.] visited Paris, he +begged his countryman to bring him in contact with Kalkbrenner, +Liszt, and Pixis. Chopin, replying that he need not put himself +to the trouble of going in search of these artists if he wished +to make their acquaintance, forthwith sat down at the piano and +assumed the attitude, imitated the style of playing, and mimicked +the mien and gestures, first of Liszt and then of Pixis. Next +evening Chopin and Nowakowski went together to the theatre. The +former having left the box during one of the intervals, the +latter looked round after awhile and saw Pixis sitting beside +him. Nowakowski, thinking Chopin was at his favourite game, +clapped Pixis familiarly on the shoulder and said: "Leave off, +don't imitate now!" The surprise of Pixis and the subsequent +confusion of Nowakowski may be easily imagined. When Chopin, who +at this moment returned, had been made to understand what had +taken place, he laughed heartily, and with the grace peculiar to +him knew how to make his friend's and his own excuses. One thing +in connection with Chopin's mimicry has to be particularly noted- +-it is very characteristic of the man. Chopin, we learn from +Liszt, while subjecting his features to all kinds of +metamorphoses and imitating even the ugly and grotesque, never +lost his native grace, "la grimace ne parvenait meme pas a +l'enlaidir." + +We shall see presently what George Sand has to say about her +lover's imitative talent; first, however, we will make ourselves +acquainted with the friends with whom she especially associated. +Besides Pierre Leroux, Balzac, Pauline Viardot-Garcia, and others +who have already been mentioned in the foregoing chapters, she +numbered among her most intimate friends the Republican +politician and historian Louis Blanc, the Republican litterateur +Godefroy Cavaignac, the historian Henri Martin, and the +litterateur Louis Viardot, the husband of Pauline Garcia. + +[FOOTNOTE: This name reminds me of a passage in Louis Blanc's +"Histoire de la Revolution de 1840" (p. 210 of Fifth Edition. +Paris, 1880). "A short time before his [Godefroy Cavaignac's] +end, he was seized by an extraordinary desire to hear music once +more. I knew Chopin. I offered to go to him, and to bring him +with me, if the doctor did not oppose it. The entreaties +thereupon took the character of a supplication. With the consent, +or rather at the urgent prayer, of Madame Cavaignac, I betook +myself to Chopin. Madame George Sand was there. She expressed in +a touching manner the lively interest with which the invalid +inspired her; and Chopin placed himself at my service with much +readiness and grace. I conducted him then into the chamber of the +dying man, where there was a bad piano. The great artist +begins...Suddenly he is interrupted by sobs. Godefroy, in a +transport of sensibility which gave him a moment's physical +strength, had quite unexpectedly raised himself in his bed of +suffering, his face bathed in tears. Chopin stopped, much +disturbed; Madame Cavaignac, leaning towards her son, anxiously +interrogated him with her eyes. He made an effort to become self- +possessed; he attempted to smile, and with a feeble voice said, +'Do not be uneasy, mamma, it is nothing; real childishness...Ah! +how beautiful music is, understood thus!' His thought was--we +had no difficulty in divining it--that he would no longer hear +anything like it in this world, but he refrained from saying +so."] + +Friends not less esteemed by her than these, but with whom she +was less intimate, were the Polish poet Mickiewicz, the famous +bass singer Lablache, the excellent pianist and composer Alkan +aine, the Italian composer and singing-master Soliva (whom we met +already in Warsaw), the philosopher and poet Edgar Quinet, +General Guglielmo Pepe (commander-in-chief of the Neapolitan +insurrectionary army in 1820-21), and likewise the actor Bocage, +the litterateur Ferdinand Francois, the German musician Dessauer, +the Spanish politician Mendizabal, the dramatist and journalist +Etienne Arago, [FOOTNOTE: The name of Etienne Arago is mentioned +in "Ma Vie," but it is that of Emmanuel Arago which occurs +frequently in the "Corrcspcndance."] and a number of literary and +other personages of less note, of whom I shall mention only +Agricol Perdiguier and Gilland, the noble artisan and the +ecrivain proletaire, as George Sand calls them. + +Although some of George Sand's friends were also Chopin's, there +can be no doubt that the society which gathered around her was on +the whole not congenial to him. Some remarks which Liszt makes +with regard to George Sand's salon at Nohant are even more +applicable to her salon in Paris. + + An author's relations with the representatives of publicity + and his dramatic executants, actors and actresses, and with + those whom he treats with marked attention on account of their + merits or because they please him; the crossing of incidents, + the clash and rebound of the infatuations and disagreements + which result therefrom; were naturally hateful to him [to + Chopin]. For a long time he endeavoured to escape from them by + shutting his eyes, by making up his mind not to see anything. + There happened, however, such things, such catastrophes + [denouements], as, by shocking too much his delicacy, + offending too much his habits of the moral and social comme-il- + faut, ended in rendering his presence at Nohant impossible, + although he seemed at first to have felt more content [plus de + repif] there than elsewhere. + +These are, of course, only mere surmises, but Liszt, although +often wrong as to incidents, is, thanks to his penetrative +genius, generally right as to essences. Indeed, if George Sand's +surroundings and Chopin's character and tastes are kept in view +nothing seems to be more probable than that his over-delicate +susceptibilities may have occasionally been shocked by +unrestrained vivacity, loud laughter, and perhaps even coarse +words; that his uncompromising idealism may have been disturbed +by the discordance of literary squabbles, intrigues, and business +transactions; that his peaceable, non-speculative, and non- +argumentative disposition may have been vexed and wearied by +discussions of political, social, religious, literary, and +artistic problems. Unless his own art was the subject, Chopin did +not take part in discussions. And Liszt tells us that Chopin not +only, like most artists, lacked a generalising mind [esprit +generalisateur], but showed hardly any inclination for +aesthetics, of which he had not even heard much. We may be sure +that to Chopin to whom discussions of any kind were distasteful, +those of a circle in which, as in that of George Sand, democratic +and socialistic, theistic and atheistic views prevailed, were +particularly so. For, notwithstanding his bourgeois birth, his +sympathies were with the aristocracy; and notwithstanding his +neglect of ritual observances, his attachment to the Church of +Rome remained unbroken. Chopin does not seem to have concealed +his dislike to George Sand's circle; if he did not give audible +expression to it, he made it sufficiently manifest by seeking +other company. That she was aware of the fact and displeased with +it, is evident from what she says of her lover's social habits in +Ma Vie. The following excerpt from that work is an important +biographical contribution; it is written not without bitterness, +but with hardly any exaggeration:-- + + He was a man of the world par excellence, not of the too + formal and too numerous world, but of the intimate world, of + the salons of twenty persons, of the hour when the crowd goes + away and the habitues crowd round the artist to wrest from him + by amiable importunity his purest inspiration. It was then + only that he exhibited all his genius and all his talent. It + was then also that after having plunged his audience into a + profound recueillement or into a painful sadness, for his + music sometimes discouraged one's soul terribly, especially + when he improvised, he would suddenly, as if to take away the + impression and remembrance of his sorrow from others and from + himself, turn stealthily to a glass, arrange his hair and his + cravat, and show himself suddenly transformed into a + phlegmatic Englishman, into an impertinent old man, into a + sentimental and ridiculous Englishwoman, into a sordid Jew. + The types were always sad, however comical they might be, but + perfectly conceived and so delicately rendered that one could + not grow weary of admiring them. + + All these sublime, charming, or bizarre things that he knew + how to evolve out of himself made him the soul of select + society, and there was literally a contest for his company, + his noble character, his disinterestedness, his self-respect, + his proper pride, enemy of every vanity of bad taste and of + every insolent reclame, the security of intercourse with him, + and the exquisite delicacy of his manners, making him a friend + equally serious and agreeable. + + To tear Chopin away from so many gdteries, to associate him + with a simple, uniform, and constantly studious life, him who + had been brought up on the knees of princesses, was to deprive + him of that which made him live, of a factitious life, it is + true, for, like a painted woman, he laid aside in the evening, + in returning to his home, his verve and his energy, to give + the night to fever and sleeplessness; but of a life which + would have been shorter and more animated than that of the + retirement and of the intimacy restricted to the uniform + circle of a single family. In Paris he visited several salons + every day, or he chose at least every evening a different one + as a milieu. He had thus by turns twenty or thirty salons to + intoxicate or to charm with his presence. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + + +CHOPIN IN HIS SOCIAL RELATIONS: HIS PREDILECTION FOR THE +FASHIONABLE SALON SOCIETY (ACCOUNTS BY MADAME GIRARDIN AND +BERLIOZ); HIS NEGLECT OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTISTS (ARY SCHEFFER, +MARMONTEL, HELLER, SCHULHOFF, THE PARIS CORRESPONDENT OF THE +MUSICAL WORLD); APHORISMS BY LISZT ON CHOPIN IN HIS SOCIAL +ASPECT.--CHOPIN'S FRIENDSHIPS.--GEORGE SAND, LISZT, LENZ, HELLER, +MARMONTEL, AND HILLER ON HIS CHARACTER (IRRITABILITY, FITS OF +ANGER--SCENE WITH MEYERBEER--GAIETY AND RAILLERY, LOVE OF +SOCIETY, AND LITTLE TASTE FOR READING, PREDILECTION FOR THINGS +POLISH).--HIS POLISH, GERMAN, ENGLISH, AND RUSSIAN FRIENDS.--THE +PARTY MADE FAMOUS BY LISZT'S ACCOUNT.--HIS INTERCOURSE WITH +MUSICIANS (OSBORNE, BERLIOZ, BAILLOT, CHERUBINI, KALKBRENNER, +FONTANA, SOWINSKI, WOLFF, MEYERBEER, ALKAN, ETC.).--HIS +FRIENDSHIP WITH LISZT.--HIS DISLIKE TO LETTER-WRITING. + + + +George Sand, although one of the cleverest of the literary +portrayers who have tried their hand at Chopin, cannot be +regarded as one of the most impartial; but it must be admitted +that in describing her deserted lover as un homme du monde par +excellence, non pas du monde trop officiel, trop nombreux, she +says what is confirmed by all who have known him, by his friends, +foes, and those that are neither. Aristocratic society, with +which he was acquainted from his earliest childhood, had always a +great charm for him. When at the beginning of 1833, a little more +than two years after his arrival in Paris, he informed his friend +Dziewanowski that he moved in the highest society--among +ambassadors, princes, and ministers--it is impossible not to see +that the fact gives him much satisfaction. Without going so far +as to say with a great contemporary of Chopin, Stephen Heller, +that the higher you go in society the greater is the ignorance +you find, I think that little if any good for either heart or +mind can come from intercourse with that section of the people +which proudly styles itself "society" (le monde). Many +individuals that belong to it possess, no doubt, true nobility, +wisdom, and learning, nay, even the majority may possess one or +the other or all of them in some degree, but these qualities are +so out of keeping with the prevailing frivolity that few have the +moral courage to show their better nature. If Chopin imagined +that he was fully understood as an artist by society, he was +sadly mistaken. Liszt and Heller certainly held that he was not +fully understood, and they did not merely surmise or speak from +hearsay, for neither of them was a stranger in that quarter, +although the latter avoided it as much as possible. What society +could and did appreciate in Chopin was his virtuosity, his +elegance, and his delicacy. It is not my intention to attempt an +enumeration of Chopin's aristocratic friends and acquaintances, +but in the dedications of his works the curious will find the +most important of them. There, then, we read the names of the +Princess Czartoryska, Countess Plater, Countess Potocka, +Princesse de Beauvau, Countess Appony, Countess Esterhazy, Comte +and Comtesse de Perthuis, Baroness Bronicka, Princess +Czernicheff, Princess Souzzo, Countess Mostowska, Countess +Czosnowska, Comtesse de Flahault, Baroness von Billing, Baron and +Baroness von Stockhausen, Countess von Lobau, Mdlle. de Noailles, +&c. And in addition to these we have representatives of the +aristocracy of wealth, Madame C. de Rothschild foremost amongst +them. Whether the banker Leo with whom and his family Chopin was +on very friendly terms may be mentioned in this connection, I do +not know. But we must remember that round many of the above names +cluster large families. The names of the sisters Countess Potocka +and Princesse de Beauvau call up at once that of their mother, +Countess Komar. Many of these here enumerated are repeatedly +mentioned in the course of this book, some will receive +particular attention in the next chapter. Now we will try to get +a glimpse of Chopin in society. + +Madame de Girardin, after having described in one of her "Lettres +parisiennes" (March 7, 1847) [FOOTNOTE: The full title of the +work is: "Le Vicomte de Launay--Lettres parisiennes par Mdme. +Emile de Girardin." (Paris: Michel Levy freres.)] with what +success Mdlle. O'Meara accompanied by her master played his E +minor Concerto at a soiree of Madame de Courbonne, proceeds thus:- +- + + Mdlle. Meara is a pupil of Chopin's. He was there, he was + present at the triumph of his pupil, the anxious audience + asked itself: "Shall we hear him?" + + The fact is that it was for passionate admirers the torment of + Tantalus to see Chopin going about a whole evening in a salon + and not to hear him. The mistress of the house took pity on + us; she was indiscreet, and Chopin played, sang his most + delicious songs; we set to these joyous or sad airs the words + which came into our heads; we followed with our thoughts his + melodious caprices. There were some twenty of us, sincere + amateurs, true believers, and not a note was lost, not an + intention was misunderstood; it was not a concert, it was + intimate, serious music such as we love; he was not a virtuoso + who comes and plays the air agreed upon and then disappears; + he was a beautiful talent, monopolised, worried, tormented, + without consideration and scruples, whom one dared ask for the + most beloved airs, and who full of grace and charity repeated + to you the favourite phrase, in order that you might carry it + away correct and pure in your memory, and for a long time yet + feast on it in remembrance. Madame so-and-so said: "Please, + play this pretty nocturne dedicated to Mdlle. Stirling."--The + nocturne which I called the dangerous one.--He smiled, and + played the fatal nocturne. "I," said another lady, "should + like to hear once played by you this mazurka, so sad and so + charming." He smiled again, and played the delicious mazurka. + The most profoundly artful among the ladies sought expedients + to attain their end: "I am practising the grand sonata which + commences with this beautiful funeral march," and "I should + like to know the movement in which the finale ought to be + played." He smiled a little at the stratagem, and played the + finale, of the grand sonata, one of the most magnificent + pieces which he has composed. + +Although Madame Girardin's language and opinions are fair +specimens of those prevalent in the beatified regions in which +Chopin delighted to move, we will not follow her rhapsodic eulogy +of his playing. That she cannot be ranked with the connoisseurs +is evident from her statement that the sonata BEGINS with the +funeral march, and that the FINALE is one of the most magnificent +creations of the composer. Notwithstanding Madame Girardin's +subsequent remark that Chopin's playing at Madame de Courbonne's +was quite an exception, her letter may mislead the reader into +the belief that the great pianist was easily induced to sit down +at the piano. A more correct idea may be formed of the real state +of matters from a passage in an article by Berlioz (Feuilleton du +Journal des Debats, October 27, 1849) in which the supremacy of +style over matter is a little less absolute than in the lady's +elegant chit-chat:-- + + A small circle of select auditors, whose real desire to hear + him was beyond doubt, could alone determine him to approach + the piano. What emotions he would then call forth! In what + ardent and melancholy reveries he loved to pour out his soul! + It was usually towards midnight that he gave himself up with + the greatest ABANDON, when the big butterflies of the salon + had left, when the political questions of the day had been + discussed at length, when all the scandal-mongers were at the + end of their anecdotes, when all the snares were laid, all the + perfidies consummated, when one was thoroughly tired of prose, + then, obedient to the mute petition of some beautiful, + intelligent eyes, he became a poet, and sang the Ossianic + loves of the heroes of his dreams, their chivalrous joys, and + the sorrows of the absent fatherland, his dear Poland always + ready to conquer and always defeated. But without these + conditions--the exacting of which for his playing all artists + must thank him for--it was useless to solicit him. The + curiosity excited by his fame seemed even to irritate him, and + he shunned as far as possible the nonsympathetic world when + chance had led him into it. I remember a cutting saying which + he let fly one evening at the master of a house where he had + dined. Scarcely had the company taken coffee when the host, + approaching Chopin, told him that his fellow-guests who had + never heard him hoped that he would be so good as to sit down + at the piano and play them some little thing [quelque petite + chose]. Chopin excused himself from the very first in a way + which left not the slightest doubt as to his inclination. But + when the other insisted, in an almost offensive manner, like a + man who knows the worth and the object of the dinner which he + has given, the artist cut the conversation short by saying + with a weak and broken voice and a fit of coughing: "Ah! + sir...I have...eaten so little!" + +Chopin's predilection for the fashionable salon society led him +to neglect the society of artists. That he carried the odi +profanum vulgus, et arceo too far cannot for a moment be doubted. +For many of those who sought to have intercourse with him were +men of no less nobility of sentiment and striving than himself. +Chopin offended even Ary Scheffer, the great painter, who admired +him and loved him, by promising to spend an evening with him and +again and again disappointing him. Musicians, with a few +exceptions. Chopin seems always to have been careful to keep at a +distance, at least after the first years of his arrival in Paris. +This is regrettable especially in the case of the young men who +looked up to him with veneration and enthusiasm, and whose +feelings were cruelly hurt by the polite but unsympathetic +reception he gave them:-- + + We have had always a profound admiration for Chopin's talent + [writes M. Marmontel], and, let us add, a lively sympathy for + his person. No artist, the intimate disciples not excepted, + has more studied his compositions, and more caused them to be + played, and yet our relations with this great musician have + only been rare and transient. Chopin was surrounded, fawned + upon, closely watched by a small cenacle of enthusiastic + friends, who guarded him against importunate visitors and + admirers of the second order. It was difficult to get access + to him; and it was necessary, as he said himself to that other + great artist whose name is Stephen Heller, to try several + times before one succeeded in meeting him. These trials + ["essais"] being no more to my taste than to Heller's, I could + not belong to that little congregation of faithful ones whose + cult verged on fanaticism. + +As to Stephen Heller--who himself told me that he would have +liked to be more with Chopin, but was afraid of being regarded as +intrusive--Mr. Heller thinks that Chopin had an antipathy to him, +which considering the amiable and truly gentlemanly character of +this artist seems rather strange. + +If the details of Karasowski's account of Chopin's and +Schulhoff's first meeting are correct, the Polish artist was in +his aloofness sometimes even deficient in that common civility +which good-breeding and consideration for the feelings of others +demand. Premising that Fetis in telling the story is less +circumstantial and lays the scene of the incident in the +pianoforte-saloon of Pleyel, I shall quote Karasowski's version, +as he may have had direct information from Schulhoff, who since +1855 has lived much of his time at Dresden, where Karasowski also +resides:-- + + Schulhoff came when quite a young man and as yet completely + unknown to Paris. There he learned that Chopin, who was then + already very ailing and difficult of access, was coming to the + pianoforte-manufactory of Mercier to inspect one of the newly- + invented transposing pianofortes. It was in the year 1844. + Schulhoff seized the opportunity to become personally + acquainted with the master, and made his appearance among the + small party which awaited Chopin. The latter came with an old + friend, a Russian Capellmeister [Soliva?]. Taking advantage of + a propitious moment, Schulhoff got himself introduced by one + of the ladies present. On the latter begging Chopin to allow + Schulhoff to play him something, the renowned master, who was + much bothered by dilettante tormentors, signified, somewhat + displeased, his consent by a slight nod of the head. Schulhoff + seated himself at the pianoforte, while Chopin, with his back + turned to him, was leaning against it. But already during the + short prelude he turned his head attentively towards Schulhoff + who now performed an Allegro brillant en forme de Senate (Op. + I), which he had lately composed. With growing interest Chopin + came nearer and nearer the keyboard and listened to the fine, + poetic playing of the young Bohemian; his pale features grew + animated, and by mien and gesture he showed to all who were + present his lively approbation. When Schulhoff had finished, + Chopin held out his hand to him with the words: "Vous etes un + vrai artiste, un collegue!" Some days after Schulhoff paid the + revered master a visit, and asked him to accept the dedication + of the composition he had played to him. Chopin thanked him in + a heart-winning manner, and said in the presence of several + ladies: "Je suis tres flatte de l'honneur que vous me faites." + +The behaviour of Chopin during the latter part of this +transaction made, no doubt, amends for that of the earlier. But +the ungracious manner in which he granted the young musician +permission to play to him, and especially his turning his back to +Schulhoff when the latter began to play, are not excused by the +fact that he was often bothered by dilettante tormentors. + +The Paris correspondent of the Musical World, writing immediately +after the death of the composer, describes the feeling which +existed among the musicians in the French capital, and also +suggests an explanation and excuse. In the number of the paper +bearing date November 10, 1849, we read as follows:-- + + Owing to his retired way of living and his habitual reserve, + Chopin had few friends in the profession; and, indeed, spoiled + from his original nature by the caprice of society, he was too + apt to treat his brother-artists with a supercilious hauteur, + which many, his equals, and a few, his superiors, were wont to + stigmatise as insulting. But from want of sympathy with the + man, they overlooked the fact that a pulmonary complaint, + which for years had been gradually wasting him to a shadow, + rendered him little fit for the enjoyments of society and the + relaxations of artistic conviviality. In short, Chopin, in + self-defence, was compelled to live in comparative seclusion, + but we wholly disbelieve that this isolation had its source in + unkindness or egotism. We are the more inclined to this + opinion by the fact that the intimate friends whom he + possessed in the profession (and some of them were pianists) + were as devotedly attached to him as the most romantic of his + aristocratic worshippers. + +The reasoning does not seem to me quite conclusive. Would it not +have been possible to live in retirement without drawing upon +himself the accusation of supercilious hauteur? Moreover, as +Chopin was strong enough to frequent fashionable salons, he +cannot have been altogether unable to hold intercourse with his +brother-artists. And, lastly, who are the pianist friends that +were as devotedly attached to him as the most romantic of his +aristocratic worshippers? The fact that Chopin became +subsequently less social and more reticent than he had been in +his early Paris days, confined himself to a very limited number +of friends and families, and had relations of an intimate nature +with only a very few musicians, cannot, therefore, be +attributable to ill-health alone, although that too had, no +doubt, something to do with it, directly or indirectly. In short, +the allegation that Chopin was "spoiled by the caprice of +society," as the above-quoted correspondent puts it, is not only +probable, but even very likely. Fastidious by nature and +education, he became more so, partly in consequence of his +growing physical weakness, and still more through the influence +of the society with which, in the exercise of his profession and +otherwise, he was in constant contact. His pupils and many of his +other admirers, mostly of the female sex and the aristocratic +class, accustomed him to adulation and adoration to such an +extent as to make these to be regarded by him as necessaries of +life. Some excerpts from Liszt's book, which I shall quote here +in the form of aphorisms, will help to bring Chopin, in his +social aspect, clearly before the reader's eyes:-- + + As he did not confound his time, thought, and ways with those + of anyone, the society of women was often more convenient to + him in that it involved fewer subsequent relations. + + He carried into society the uniformity of temper of people + whom no annoyance troubles because they expect no interest. + + His conversation dwelt little on stirring subjects. He glided + over them; as he was not at all lavish of his time, the talk + was easily absorbed by the details of the day. + + He loved the unimportant talk [les causeries sans portee] of + people whom he esteemed; he delighted in the childish + pleasures of young people. He passed readily whole evenings in + playing blind-man's-buff with young girls, in telling them + amusing or funny little stories, in making them laugh the mad + laughter of youth, which it gives even more pleasure to hear + than the singing of the warbler. [FOOTNOTE: This, I think, + must refer to the earlier years of Chopin's residence in + Paris.] + + In his relations and conversations he seemed to take an + interest in what preoccupied the others; he took care not to + draw them out of the circle of their personality inorder to + lead them into his. If he gave up little of his time, he, to + make up for it, reserved to himself nothing of that which he + granted. + + The presence of Chopin was, therefore, always heartily welcome + [fetee]. Not hoping to be understood [devine], disdaining to + speak of himself [de se raconter lui-meme], he occupied + himself so much with everything that was not himself that his + intimate personality remained aloof, unapproached and + unapproachable, under this polite and smooth [glissant] + surface where it was impossible to get a footing. + + He pleased too much to make people reflect. + + He hardly spoke either of love or of friendship. + + He was not exacting like those whose rights and just demands + surpass by far what one would have to offer them. The most + intimate acquaintances did not penetrate to this sacred recess + where, withdrawn from all the rest of his life, dwelt the + secret motive power of his soul: a recess so concealed that + one scarcely suspected its existence. + + Ready to give everything, he did not give himself. + +The last dictum and part of the last but one were already quoted +by me in an earlier chapter, but for the sake of completeness, +and also because they form an excellent starting-point for the +following additional remarks on Chopin's friendships, I have +repeated them here. First of all, I venture to make the sweeping +assertion that Chopin had among his non-Polish friends none who +could be called intimate in the fullest sense of the word, none +to whom he unbosomed himself as he did to Woyciechowski and +Matuszynski, the friends of his youth, and Grzymala, a friend of +a later time. Long cessation of personal intercourse together +with the diverging development of their characters in totally +unlike conditions of life cannot but have diminished the intimacy +with the first named. [FOOTNOTE: Titus Woyciechowski continued to +live on his estate Poturzyn, in the kingdom of Poland.] With +Matuszyriski Chopin remained in close connection till this +friend's death. [FOOTNOTE: Karasowski says in the first volume of +his Polish biography of Chopin that Matuszynski died on April 20, +1842; and in the second that he died after Chopin's father, but +in the same year--that is, in 1844.] How he opened his whole +heart to Grzymala we shall see in a subsequent chapter. That his +friendship with Fontana was of a less intimate character becomes +at once apparent on comparing Chopin's letters to him with those +he wrote to the three other Polish friends. Of all his +connections with non-Poles there seems to be only one which +really deserves the name of friendship, and that is his +connection with Franchomme. Even here, however, he gave much less +than he received. Indeed, we may say--speaking generally, and not +only with a view to Franchomme--that Chopin was more loved than +loving. But he knew well how to conceal his deficiencies in this +respect under the blandness of his manners and the coaxing +affectionateness of his language. There is something really +tragic, and comic too, in the fact that every friend of Chopin's +thought that he had more of the composer's love and confidence +than any other friend. Thus, for instance, while Gutmann told me +that Franchomme was not so intimate with Chopin that the latter +would confide any secrets to him, Franchomme made to me a similar +statement with regard to Gutmann. And so we find every friend of +Chopin declaring that every other friend was not so much of a +friend as himself. Of Chopin's procedures in friendship much may +be learned from his letters; in them is to be seen something of +his insinuating, cajoling ways, of his endeavours to make the +person addressed believe himself a privileged favourite, and of +his habit of speaking not only ungenerously and unlovingly, but +even unjustly of other persons with whom he was apparently on +cordial terms. In fact, it is only too clear that Chopin spoke +differently before the faces and behind the backs of people. You +remember how in his letters to Fontana he abuses Camille Pleyel +in a manner irreconcilable with genuine love and esteem. Well, to +this same Camille Pleyel, of whom he thus falls foul when he +thinks himself in the slightest aggrieved, he addresses on one +occasion the following note. Mark the last sentence:-- + + Dearest friend [Cherissime],--Here is what Onslow has written + to me. I wished to call on you and tell you, but I feel very + feeble and am going to lie down. I love you always more, if + this is possible [je vous aime toujours plus si c'est + possible]. + + CHOPIN. + + [FOOTNOTE: To the above, unfortunately undated, note, which + was published for the first time in the Menestrel of February + 15, 1885, and reprinted in "Un nid d'autographes," lettres + incites recueillies et annotees par Oscar Comettant (Paris: E. + Dentu), is appended the following P.S.:--"Do not forget, + please, friend Herbeault. Till to-morrow, then; I expect you + both." + + La Mara's Musikerbriefe (Leipzig: Breitkopf and Hartel) + contains likewise a friendly letter of Chopin to Camille + Pleyel. It runs thus: + + "Dearest friend,--I received the other day your piano, and + give you my best thanks. It arrived in good tune, and is + exactly at concert-pitch. As yet I have not played much on it, + for the weather is at present so fine that I am almost always + in the open air. I wish you as pleasant weather for your + holidays. Write me a few words (if you find that you have not + sufficiently exercised your pen in the course of the day). May + you all remain well--and lay me at the feet of your mother and + sister.--Your devoted, "F. CHOPIN." + + The date given by La Mara is "Monday [May 20, 1842], Nohant, + near La Chatre, Indre." This, however, cannot be right, for + the 20th of May in 1842 was a Friday.] + +And, again, how atrociously he reviles in the same letters the +banker Leo, who lends him money, often takes charge of his +manuscripts, procures payment for them, and in whose house he has +been for years a frequent visitor. Mr. Ch. Halle informed me that +Chopin was on particularly good terms with the Leos. From +Moscheles' diary we learn that the writer made Chopin's +acquaintance at the banker's house. Stephen Heller told me that +he met Chopin several times at Leo's, and that the Polish +composer visited there often, and continued to go there when he +had given up going to many other houses. And from the same +informant I learned also that Madame Leo as well as her husband +took a kindly interest in Chopin, showing this, for instance, by +providing him with linen. And yet Leo, this man who does him all +sorts of services, and whose smiling guest he is before and +after, is spoken of by Chopin as if he were the most "despicable +wretch imaginable"; and this for no other reason than that +everything has not been done exactly as he wished it to be done. +Unless we assume these revilings to be no more than explosions of +momentary ill-humour, we must find Chopin convicted of duplicity +and ingratitude. In the letters to Fontana there are also certain +remarks about Matuszynski which I do not like. Nor can they be +wholly explained away by saying that they are in part fun and in +part indirect flattery of his correspondent. It would rather seem +that Chopin's undoubtedly real love for Matuszynski was not +unmixed with a certain kind of contempt. And here I must tell the +reader that while Poles have so high an opinion of their nation +in comparison with other nations, and of their countrymen with +other countrymen, they have generally a very mean opinion of each +other. Indeed, I never met with a Pole who did not look down with +a self-satisfied smile of pity on any of his fellow-countrymen, +even on his best friend. It seems that their feeling of +individual superiority is as great as that of their national +superiority. Liszt's observations (see Vol. I., p. 259) and those +of other writers (Polish as well as non-Polish) confirm mine, +which else might rightly be supposed to be based on too limited +an experience. To return to Matuszynski, he may have been too +ready to advise and censure his friend, and not practical enough +to be actively helpful. After reading the letters addressed to +them one comes to the conclusion that Fontana's and Franchomme's +serviceableness and readiness to serve went for something in his +appreciation of them as friends. At any rate, he did not hesitate +to exploiter them most unconscionably. Taking a general view of +the letters written by him during the last twelve years of his +life, one is struck by the absence of generous judgments and the +extreme rareness of sympathetic sentiments concerning third +persons. As this was not the case in his earlier letters, ill- +health and disappointments suggest themselves naturally as causes +of these faults of character and temper. To these principal +causes have, however, to be added his nationality, his originally +delicate constitution, and his cultivation of salon manners and +tastes. His extreme sensitiveness, fastidiousness, and +irritability may be easily understood to derive from one or the +other of these conditions. + +George Sand's Ma Vie throws a good deal of light on Chopin's +character; let us collect a few rays from it:-- + + He [Chopin] was modest on principle and gentle [doux] by + habit, but he was imperious by instinct, and full of a + legitimate pride that did not know itself. + + He was certainly not made to live long in this world, this + extreme type of an artist. He was devoured by the dream of an + ideal which no practical philosophic or compassionate + tolerance combated. He would never compound with human nature. + He accepted nothing of reality. This was his vice and his + virtue, his grandeur and his misery. Implacable to the least + blemish, he had an immense enthusiasm for the least light, his + excited imagination doing its utmost to see in it a sun. + + He was the same in friendship [as in love], becoming + enthusiastic at first sight, getting disgusted, and correcting + himself [se reprenant] incessantly, living on infatuations + full of charms for those who were the object of them, and on + secret discontents which poisoned his dearest affections. + + Chopin accorded to me, I may say honoured me with, a kind of + friendship which was an exception in his life. He was always + the same to me. + + The friendship of Chopin was never a refuge for me in sadness. + He had enough of his own ills to bear. + + We never addressed a reproach to each other, except once, + which, alas! was the first and the last time. + + But if Chopin was with me devotion, kind attention, grace, + obligingness, and deference in person, he had not for all that + abjured the asperities of his character towards those who were + about me. With them the inequality of his soul, in turn + generous and fantastic, gave itself full course, passing + always from infatuation to aversion, and vice versa. + + Chopin when angry was alarming, and as, with me, he always + restrained himself, he seemed almost to choke and die. + +The following extracts from Liszt's book partly corroborate, +partly supplement, the foregoing evidence:-- + + His imagination was ardent, his feelings rose to violence,-- + his physical organisation was feeble and sickly! Who can sound + the sufferings proceeding from this contrast? They must have + been poignant, but he never let them be seen. + + The delicacy of his constitution and of his heart, in imposing + upon him the feminine martyrdom of for ever unavowed tortures, + gave to his destiny some of the traits of feminine destinies. + + He did not exercise a decisive influence on any existence. His + passion never encroached upon any of his desires; he neither + pressed close nor bore down [n'a etreint ni masse] any mind by + the domination of his own. + + However rarely, there were nevertheless instances when we + surprised him profoundly moved. We have seen him turn pale + [palir et blemir] to such a degree as to assume green and + cadaverous tints. But in his intensest emotions he remained + concentrated. He was then, as usually, chary of words about + what he felt; a minute's reflection [recueillement] always hid + the secret of his first impression...This constant control + over the violence of his character reminded one of the + melancholy superiority of certain women who seek their + strength in reticence and isolation, knowing the uselessness + of the explosions of their anger, and having a too jealous + care of the mystery of their passion to betray it + gratuitously. + +Chopin, however, did not always control his temper. Heller +remembers seeing him more than once in a passion, and hearing him +speak very harshly to Nowakowski. The following story, which Lenz +relates in "Die grossen Pianoforte-Virtuosen unserer Zeit," is +also to the point. + + On one occasion Meyerbeer, whom I had not yet seen, entered + Chopin's room when I was getting a lesson. Meyerbeer was not + announced, he was king. I was playing the Mazurka in C (Op. + 33), printed on one page which contains so many hundreds--I + called it the epitaph of the idea [Grabschrift des Begriffs], + so full of distress and sadness is the composition, the + wearied flight of an eagle. + + Meyerbeer had taken a seat, Chopin made me go on. + + "This is two-four time," said Meyerbeer. Chopin denied this, + made me repeat the piece, and beat time aloud with the pencil + on the piano--his eyes were glowing. + + "Two crotchets," repeated Meyerbeer, calmly. + + Only once I saw Chopin angry, it was at this moment. It was + beautiful to see how a light red coloured his pale cheeks. + + "These are three crotchets," he said with a loud voice, he who + spoke always so low + + "Give it me," replied Meyerbeer, "for a ballet in my opera + ("L'Africaine," at that time kept a secret), I shall show it + you then." + + "These are three crotchets," Chopin almost shouted, and played + it himself. He played the mazurka several times, counted + aloud, stamped time with his foot, was beside himself. But all + was of no use, Meyerbeer insisted on TWO crotchets. They + parted very angrily. I found it anything but agreeable to have + been a witness of this angry scene. Chopin disappeared into + his cabinet without taking leave of me. The whole thing lasted + but a few minutes. + +Exhibitions of temper like this were no doubt rare, indeed, +hardly ever occurred except in his intercourse with familiars +and, more especially, fellow-countrymen--sometimes also with +pupils. In passing I may remark that Chopin's Polish vocabulary +was much less choice than his French one. As a rule, Chopin's +manners were very refined and aristocratic, Mr. Halle thinks they +were too much so. For this refinement resulted in a uniform +amiability which left you quite in the dark as to the real nature +of the man. Many people who made advances to Chopin found like M. +Marmontel--I have this from his own mouth--that he had a +temperament sauvage and was difficult to get at. And all who came +near him learned soon from experience that, as Liszt told Lenz, +he was ombrageux. But while Chopin would treat outsiders with a +chilly politeness, he charmed those who were admitted into his +circle both by amiability and wit. "Usually," says Liszt, "he was +lively, his caustic mind unearthed quickly the ridiculous far +below the surface where it strikes all eyes." And again, "the +playfulness of Chopin attacked only the superior keys of the +mind, fond of witticism as he was, recoiling from vulgar +joviality, gross laughter, common merriment, as from those +animals more abject than venomous, the sight of which causes the +most nauseous aversion to certain sensitive and delicate +natures." Liszt calls Chopin "a fine connoisseur in raillery and +an ingenious mocker." The testimony of other acquaintances of +Chopin and that of his letters does not allow us to accept as +holding good generally Mr. Halle's experience, who, mentioning +also the Polish artist's wit, said to me that he never heard him +utter a sarcasm or use a cutting expression. + +Fondness of society is a characteristic trait in Chopin's mental +constitution. Indeed, Hiller told me that his friend could not be +without company. For reading, on the other hand, he did not much +care. Alkan related to me that Chopin did not even read George +Sand's works--which is difficult to believe--and that Pierre +Leroux, who liked Chopin and always brought him his books, might +have found them any time afterwards uncut on the pianist's table, +which is not so difficult to believe, as philosophy and Chopin +are contraries. According to what I learned from Hiller, Chopin +took an interest in literature but read very little. To Heller it +seemed that Chopin had no taste for literature, indeed, he made +on him the impression of an uneducated man. Heller, I must tell +the reader parenthetically, was both a great reader and an +earnest thinker, over whom good books had even the power of +making him neglect and forget mistress Musica without regret and +with little compunction. But to return to Chopin. Franchomme +excused his friend by saying that teaching and the claims of +society left him no time for reading. But if Chopin neglected +French literature--not to speak of other ancient and modern +literatures--he paid some attention to that of his native +country; at any rate, new publications of Polish books were +generally to be found on his table. The reader will also remember +that Chopin, in his letters to Fontana, alludes twice to books of +poetry--one by Mickiewicz which was sent him to Majorca, the +other by Witwicki which he had lost sight of. + +Indeed, anything Polish had an especial charm and value for +Chopin. Absence from his native country so far from diminishing +increased his love for it. The words with which he is reported to +have received the pianist Mortier de Fontaine, who came to Paris +in 1833 and called on him with letters of introduction, are +characteristic in this respect: "It is enough that you have +breathed the air of Warsaw to find a friend and adviser in me." +There is, no doubt, some exaggeration in Liszt's statement that +whoever came to Chopin from Poland, whether with or without +letters of introduction, was sure of a hearty welcome, of being +received with open arms. On the other hand, we may fully believe +the same authority when he says that Chopin often accorded to +persons of his own country what he would not accord to anyone +else--namely, the right of disturbing his habits; that he would +sacrifice his time, money, and comfort to people who were perhaps +unknown to him the day before, showing them the sights of the +capital, having them to dine with him, and taking them in the +evening to some theatre. We have already seen that his most +intimate friends were Poles, and this was so in the aristocratic +as well as in the conventionally less-elevated circles. However +pleasant his relations with the Rothschilds may have been-- +indeed, Franchomme told me that his friend loved the house of +Rothschild and that this house loved him, and that more +especially Madame Nathaniel Rothschild preserved a touching +remembrance of him [FOOTNOTE: Chopin dedicated to Madame la +Baronne C. Rothschild the Waltz, Op. 64, No. 2 (Parisian +Edition), and the Ballade, Op. 52.]--they can have been but of +small significance in comparison with the almost passionate +attachment he had to Prince Alexander Czartoryski and his wife +the Princess Marcelline. And if we were to compare his friendship +for any non-Polish gentleman or lady with that which he felt for +the Countess Delphine Potocka, to whom he dedicated two of his +happiest inspirations in two very different genres (the F minor +Concerto, Op. 21, and the D flat major Waltz, Op. 64, No. I), the +result would be again in favour of his compatriot. +There were, indeed, some who thought that he felt more than +friendship for this lady; this, however, he energetically denied. + +[FOOTNOTE: Of this lady Kwiatkowski said that she took as much +trouble and pride in giving choice musical entertainments as +other people did in giving choice dinners. In Sowinski's +Musiciens polonais we read that she had a beautiful soprano voice +and occupied the first place among the amateur ladies of Paris. +"A great friend of the illustrious Chopin, she gave formerly +splendid concerts at her house with the old company of the +Italians, which one shall see no more in Paris. To cite the names +of Rubini, Lablache, Tamburini, Malibran, Grisi, Persiani, is to +give the highest idea of Italian singing. The Countess Potocka +sang herself according to the method of the Italian masters."] + +But although Chopin was more devoted and more happy in his Polish +friendships, he had beloved as well as loving friends of all +nationalities--Germans, English, and even Russians. That as a +good Pole he hated the Russians as a nation may be taken for +granted. Of his feelings and opinions with regard to his English +friends and the English in general, information will be +forthcoming in a subsequent chapter. The Germans Chopin disliked +thoroughly, partly, no doubt, from political reasons, partly +perhaps on account of their inelegance and social awkwardness. +Still, of this nation were some of his best friends, among them +Hiller, Gutmann, Albrecht, and the Hanoverian ambassador Baron +von Stockhausen. + +[FOOTNOTE: Gutmann, in speaking to me of his master's dislike, +positively ascribed it to the second of the above causes. In +connection with this we must, however, not forget that the +Germans of to-day differ from the Germans of fifty years ago as +much socially as politically. Nor have the social characters of +their neighbours, the French and the English, remained the same.] + +Liszt has given a glowing description of an improvised soiree at +Chopin's lodgings in the Rue de la Chaussee d'Antin--that is, in +the years before the winter in Majorca. At this soiree, we are +told, were present Liszt himself, Heine, Meyerbeer, Nourrit, +Hiller, Delacroix, Niemcewicz, Mickiewicz, George Sand, and the +Comtesse d'Agoult. Of course, this is a poetic licence: these men +and women cannot have been at one and the same time in Chopin's +salon. Indeed, Hiller informed me that he knew nothing of this +party, and that, moreover, as long as he was in Paris (up to +1836) there were hardly ever more numerous gatherings at his +friend's lodgings than of two or three. Liszt's group, however, +brings vividly before us one section of Chopin's social +surroundings: it shows us what a poetic atmosphere he was +breathing, amidst what a galaxy of celebrities he was moving. A +glimpse of the real life our artist lived in the early Paris +years this extravagant effort of a luxuriant imagination does not +afford. Such glimpses we got in his letters to Hiller and +Franchomme, where we also met with many friends and acquaintances +with less high-sounding names, some of whom Chopin subsequently +lost by removal or death. In addition to the friends who were +then mentioned, I may name here the Polish poet Stephen Witwicki, +the friend of his youth as well as of his manhood, to whom in +1842 he dedicated his Op. 41, three mazurkas, and several of +whose poems he set to music; and the Polish painter Kwiatkowski, +an acquaintance of a later time, who drew and painted many +portraits of the composer, and more than one of whose pictures +was inspired by compositions of his friend. I have not been able +to ascertain what Chopin's sentiments were with regard to +Kwiatkowski, but the latter must have been a frequent visitor, +for after relating to me that the composer was fond of playing in +the dusk, he remarked that he heard him play thus almost all his +works immediately after they were composed. + +As we have seen in the chapters treating of Chopin's first years +in Paris, there was then a goodly sprinkling of musicians among +his associates--I use the word "associates" advisedly, for many +of them could not truly be called friends. When he was once +firmly settled, artistically and socially, not a few of these +early acquaintances lapsed. How much this was due to the force of +circumstances, how much to the choice of Chopin, is difficult to +determine. But we may be sure that his distaste to the +Bohemianism, the free and easy style that obtains among a +considerable portion of the artistic tribe, had at least as much +to do with the result as pressure of engagements. Of the +musicians of whom we heard so much in the first years after his +coming to Paris, he remained in close connection only with one- +namely, with Franchomme. Osborne soon disappeared from his +circle. Chopin's intercourse with Berlioz was in after years so +rare that some of their common friends did not even know of its +existence. The loosening of this connection was probably brought +about by the departure of Hiller in 1836 and the quarrel with +Liszt some time after, which broke two links between the +sensitive Pole and the fiery Frenchman. The ageing Baillot and +Cherubini died in 1842. Kalkbrenner died but a short time before +Chopin, but the sympathy existing between them was not strong +enough to prevent their drifting apart. Other artists to whom the +new-comer had paid due homage may have been neglected, forgotten, +or lost sight of when success was attained and the blandishments +of the salons were lavished upon him. Strange to say, with all +his love for what belonged to and came from Poland, he kept +compatriot musicians at a distance. Fontana was an exception, but +him he cherished, no doubt, as a friend of his youth in spite of +his profession, or, if as a musician at all, chiefly because of +his handiness as a copyist. For Sowinski, who was already settled +in Paris when Chopin arrived there, and who assisted him at his +first concert, he did not care. Consequently they had afterwards +less and less intercourse, which, indeed, in the end may have +ceased altogether. An undated letter given by Count Wodziriski in +"Les trois Romans de Frederic Chopin," no doubt originally +written in Polish, brings the master's feelings towards his +compatriot, and also his irritability, most vividly before the +reader. + + Here he is! He has just come in to see me--a tall strong + individual who wears moustaches; he sits down at the piano and + improvises, without knowing exactly what. He knocks, strikes, + and crosses his hands, without reason; he demolishes in five + minutes a poor helpless key; he has enormous fingers, made + rather to handle reins and whip somewhere on the confines of + Ukraine. Here you have the portrait of S...who has no other + merit than that of having small moustaches and a good heart. + If I ever thought of imagining what stupidity and charlatanism + in art are, I have now the clearest perception of them. I run + through my room with my ears reddening; I have a mad desire to + throw the door wide open; but one has to spare him, to show + one's self almost affectionate. No, you cannot imagine what it + is: here one sees only his neckties; one does him the honour + of taking him seriously....There remains, therefore, nothing + but to bear him. What exasperates me is his collection of + little songs, compositions in the most vulgar style, without + the least knowledge of the most elementary rules of harmony + and poetry, concluding with quadrille ritornelli, and which he + calls Recueil de Chants Polonais. You know how I wished to + understand, and how I have in part succeeded in understanding, + our national music. Therefore you will judge what pleasure I + experience when, laying hold of a motive of mine here and + there, without taking account of the fact that all the beauty + of a melody depends on the accompaniment, he reproduces it + with the taste of a frequenter of suburban taverns + (guinguettes) and public-houses (cabarets). And one cannot say + anything to him, for he comprehends nothing beyond what he has + taken from you. + +Edouard Wolff came to Paris in 1835, provided with a letter of +introduction from Chopin's master Zywny; [FOOTNOTE: See Vol. I., +p. 31.] but, notwithstanding this favourable opening of their +acquaintanceship, he was only for some time on visiting terms +with his more distinguished compatriot. Wolff himself told me +that Chopin would never hear one of his compositions. From any +other informant I would not have accepted this statement as +probable, still less as true. [FOOTNOTE: Wolff dedicated in 1841 +his Grand Allegro de Concert pour piano still, Op. 59, a son ami +Chopin; but the latter never repaid him the compliment.] These +remarks about Wolff remind me of another piece of information I +got from this pianist-composer a few months before his death-- +namely, that Chopin hated all Jews, Meyerbeer and Halevy among +the rest. What Pole does not hate the Jews? That Chopin was not +enamoured of them we have seen in his letters. But that he hated +Meyerbeer is a more than doubtful statement. Franchomme said to +me that Meyerbeer was not a great friend of Chopin's; but that +the latter, though he did not like his music, liked him as a man. +If Lenz reports accurately, Meyerbeer's feelings towards Chopin +were, no doubt, warmer than Chopin's towards Meyerbeer. When +after the scene about the rhythm of a mazurka Chopin had left the +room, Lenz introduced himself to Meyerbeer as a friend of the +Counts Wielhorski, of St. Petersburg. On coming to the door, +where a coupe was waiting, the composer offered to drive him +home, and when they were seated said:-- + + I had not seen Chopin for a long time, I love him very much. I + know no pianist like him, no composer for the piano like him. + The piano lives on nuances and on cantilena; it is an + instrument of intimacy [ein Intimitalsinstrument], I also was + once a pianist, and there was a time when I trained myself to + be a virtuoso. Visit me when you come to Berlin. Are we not + now comrades? When one has met at the house of so great a man, + it was for life. + +Kwiatkowski told me a pretty story which se non vero is certainly +ben trovato. When on one occasion Meyerbeer had fallen out with +his wife, he sat down to the piano and played a nocturne or some +other composition which Chopin had sent him. And such was the +effect of the music on his helpmate that she came and kissed him. +Thereupon Meyerbeer wrote Chopin a note telling him of what had +taken place, and asking him to come and see their conjugal +happiness. Among the few musicians with whom Chopin had in later +years friendly relations stands out prominently, both by his +genius and the preference shown him, the pianist and composer +Alkan aine (Charles Henri Valentine), who, however, was not so +intimate with the Polish composer as Franchomme, nor on such easy +terms of companionship as Hiller and Liszt had been. The +originality of the man and artist, his high aims and unselfish +striving, may well have attracted Chopin; but as an important +point in Alkan's favour must be reckoned the fact that he was +also a friend of George Sand's. Indeed, some of the limitations +of Chopin's intercourse were, no doubt, made on her account. +Kwiatkowski told me that George Sand hated Chopin's Polish +friends, and that some of them were consequently not admitted at +all and others only reluctantly. Now suppose that she disliked +also some of the non-Polish friends, musicians as well as others, +would not her influence act in the same way as in the case of the +Poles? + +But now I must say a few words about Chopin and Liszt's +friendship, and how it came to an end. This connection of the +great pianists has been the subject of much of that sentimental +talk of which writers on music and of musical biography are so +fond. This, however, which so often has been represented as an +ideal friendship, was really no friendship at all, but merely +comradeship. Both admired each other sincerely as musicians. If +Chopin did not care much for Liszt's compositions, he had the +highest opinion of him as a pianist. We have seen in the letter +of June 20, 1833, addressed to Hiller and conjointly written by +Chopin and Liszt, how delighted Chopin was with Liszt's manner of +playing his studies, and how he wished to be able to rob him of +it. He said on one occasion to his pupil Mdlle. Kologrivof +[FOOTNOTE: Afterwards Madame Rubio.]: "I like my music when Liszt +plays it." No doubt, it was Liszt's book with its +transcendentally-poetic treatment which induced the false notion +now current. Yet whoever keeps his eyes open can read between the +lines what the real state of matters was. The covert sneers at +and the openly-expressed compassion for his comrade's whims, +weaknesses, and deficiencies, tell a tale. Of Chopin's sentiments +with regard to Liszt we have more than sufficient evidence. Mr. +Halle, who arrived in Paris at the end of 1840, was strongly +recommended to the banker Mallet. This gentleman, to give him an +opportunity to make the acquaintance of the Polish pianist, +invited both to dinner. On this occasion Mr. Halle asked Chopin +about Liszt, but the reticent answer he got was indicative rather +of dislike than of anything else. When in 1842 Lenz took lessons +from Chopin, the latter defined his relations with Liszt thus: +"We are friends, we were comrades." What he meant by the first +half of the statement was, no doubt: "Now we meet only on terms +of polite acquaintanceship." When the comradeship came to an end +I do not know, but I think I do know how it came to an end. When +I asked Liszt about the cause of the termination of their +friendship, he said: "Our lady-loves had quarrelled, and as good +cavaliers we were in duty bound to side with them." [FOOTNOTE: +Liszt's words in describing to me his subsequent relation with +Chopin were similar to those of Chopin to Lenz. He said: "There +was a cessation of intimacy, but no enmity. I left Paris soon +after, and never saw him again."] This, however, was merely a way +to get rid of an inconvenient question. Franchomme explained the +mystery to me, and his explanation was confirmed by what I +learned from Madame Rubio. The circumstances are of too delicate +a nature to be set forth in detail. But the long and short of the +affair is that Liszt, accompanied by another person, invaded +Chopin's lodgings during his absence, and made himself quite at +home there. The discovery of traces of the use to which his rooms +had been put justly enraged Chopin. One day, I do not know how +long after the occurrence, Liszt asked Madame Rubio to tell her +master that he hoped the past would be forgotten and the young +man's trick (Junggesellenstuck) wiped out. Chopin then said that +he could not forget, and was much better as he was; and further, +that Liszt was not open enough, having always secrets and +intrigues, and had written in some newspapers feuilleton notices +unfavourable to him. This last accusation reminds one at once of +the remark he made when he heard that Liszt intended to write an +account of one of his concerts for the Gazette musicale. I have +quoted the words already, but may repeat them here: "Il me +donnera un petit royaume dans son empire" (He will give me a +little kingdom in his empire). In this, as in most sayings of +Chopin regarding Liszt, irritation against the latter is +distinctly noticeable. The cause of this irritation may be +manifold, but Liszt's great success as a concert-player and his +own failure in this respect [FOOTNOTE: I speak here only of his +inability to impress large audiences, to move great masses.] have +certainly something to do with it. Liszt, who thought so +likewise, says somewhere in his book that Chopin knew how to +forgive nobly. Whether this was so or not, I do not venture to +decide. But I am sure if he forgave, he never forgot. An offence +remained for ever rankling in his heart and mind. + +From Chopin's friends to his pupils is but one step, and not even +that, for a great many of his pupils were also his friends; +indeed, among them were some of those who were nearest to his +heart, and not a few in whose society he took a particular +delight. Before I speak, however, of his teaching, I must say a +few words about a subject which equally relates to our artist's +friends and pupils, and to them rather than to any other class of +people with whom he had any dealings. + + One of his [Chopin's] oddities [writes Liszt] consisted in + abstaining from every exchange of letters, from every sending + of notes; one could have believed that he had made a vow never + to address letters to strangers. It was a curious thing to see + him have recourse to all kinds of expedients to escape from + the necessity of tracing a few lines. Many times he preferred + traversing Paris from one end to the other in order to decline + a dinner or give some slight information, to saving himself + the trouble by means of a little sheet of paper. His + handwriting remained almost unknown to most of his friends. It + is said that he sometimes deviated from this habit in favour + of his fair compatriots settled at Paris, of whom some are in + possession of charming autographs of his, all written in + Polish. This breach of what one might have taken as a rule may + be explained by the pleasure he took in speaking his language, + which he employed in preference, and whose most expressive + idioms he delighted in translating to others. Like the Slaves + generally, he mastered the French language very well; + moreover, owing to his French origin, it had been taught him + with particular care. But he accommodated himself badly to it, + reproaching it with having little sonority and being of a cold + genius. + + [FOOTNOTE: Notwithstanding his French origin, Chopin spoke + French with a foreign accent, some say even with a strong + foreign accent. Of his manner of writing French I spoke when + quoting his letters to Franchomme (see Vol. I., p. 258).] + +Liszt's account of Chopin's bizarrerie is in the main correct, +although we have, of course, to make some deduction for +exaggeration. In fact, Gutmann told me that his master sometimes +began a letter twenty times, and finally flung down the pen and +said: "I'll go and tell her [or "him," as the case might be] +myself." + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + + +CHOPIN AS A TEACHER: HIS SUCCESS OR WANT OF SUCCESS AS SUCH; HIS +PUPILS, AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL; METHOD OF TEACHING; AND +TEACHING REPERTOIRE. + + + +As Chopin rarely played in public and could not make a +comfortable living by his compositions, there remained nothing +for him but to teach, which, indeed, he did till his strength +forsook him. But so far from regarding teaching as a burden, says +his pupil Mikuli, he devoted himself to it with real pleasure. Of +course, a teacher can only take pleasure in teaching when he has +pupils of the right sort. This advantage, however, Chopin may +have enjoyed to a greater extent than most masters, for according +to all accounts it was difficult to be received as a pupil--he by +no means gave lessons to anyone who asked for them. As long as he +was in fair health, he taught during the season from four to five +hours a day, in later years only, or almost only, at home. His +fee for a lesson was twenty francs, which were deposited by the +pupil on the mantelpiece. + +Was Chopin a good teacher? His pupils without exception most +positively affirm it. But outsiders ask: How is it, then, that so +great a virtuoso has not trained players who have made the world +ring with their fame? Mr. Halle, whilst pointing out the fact +that Chopin's pupils have not distinguished themselves, did not +wish to decide whether this was owing to a deficiency in the +master or to some other cause. Liszt, in speaking to me on this +subject, simply remarked: "Chopin was unfortunate in his pupils-- +none of them has become a player of any importance, although some +of his noble pupils played very well." If we compare Liszt's +pianistic offspring with Chopin's, the difference is indeed +striking. But here we have to keep in mind several considerations- +-Chopin taught for a shorter period than Liszt; most of his +pupils, unlike Liszt's, were amateurs; and he may not have met +with the stuff out of which great virtuosos are made. That Chopin +was unfortunate in his pupils may be proved by the early death of +several very promising ones. Charles Filtsch, born at +Hermannstadt, Transylvania (Hungary), about 1830, of whom Liszt +and Lenz spoke so highly (see Chapter XXVI.), died on May 11, +1845, at Venice, after having in 1843 made a sensation in London +and Vienna, both by the poetical and technical qualities of his +playing. In London "little Filtsch" played at least twice in +public (on June 14 at the St. James's Theatre between two plays, +and on July 4 at a matinee of his own at the Hanover Square +Rooms), repeatedly in private, and had also the honour to appear +before the Queen at Buckingham Palace. J. W. Davison relates in +his preface to Chopin's mazurkas and waltzes (Boosey & Co.) a +circumstance which proves the young virtuoso's musicianship. +"Engaged to perform Chopin's second concerto in public, the +orchestral parts not being obtainable, Filtsch, nothing dismayed, +wrote out the whole of them from memory." Another short-lived +great talent was Paul Gunsberg. "This young man," Madame Dubois +informed me, "was endowed with an extraordinary organisation. +Chopin had made of him an admirable executant. He died of +consumption, otherwise he would have become celebrated." I do not +know in which year Gunsberg died. He was still alive on May 11, +1855. For on that day he played with his fellow-pupil Tellefsen, +at a concert given by the latter in Paris, a duet of Schumann's. +A third pupil of Chopin prematurely snatched away by death was +Caroline Hartmann, the daughter of a manufacturer, born at +Munster, near Colmar, in 1808. She came to Paris in 1833, and +died the year after--of love for Chopin, as Edouard Wolff told +me. Other authorities, however, ascribe the sad effect to a less +romantic cause. They say that through persevering study under the +direction of Chopin and Liszt she became an excellent pianist, +but that the hard work brought on a chest complaint to which she +succumbed on July 30, 1834. The GAZETTE MUSICALE of August 17, +1834, which notices her death, describes her as a pupil of Liszt, +Chopin, and Pixis, without commenting on her abilities. Spohr +admired her as a child. But if Chopin has not turned out +virtuosos of the calibre of Tausig and Hans von Bulow, he has +nevertheless formed many very clever pianists. It would serve no +purpose except that of satisfying idle curiosity to draw up a +list of all the master's ascertainable pupils. Those who wish, +however, to satisfy this idle curiosity can do so to some extent +by scanning the dedications of Chopin's works, as the names +therein to be found--with a few and mostly obvious exceptions-- +are those of pupils. The array of princesses, countesses, &c., +will, it is to be hoped, duly impress the investigator. Let us +hear what the illustrious master Marmontel has to say on this +subject:-- + + Among the pianist-composers who have had the immense advantage + of taking lessons from Chopin, to impregnate themselves with + his style and manner, we must cite Gutmann, Lysberg, and our + dear colleague G. Mathias. The Princesses de Chimay, + Czartoryska, the Countesses Esterhazy, Branicka, Potocka, de + Kalergis, d'Est; Mdlles. Muller and de Noailles were his + cherished disciples [disciples affectionnees]. Madame Dubois, + nee O'Meara, is also one of his favourite pupils [eleves de + predilection], and numbers among those whose talent has best + preserved the characteristic traditions and procedures + [procedes] of the master. + +Two of Chopin's amateur and a few more of his professional pupils +ought to be briefly noticed here--first and chiefly of the +amateurs, the Princess Marcelline Czartoryska, who has sometimes +played in public for charitable purposes, and of whom it has +often been said that she is the most faithful transmitter of her +master's style. Would the praise which is generally lavished upon +her have been so enthusiastic if the lady had been a professional +pianist instead of a princess? The question is ungracious in one +who has not had the pleasure of hearing her, but not unnaturally +suggests itself. Be this as it may, that she is, or was, a good +player, who as an intimate friend and countrywoman thoroughly +entered into the spirit of her master's music, seems beyond +question. + +[FOOTNOTE: "The Princess Marcelline Czartoryska," wrote Sowinski +in 1857 in the article "Chopin" of his "Musicien polonais," "who +has a fine execution, seems to have inherited Chopin's ways of +procedure, especially in phrasing and accentuation. Lately the +Princess performed at Paris with much success the magnificent F +minor Concerto at a concert for the benefit of the poor." A +critic, writing in the Gazette Musicale of March 11, 1855, of a +concert given by the Princess--at which she played an andante +with variations for piano and violoncello by Mozart, a rondo for +piano and orchestra by Mendelssohn, and Chopin's F minor +Concerto, being assisted by Alard as conductor, the violoncellist +Franchomme, and the singers Madame Viardot and M. Fedor--praised +especially her rendering of the ADAGIO in Chopin's Concerto. Lenz +was the most enthusiastic admirer of the Princess I have met +with. He calls her (in the Berliner Musikzeitung, Vol. XXVI) a +highly-gifted nature, the best pupil [Schulerin] of Chopin, and +the incarnation of her master's pianoforte style. At a musical +party at the house of the Counts Wilhorski at St. Petersburg, +where she performed a waltz and the Marche funebre by Chopin, her +playing made such an impression that it was thought improper to +have any more music on that evening, the trio of the march +having, indeed, moved the auditors to tears. The Princess told +Lenz that on one occasion when Chopin played to her this trio, +she fell on her knees before him and felt unspeakably happy.] + +G. Chouquet reminded me not to omit to mention among Chopin's +pupils Madame Peruzzi, the wife of the ambassador of the Duke of +Tuscany to the court of Louis Philippe:-- + + This virtuosa [wrote to me the late keeper of the Musee of the + Paris Conservatoire] had no less talent than the Princess + Marcelline Czartoryska. I heard her at Florence in 1852, and I + can assure you that she played Chopin's music in the true + style and with all the unpublished traits of the master. She + was of Russian origin. + +But enough of amateurs. Mdlle. Friederike Muller, now for many +years married to the Viennese pianoforte-maker J. B. Streicher, +is regarded by many as the most, and is certainly one of the most +gifted of Chopin's favourite pupils. [FOOTNOTE: She played +already in public at Vienna in the fourth decade of this century, +which must have been before her coming to Paris (see Eduard +Hanslick, Geschichte des Concertwesens in Wien, p. 326). Marriage +brought the lady's professional career to a close.] That the +composer dedicated to her his Allegro de Concert, Op. 46, may be +regarded as a mark of his love and esteem for her. Carl Mikuli +found her assistance of great importance in the preparation of +his edition of Chopin's works, as she had received lessons from +the master for several years, and, moreover, had had many +opportunities of hearing him on other occasions. The same +authority refers to Madame Dubois (nee O'Meara) [FOOTNOTE: A +relation of Edward Barry O'Meara, physician to the first Napoleon +at St. Helena, and author of "Napoleon in Exile."] and to Madame +Rubio (NEE Vera de Kologrivof) as to "two extremely excellent +pianists [hochst ausgezeichnete Pianistinnen] whose talent +enjoyed the advantage of the master's particular care." The +latter lady was taught by Chopin from 1842 to 1849, and in the +last years of his life assisted him, as we shall see, by taking +partial charge of some of his pupils. Madame Dubois, who studied +under Kalkbrenner from the age of nine to thirteen, became then a +pupil of Chopin, with whom she remained five years. It was very +difficult to obtain his consent to take another pupil, but the +influence of M. Albrecht, a common friend of her father's and +Chopin's, stood her in good stead. Although I heard her play only +one or two of her master's minor pieces, and under very +unfavourable circumstances too--namely, at the end of the +teaching season and in a tropical heat--I may say that her suave +touch, perfect legato, and delicate sentiment seemed to me to +bear out the above-quoted remark of M. Marmontel. Madame Dubois, +who is one of the most highly-esteemed teachers of the piano in +Paris, used to play till recently in public, although less +frequently in later than in earlier years. And here I must +extract a passage from Madame Girardin's letter of March 7, 1847, +in Vol. IV. of "Le Vicomte de Launay," where, after describing +Mdlle. O'Meara's beauty, more especially her Irish look--"that +mixture of sadness and serenity, of profound tenderness and shy +dignity, which you never find in the proud and brilliant looks +which you admire in the women of other nations "--she says:-- + + We heard her a few hours ago; she played in a really superior + way the beautiful Concerto of Chopin in E flat minor [of + course E minor]; she was applauded with enthusiasm. [FOOTNOTE: + Chopin accompanied on a second piano. The occasion was a + soiree at the house of Madame de Courbonne.] All we can say to + give you an idea of Mdlle. O'Meara's playing is that there is + in her playing all that is in her look, and in addition to it + an admirable method, and excellent fingering. Her success has + been complete; in hearing her, statesmen were moved...and the + young ladies, those who are good musicians, forgave her her + prettiness. + +As regards Chopin's male pupils, we have to note George Mathias +(born at Paris in 1826), the well-known professor of the piano at +the Paris Conservatoire, [FOOTNOTE: He retired a year or two +ago.] and still more widely-known composer of more than half-a- +hundred important works (sonatas, trios, concertos, symphonic +compositions, pianoforte pieces, songs, &c.), who enjoyed the +master's teaching from 1839 to 1844; Lysberg (1821-1873), whose +real name was Charles Samuel Bovy, for many years professor of +the piano at the Conservatoire of his native town, Geneva, and a +very fertile composer of salon pieces for the piano (composer +also of a one-act comic opera, La Fills du Carillonneur), +distinguished by "much poetic feeling, an extremely careful form, +an original colouring, and in which one often seems to see pass a +breath of Weber or Chopin"; [FOOTNOTE: Supplement et Complement +to Fetis' Biographie universelle des Musiciens, published under +the direction of Arthur Pougin.] the Norwegian Thomas Dyke Acland +Tellefsen (1823-1874), a teacher of the piano in Paris and author +of an edition of Chopin's works; Carl Mikuli (born at Czernowitz +in 1821), since 1858 artistic director of the Galician Musical +Society (conservatoire, concerts, &c.), and author of an edition +of Chopin's works; and Adolph Gutmann, the master's favourite +pupil par excellence, of whom we must speak somewhat more at +length. Karasowski makes also mention of Casimir Wernik, who died +at St. Petersburg in 1859, and of Gustav Schumann, a teacher of +the piano at Berlin, who, however, was only during the winter of +1840-1841 with the Polish master. For Englishmen the fact of the +late Brinley Richards and Lindsay Sloper having been pupils of +Chopin--the one for a short, the other for a longer period--will +be of special interest. + +Adolph Gutmann was a boy of fifteen when in 1834 his father +brought him to Paris to place him under Chopin. The latter, +however, did not at first feel inclined to accept the proposed +trust; but on hearing the boy play he conceived so high an idea +of his capacities that he agreed to undertake his artistic +education. Chopin seems to have always retained a thorough belief +in his muscular pupil, although some of his great pianist friends +thought this belief nothing but a strange delusion. There are +also piquant anecdotes told by fellow-pupils with the purpose of +showing that Chopin did not care very much for him. For instance, +the following: Some one asked the master how his pupil was +getting on, "Oh, he makes very good chocolate," was the answer. +Unfortunately, I cannot speak of Gutmann's playing from +experience, for although I spent eight days with him, it was on a +mountain-top in the Tyrol, where there were no pianos. But +Chopin's belief in Gutmann counts with me for something, and so +does Moscheles' reference to him as Chopin's "excellent pupil"; +more valuable, I think, than either is the evidence of Dr. A. C. +Mackenzie, who at my request visited Gutmann several times in +Florence and was favourably impressed by his playing, in which he +noticed especially beauty of tone combined with power. As far as +I can make out Gutmann planned only once, in 1846, a regular +concert-tour, being furnished for it by Chopin with letters of +introduction to the highest personages in Berlin, Warsaw, and St. +Petersburg. Through the intervention of the Countess Rossi +(Henriette Sontag), he was invited to play at a court-concert at +Charlottenburg in celebration of the King's birthday. [FOOTNOTE: +His part of the programme consisted of his master's E minor +Concerto (2nd and 3rd movements) and No. 3 of the first book of +studies, and his own tenth study.] But the day after the concert +he was seized with such home-sickness that he returned forthwith +to Paris, where he made his appearance to the great astonishment +of Chopin. The reader may perhaps be interested in what a writer +in the Gazette Musicale said about Chopin's favourite pupil on +March 24, 1844:-- + + M. Gutmann is a pianist with a neat but somewhat cold style of + playing; he has what one calls fingers, and uses them with + much dexterity. His manner of proceeding is rather that of + Thalberg than of the clever professor who has given him + lessons. He afforded pleasure to the lovers of the piano + [amateurs de piano] at the musical SOIREE which he gave last + Monday at M. Erard's. Especially his fantasia on the + "Freischutz" was applauded. + +Of course, the expression of any individual opinion is no +conclusive proof. Gutmann was so successful as a teacher and in a +way also as a composer (his compositions, I may say in passing, +were not in his master's but in a light salon style) that at a +comparatively early period of his life he was able to retire from +his profession. After travelling for some time he settled at +Florence, where he invented the art, or, at least, practised the +art which he had previously invented, of painting with oil- +colours on satin. He died at Spezzia on October 27, 1882. + +[FOOTNOTE: The short notice of Gutmann in Fetis' Biographie +Universelle des Musiciens, and those of the followers of this by +no means infallible authority, are very incorrect. Adolfo +Gutmann, Riccordi Biografici, by Giulio Piccini (Firenze: +Guiseppe Polverini, 1881), reproduces to a great extent the +information contained in Der Lieblingsschuler Chopin's in +Bernhard Stavenow's Schone Geister (Bremen: Kuhlmann, 1879), both +which publications, eulogistic rather than biographical, were +inspired by Gutmann.] + +Whatever interest the reader may have taken in this survey of +Chopin's pupils, he is sure to be more deeply interested by the +account of the master's manner and method of teaching. Such an +account, which would be interesting in the case of any remarkable +virtuoso who devoted himself to instruction, is so in a higher +degree in that of Chopin: first, because it may help us to solve +the question why so unique a virtuoso did not form a single +eminent concert-player; secondly, because it throws still further +light on his character as a man and artist; and thirdly, because, +as Mikuli thinks may be asserted without exaggeration, "only +Chopin's pupils knew the pianist in the fulness of his unrivalled +height." The materials at my disposal are abundant and not less +trustworthy than abundant. My account is based chiefly on the +communications made to me by a number of the master's pupils-- +notably, Madame Dubois, Madame Rubio, M. Mathias, and Gutmann-- +and on Mikuli's excellent preface to his edition of Chopin's +works. When I have drawn upon other sources, I have not done so +without previous examination and verification. I may add that I +shall use as far as possible the ipsissima verba of my +informants:-- + + As to Chopin's method of teaching [wrote to me M. Mathias], it + was absolutely of the old legato school, of the school of + Clementi and Cramer. Of course, he had enriched it by a great + variety of touch [d'une grande variete dans l'attaque de la + touche]; he obtained a wonderful variety of tone and NUANCES + of tone; in passing I may tell you that he had an + extraordinary vigour, but only by flashes [ce ne pouvait etre + que par eclairs]. + +The Polish master, who was so original in many ways, differed +from his confreres even in the way of starting his pupils. With +him the normal position of the hand was not that above the keys +c, d, e, f, g (i.e., above five white keys), but that above the +keys e, f sharp, g sharp, a sharp, b (I.E., above two white keys +and three black keys, the latter lying between the former). The +hand had to be thrown lightly on the keyboard so as to rest on +these keys, the object of this being to secure for it not only an +advantageous, but also a graceful position:-- + +[FOOTNOTE: Kleczynski, in Chopin: De l'interpretation de ses +oeuvres--Trois conferences faites a Varsovie, says that he was +told by several of the master's pupils that the latter sometimes +held his hands absolutely flat. When I asked Madame Dubois about +the correctness of this statement, she replied: "I never noticed +Chopin holding his hands flat." In short, if Chopin put his hands +at any time in so awkward a position, it was exceptional; +physical exhaustion may have induced him to indulge in such +negligence when the technical structure of the music he was +playing permitted it.] + + Chopin [Madame Dubois informed me] made his pupils begin with + the B major scale, very slowly, without stiffness. Suppleness + was his great object. He repeated, without ceasing, during the + lesson: "Easily, easily" [facilement, facilement]. Stiffness + exasperated him. + +How much stiffness and jerkiness exasperated him may be judged +from what Madame Zaleska related to M. Kleczynski. A pupil having +played somewhat carelessly the arpeggio at the beginning of the +first study (in A flat major) of the second book of Clementi's +Preludes et Exercices, the master jumped from his chair and +exclaimed: "What is that? Has a dog been barking?" [Qu'est-ce? +Est-ce un chien qui vient d'aboyer?] The rudeness of this +exclamation will, no doubt, surprise. But polite as Chopin +generally was, irritation often got the better of him, more +especially in later years when bad health troubled him. Whether +he ever went the length of throwing the music from the desk and +breaking chairs, as Karasowski says, I do not know and have not +heard confirmed by any pupil. Madame Rubio, however, informed me +that Chopin was very irritable, and when teaching amateurs used +to have always a packet of pencils about him which, to vent his +anger, he silently broke into bits. Gutmann told me that in the +early stages of his discipleship Chopin sometimes got very angry, +and stormed and raged dreadfully; but immediately was kind and +tried to soothe his pupil when he saw him distressed and weeping. + + To be sure [writes Mikuli], Chopin made great demands on the + talent and diligence of the pupil. Consequently, there were + often des lecons orageuses, as it was called in the school + idiom, and many a beautiful eye left the high altar of the + Cite d'Orleans, Rue St. Lazare, bedewed with tears, without, + on that account, ever bearing the dearly-beloved master the + least grudge. For was not the severity which was not easily + satisfied with anything, the feverish vehemence with which the + master wished to raise his disciples to his own stand-point, + the ceaseless repetition of a passage till it was understood, + a guarantee that he had at heart the progress of the pupil? A + holy artistic zeal burnt in him then, every word from his lips + was incentive and inspiring. Single lessons often lasted + literally for hours at a stretch, till exhaustion overcame + master and pupil. + +Indeed, the pupils were so far from bearing their master the +least grudge that, to use M. Marmontel's words, they had more for +him than admiration: a veritable idolatry. But it is time that +after this excursion--which hardly calls for an excuse--we return +to the more important part of our subject, the master's method of +teaching. + + What concerned Chopin most at the commencement of his + instruction [writes Mikuli] was to free the pupil from every + stiffness and convulsive, cramped movement of the hand, and to + give him thus the first condition of a beautiful style of + playing, souplesse (suppleness), and with it independence of + the fingers. He taught indefatigably that the exercises in + question were no mere mechanical ones, but called for the + intelligence and the whole will of the pupil, on which account + twenty and even forty thoughtless repetitions (up to this time + the arcanum of so many schools) do no good at all, still less + the practising during which, according to Kalkbrenner's + advice, one may occupy one's self simultaneously with some + kind of reading(!). + + He feared above all [remarked Madame Dubois to me] the + abrutissement of the pupils. One day he heard me say that I + practised six hours a day. He became quite angry, and forbade + me to practise more than three hours. This was also the advice + of Hummel in his pianoforte school. + +To resume Mikuli's narrative:-- + + Chopin treated very thoroughly the different kinds of touch, + especially the full-toned [tonvolle] legato. + + [FOOTNOTE: Karasowski says that Chopin demanded absolutely + from his pupils that they should practise the exercises, and + especially the scales in major and minor, from piano to + fortissimo, staccato as well as legato, and also with a change + of accent, which was to be now on the second, now on the + third, now on the fourth note. Madame Dubois, on the other + hand, is sure she was never told by her master to play the + scales staccato.] + + "As gymnastic helps he recommended the bending inward and + outward of the wrist, the repeated touch from the wrist, the + extending of the fingers, but all this with the earnest + warning against over-fatigue. He made his pupils play the + scales with a full tone, as connectedly as possible, very + slowly and only gradually advancing to a quicker TEMPO, and + with metronomic evenness. The passing of the thumb under the + other fingers and the passing of the latter over the former + was to be facilitated by a corresponding turning inward of the + hand. The scales with many black keys (B, F sharp, and D flat) + were first studied, and last, as the most difficult, C major. + In the same sequence he took up Clementi's Preludes et + Exercices, a work which for its utility he esteemed very + highly." + + [FOOTNOTE: Kleczynski writes that whatever the degree of + instruction was which Chopin's pupils brought with them, they + had all to play carefully besides the scales the second book + of Clementi's Preludes et Exercices, especially the first in A + flat major.] + + According to Chopin the evenness of the scales (also of the + arpeggios) not merely depended on the utmost equal + strengthening of all fingers by means of five-finger exercises + and on a thumb entirely free at the passing under and over, + but rather on a lateral movement (with the elbow hanging quite + down and always easy) of the hand, not by jerks, but + continuously and evenly flowing, which he tried to illustrate + by the glissando over the keyboard. Of studies he gave after + this a selection of Cramer's Etudes, Clementi's Gradus ad + Parnassum, Moscheles' style-studies for the higher development + (which were very sympathetic to him), and J. S. Bach's suites + and some fugues from Das wohltemperirte Clavier. In a certain + way Field's and his own nocturnes numbered likewise with the + studies, for in them the pupil was--partly by the apprehension + of his explanations, partly by observation and imitation (he + played them to the pupil unweariedly)--to learn to know, love, + and execute the beautiful smooth [gebundene] vocal tone and + the legato. + + [FOOTNOTE: This statement can only be accepted with much + reserve. Whether Chopin played much or little to his pupil + depended, no doubt, largely on the mood and state of health he + was in at the time, perhaps also on his liking or disliking + the pupil. The late Brinley Richards told me that when he had + lessons from Chopin, the latter rarely played to him, making + his corrections and suggestions mostly by word of mouth.] + + With double notes and chords he demanded most strictly + simultaneous striking, breaking was only allowed when it was + indicated by the composer himself; shakes, which he generally + began with the auxiliary note, had not so much to be played + quick as with great evenness the conclusion of the shake + quietly and without precipitation. For the turn (gruppetto) + and the appoggiatura he recommended the great Italian singers + as models. Although he made his pupils play octaves from the + wrist, they must not thereby lose in fulness of tone. + +All who have had the good fortune to hear Chopin play agree in +declaring that one of the most distinctive features of his style +of execution was smoothness, and smoothness, as we have seen in +the foregoing notes, was also one of the qualities on which he +most strenuously insisted in the playing of his pupils. The +reader will remember Gutmann's statement to me, mentioned in a +previous chapter, that all his master's fingering was calculated +for the attainment of this object. Fingering is the mainspring, +the determining principle, one might almost say the life and +soul, of the pianoforte technique. We shall, therefore, do well +to give a moment's consideration to Chopin's fingering, +especially as he was one of the boldest and most influential +revolutionisers of this important department of the pianistic +art. His merits in this as in other respects, his various claims +to priority of invention, are only too often overlooked. As at +one time all ameliorations in the theory and practice of music +were ascribed to Guido of Arezzo, so it is nowadays the fashion +to ascribe all improvements and extensions of the pianoforte +technique to Liszt, who more than any other pianist drew upon +himself the admiration of the world, and who through his pupils +continued to make his presence felt even after the close of his +career as a virtuoso. But the cause of this false opinion is to +be sought not so much in the fact that the brilliancy of his +artistic personality threw all his contemporaries into the shade, +as in that other fact, that he gathered up into one web the many +threads new and old which he found floating about during the +years of his development. The difference between Liszt and Chopin +lies in this, that the basis of the former's art is universality, +that of the latter's, individuality. Of the fingering of the one +we may say that it is a system, of that of the other that it is a +manner. Probably we have here also touched on the cause of +Liszt's success and Chopin's want of success as a teacher. I +called Chopin a revolutioniser of fingering, and, I think, his +full enfranchisement of the thumb, his breaking-down of all +distinctions of rank between the other fingers, in short, the +introduction of a liberty sometimes degenerating into licence, +justifies the expression. That this master's fingering is +occasionally eccentric (presupposing peculiarly flexible hands +and a peculiar course of study) cannot be denied; on the whole, +however, it is not only well adapted for the proper rendering of +his compositions, but also contains valuable contributions to a +universal system of fingering. The following particulars by +Mikuli will be read with interest, and cannot be misunderstood +after what has just now been said on the subject:-- + + In the notation of fingering, especially of that peculiar to + himself, Chopin was not sparing. Here pianoforte-playing owes + him great innovations which, on account of their expedience, + were soon adopted, notwithstanding the horror with which + authorities like Kalkbrenner at first regarded them. Thus, for + instance, Chopin used without hesitation the thumb on the + black keys, passed it even under the little finger (it is + true, with a distinct inward bend of the wrist), if this could + facilitate the execution and give it more repose and evenness. + With one and the same finger he took often two consecutive + keys (and this not only in gliding down from a black to the + next white key) without the least interruption of the sequence + being noticeable. The passing over each other of the longer + fingers without the aid of the thumb (see Etude, No. 2, Op. + 10) he frequently made use of, and not only in passages where + the thumb stationary on a key made this unavoidably necessary. + The fingering of the chromatic thirds based on this (as he + marked it in Etude, No. 5, Op. 25) affords in a much higher + degree than that customary before him the possibility of the + most beautiful legato in the quickest tempo and with a + perfectly quiet hand. + +But if with Chopin smoothness was one of the qualities upon which +he insisted strenuously in the playing of his pupils, he was by +no means satisfied with a mere mechanical perfection. He advised +his pupils to undertake betimes thorough theoretical studies, +recommending his friend, the composer and theorist Henri Reber as +a teacher. He advised them also to cultivate ensemble playing-- +trios, quartets, &c., if first-class partners could be had, +otherwise pianoforte duets. Most urgent, however, he was in his +advice to them to hear good singing, and even to learn to sing. +To Madame Rubio he said: "You must sing if you wish to play"; and +made her take lessons in singing and hear much Italian opera-- +this last, the lady remarked, Chopin regarded as positively +necessary for a pianoforte-player. In this advice we recognise +Chopin's ideal of execution: beauty of tone, intelligent +phrasing, truthfulness and warmth of expression. The sounds which +he drew from the pianoforte were pure tone without the least +admixture of anything that might be called noise. "He never +thumped," was Gutmann's remark to me. Chopin, according to +Mikuli, repeatedly said that when he heard bad phrasing it +appeared to him as if some one recited, in a language he did not +know, a speech laboriously memorised, not only neglecting to +observe the right quantity of the syllables, but perhaps even +making full stops in the middle of words. "The badly-phrasing +pseudo-musician," he thought, "showed that music was not his +mother-tongue, but something foreign, unintelligible to him," and +that, consequently, "like that reciter, he must altogether give +up the idea of producing any effect on the auditor by his +rendering." Chopin hated exaggeration and affectation. His +precept was: "Play as you feel." But he hated the want of feeling +as much as false feeling. To a pupil whose playing gave evidence +of nothing but the possession of fingers, he said emphatically, +despairingly: "METTEZ-Y DONc TOUTE VOTRE AME!" (Do put all your +soul into it!) + +[FOOTNOTE: "In dynamical shading [im nuanciren]," says Mikuli, +"he was exceedingly particular about a gradual increase and +decrease of loudness." Karasowski writes: "Exaggeration in +accentuation was hateful to him, for, in his opinion, it took +away the poesy from playing, and gave it a certain didactic +pedantry."] + + On declamation, and rendering in general [writes Mikuli], he + gave his pupils invaluable and significant instructions and + hints, but, no doubt, effected more certain results by + repeatedly playing not only single passages, but whole pieces, + and this he did with a conscientiousness and enthusiasm that + perhaps he hardly gave anyone an opportunity of hearing when + he played in a concert-room. Frequently the whole hour passed + without the pupil having played more than a few bars, whilst + Chopin, interrupting and correcting him on a Pleyel cottage + piano (the pupil played always on an excellent grand piano; + and it was enjoined upon him as a duty to practise only on + first-class instruments), presented to him for his admiration + and imitation the life-warm ideal of the highest beauty. + +With regard to Chopin's playing to his pupils we must keep in +mind what was said in foot-note 12 on page 184. On another point +in the above quotation one of Madame Dubois's communications to +me throws some welcome light:-- + + Chopin [she said] had always a cottage piano [pianino] by the + side of the grand piano on which he gave his lessons. It was + marvellous to hear him accompany, no matter what compositions, + from the concertos of Hummel to those of Beethoven. He + performed the role of the orchestra most wonderfully [d'une + facon prodigieuse]. When I played his own concertos, he + accompanied me in this way. + +Judging from various reports, Chopin seems to have regarded his +Polish pupils as more apt than those of other nationalities to do +full justice to his compositions. Karasowski relates that when +one of Chopin's French pupils played his compositions and the +auditors overwhelmed the performer with their praise, the master +used often to remark that his pupil had done very well, but that +the Polish element and the Polish enthusiasm had been wanting. +Here it is impossible not to be reminded of the contention +between Chopin on the one hand and Liszt and Hiller on the other +hand about the possibility of foreigners comprehending Polish +national music (See Vol. 1., p. 256). After revealing the mystery +of Chopin's tempo rubato, Liszt writes in his book on this +master:-- + + All his compositions have to be played with this sort of + balancement accentue et prosodie, this morbidezza, of which it + was difficult to seize the secret when one had not heard him + often. He seemed desirous to teach this manner to his numerous + pupils, especially to his compatriots, to whom he wished, more + than to others, to communicate the breath of his inspiration. + These [ceux-ci, ou plutot celles-la] seized it with that + aptitude which they have for all matters of sentiment and + poesy. An innate comprehension of his thought permitted them + to follow all the fluctuations of his azure wave. + +There is one thing which is worth inquiring into before we close +this chapter, for it may help us to a deeper insight into +Chopin's character as a teacher--I mean his teaching repertoire. +Mikuli says that, carefully arranged according to their +difficulty, Chopin placed before his pupils the following +compositions: the concertos and sonatas of Clementi, Mozart, +Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, Dussek, Field, Hummel, Ries, Beethoven; +further, Weber, Moscheles, Mendelssohn, Hiller, Schumann, and his +own works. This enumeration, however, does not agree with +accounts from other equally authentic sources. The pupils of +Chopin I have conversed and corresponded with never studied any +Schumann under their master. As to the cultivation of Beethoven, +it was, no doubt, limited. M. Mathias, it is true, told me that +Chopin showed a preference for Clementi (Gradus ad Parnassum), +Bach, Field (of him much was played, notably his concertos), and +naturally for Beethoven, Weber, &c.--Clementi, Bach, and Field +being always the composers most laid under contribution in the +case of debutants. Madame Rubio, on the other hand, confined +herself to stating that Chopin put her through Hummel, Moscheles, +and Bach; and did not mention Beethoven at all. Gutmann's +statements concerning his master's teaching contain some positive +evidence with regard to the Beethoven question. What he said was +this: Chopin held that dementi's Gradus ad Parnassum, Bach's +pianoforte fugues, and Hummel's compositions were the key to +pianoforte-playing, and he considered a training in these +composers a fit preparation for his own works. He was +particularly fond of Hummel and his style. Beethoven he seemed to +like less. He appreciated such pieces as the first movement of +the Moonlight Sonata (C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2). Schubert was +a favourite with him. This, then, is what I learned from Gutmann. +In parenthesis, as it were, I may ask: Is it not strange that no +pupil, with the exception of Mikuli, mentions the name of Mozart, +the composer whom Chopin is said to have so much admired? Thanks +to Madame Dubois, who at my request had the kindness to make out +a list of the works she remembers having studied under Chopin, we +shall be able to form a pretty distinct idea of the master's +course of instruction, which, to be sure, would be modified +according to the capacities of his pupils and the objects they +had in view. Well, Madame Dubois says that Chopin made her begin +with the second book of Clementi's Preludes et Exercices, and +that she also studied under him the same composer's Gradus ad +Parnassum and Bach's forty-eight preludes and fugues. Of his high +opinion of the teaching qualities of Bach's compositions we may +form an idea from the recommendation to her at their last meeting- +-already mentioned in an earlier chapter--to practise them +constantly, "ce sera votre meilleur moyen de progresser" (this +will be your best means to make progress). The pieces she studied +under him included the following ones: Of Hummel, the Rondo +brillant sur un theme russe (Op. 98), La Bella capricciosa, the +Sonata in F sharp minor (Op. 81), the Concertos in A minor and B +minor, and the Septet; of Field, several concertos (the one in E +flat among others) and several nocturnes ("Field" she says, "lui +etait tres sympathique"); of Beethoven, the concertos and several +sonatas (the Moonlight, Op. 27, No. 2; the one with the Funeral +March, Op. 26; and the Appassionata, Op. 57); of Weber, the +Sonatas in C and A flat major (Chopin made his pupils play these +two works with extreme care); of Schubert, the Landler and all +the waltzes and some of the duets (the marches, polonaises, and +the Divertissement hongrois, which last piece he admired sans +reserve); of Mendelssohn, only the G minor Concerto and the Songs +without Words; of Liszt, no more than La Tarantelle de Rossini +and the Septet from Lucia ("mais ce genre de musique ne lui +allait pas," says my informant); and of Schumann, NOTHING. + +Madame Streicher's interesting reminiscences, given in Appendix +III., form a supplement to this chapter. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + + +RUPTURE OF THE SAND-CHOPIN CONNECTION.--HER OWN, LISZT'S, AND +KARASOWSKI'S ACCOUNTS.-THE LUCREZIA FLORIANI INCIDENT.--FURTHER +INVESTIGATION OF THE CAUSES OF THE RUPTURE BY THE LIGHT OF +LETTERS AND THE INFORMATION OF GUTMANN, FRANCHOMME, AND MADAME +RUBIO.--SUMMING-UP OF THE EVIDENCE.--CHOPIN'S COMPOSITIONS IN +1847.--GIVES A CONCERT, HIS LAST IN PARIS (1848): WHAT AND HOW HE +PLAYED; THE CHARACTER OF THE AUDIENCE.--GEORGE SAND AND CHOPIN +MEET ONCE MORE.--THE FEBRUARY REVOLUTION; CHOPIN MAKES UP HIS +MIND TO VISIT ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. + + + +WE now come to the catastrophe of Chopin's life, the rupture of +his connection with George Sand. Although there is no lack of +narratives in which the causes, circumstances, and time of this +rupture are set forth with absolute positiveness, it is +nevertheless an undeniable fact that we are not at the present +moment, nor, all things well considered, shall be even in the +most distant future, in a position to speak on this subject +otherwise than conjecturally. + +[FOOTNOTE: Except the letter of George Sand given on p. 75, and +the note of Chopin to George Sand which will be given a little +farther on, nothing, I think, of their correspondence has become +public. But even if their letters were forth-coming, it is more +likely than not that they would fail to clear up the mystery. +Here I ought, perhaps, to reproduce the somewhat improbable story +told in the World of December 14, 1887, by the Paris +correspondent who signs himself "Theoc." He writes as follows: "I +have heard that it was by saving her letters to Chopin that M. +Alexandre Dumas won the friendship of George Sand. The anecdote +runs thus: When Chopin died, his sister found amongst his papers +some two hundred letters of Madame Sand, which she took with her +to Poland. By chance this lady had some difficulties at the +frontier with the Russian custom-house officials; her trunks were +seized, and the box containing the letters was mislaid and lost. +A few years afterwards, one of the custom-house officials found +the letters and kept them, not knowing the name and the address +of the Polish lady who had lost them. M. Dumas discovered this +fact, and during a journey in Russia he explained to this +official how painful it would be if by some indiscretion these +letters of the illustrious novelist ever got into print. 'Let me +restore them to Madame Sand,' said M. Dumas. 'And my duty?' asked +the customs official. 'If anybody ever claims the letters,' +replied M. Dumas, 'I authorise you to say that I stole them.' On +this condition M. Dumas, then a young man, obtained the letters, +brought them back to Paris, and restored them to Madame Sand, +whose acquaintance he thus made. Madame Sand burnt all her +letters to Chopin, but she never forgot the service that M. Dumas +had rendered her."] + +I have done my utmost to elucidate the tragic event which it is +impossible not to regard as one of the most momentous crises in +Chopin's life, and have succeeded in collecting besides the +material already known much that is new; but of what avail is +this for coming to a final decision if we find the depositions +hopelessly contradictory, and the witnesses more or less +untrustworthy--self-interest makes George Sand's evidence +suspicious, the instability of memory that of others. Under the +circumstances it seems to me safest to place before the reader +the depositions of the various witnesses--not, however, without +comment--and leave him to form his own conclusions. I shall begin +with the account which George Sand gives in her Ma Vie:-- + + After the last relapses of the invalid, his mind had become + extremely gloomy, and Maurice, who had hitherto tenderly loved + him, was suddenly wounded by him in an unexpected manner about + a trifling subject. They embraced each other the next moment, + but the grain of sand had fallen into the tranquil lake, and + little by little the pebbles fell there, one after + another...All this was borne; but at last, one day, Maurice, + tired of the pin-pricks, spoke of giving up the game. That + could not be, and should not be. Chopin would not stand my + legitimate and necessary intervention. He bowed his head and + said that I no longer loved him. + + What blasphemy after these eight years of maternal devotion! + But the poor bruised heart was not conscious of its delirium. + I thought that some months passed at a distance and in silence + would heal the wound, and make his friendship again calm and + his memory equitable. But the revolution of February came, and + Paris became momentarily hateful to this mind incapable of + yielding to any commotion in the social form. Free to return + to Poland, or certain to be tolerated there, he had preferred + languishing ten [and some more] years far from his family, + whom he adored, to the pain of seeing his country transformed + and deformed [denature]. He had fled from tyranny, as now he + fled from liberty. + + I saw him again for an instant in March, 1848. I pressed his + trembling and icy hand. I wished to speak to him, he slipped + away. Now it was my turn to say that he no longer loved me. I + spared him this infliction, and entrusted all to the hands of + Providence and the future. + + I was not to see him again. There were bad hearts between us. + There were good ones too who were at a loss what to do. There + were frivolous ones who preferred not to meddle with such + delicate matters; Gutmann was not there. + + I have been told that he had asked for me, regretted me, and + loved me filially up to the very end. It was thought fit to + conceal this from me till then. It was also thought fit to + conceal from him that I was ready to hasten to him. + +Liszt's account is noteworthy because it gives us the opinion of +a man who knew the two principal actors in the drama intimately, +and had good opportunities to learn what contemporary society +thought about it. Direct knowledge of the facts, however, Liszt +had not, for he was no longer a friend either of the one or the +other of the two parties:-- + + These commencements, of which Madame de Stael spoke, + [FOOTNOTE: He alludes to her saying: En amour, il n'y a que + des commencemens.] had already for a long time been exhausted + between the Polish artist and the French poet. They had only + survived with the one by a violent effort of respect for the + ideal which he had gilded with its fatal brilliancy; with the + other by a false shame which sophisticated on the pretension + to preserve constancy in fidelity. The time came when this + factitious existence, which succeeded no longer in galvanising + fibres dried up under the eyes of the spiritualistic artist, + seemed to him to surpass what honour permitted him not to + perceive. No one knew what was the cause or the pretext of the + sudden rupture; one saw only that after a violent opposition + to the marriage of the daughter of the house, Chopin abruptly + left Nohant never to return again. + +However unreliable Liszt's facts may be, the PHILOSOPHY of his +account shows real insight. Karasowski, on the other hand, has +neither facts nor insight. He speaks with a novelist's confidence +and freedom of characters whom he in no way knows, and about whom +he has nothing to tell but the vaguest and most doubtful of +second-hand hearsays:-- + + The depressed invalid became now to her a burden. At first her + at times sombre mien and her shorter visits in the sick-room + showed him that her sympathy for him was on the decrease; + Chopin felt this painfully, but he said nothing...\The + complaints of Madame Sand that the nursing of the invalid + exhausted her strength, complaints which she often gave + expression to in his presence, hurt him. He entreated her to + leave him alone, to take walks in the fresh air; he implored + her not to give up for his sake her amusements, but to + frequent the theatre, to give parties, &c.; he would be + contented in quietness and solitude if he only knew that she + was happy. At last, when the invalid still failed to think of + a separation from her, she chose a heroic means. + +By this heroic means Karasowski understands the publication of +George Sand's novel Lucrezia Floriani (in 1847), concerning which +he says the story goes that "out of refined cruelty the proof- +sheets were handed to him [Chopin] with the request to correct +the misprints." Karasowski also reports as a "fact" that + + the children of Madame Sand [who, by the way, were a man of + twenty-three and a woman of eighteen] said to him [Chopin], + pointing to the novel: "M. Chopin, do you know that you are + meant by the Prince Karol?"...In spite of all this the + invalid, and therefore less passionate, artist bore with the + most painful feeling the mortification caused him by the + novel...At the beginning of the year 1847 George Sand brought + about by a violent scene, the innocent cause of which was her + daughter, a complete rupture. To the unjust reproaches which + she made to him, he merely replied: "I shall immediately leave + your house, and wish henceforth no longer to be regarded by + you as living." These words were very welcome to her; she made + no objections, and the very same day the artist left for ever + the house of Madame Sand. But the excitement and the mental + distress connected with it threw him once more on the sick- + bed, and for a long time people seriously feared that he would + soon exchange it for a coffin. + +George Sand's view of the Lucrezia Floriani incident must be +given in full. In Ma Vie she writes as follows:-- + + It has been pretended that in one of my romances I have + painted his [Chopin's] character with a great exactness of + analysis. People were mistaken, because they thought they + recognised some of his traits; and, proceeding by this system, + too convenient to be sure, Liszt himself, in a Life of Chopin, + a little exuberant as regards style, but nevertheless full of + very good things and very beautiful pages, has gone astray in + good faith. I have traced in Prince Karol the character of a + man determined in his nature, exclusive in his sentiments, + exclusive in his exigencies. + + Chopin was not such. Nature does not design like art, however + realistic it may be. She has caprices, inconsequences, + probably not real, but very mysterious. Art only rectifies + these inconsequences because it is too limited to reproduce + them. + + Chopin was a resume of these magnificent inconsequences which + God alone can allow Himself to create, and which have their + particular logic. He was modest on principle, gentle by habit, + but he was imperious by instinct and full of a legitimate + pride which was unconscious of itself. Hence sufferings which + he did not reason and which did not fix themselves on a + determined object. + + Moreover, Prince Karol is not an artist. He is a dreamer, and + nothing more; having no genius, he has not the rights of + genius. He is, therefore, a personage more true than amiable, + and the portrait is so little that of a great artist that + Chopin, in reading the manuscript every day on my writing- + desk, had not the slightest inclination to deceive himself, he + who, nevertheless, was so suspicious. + + And yet afterwards, by reaction, he imagined, I am told, that + this was the case. Enemies (I had such about him who call + themselves his friends; as if embittering a suffering heart + was not murder, enemies made him believe that this romance was + a revelation of his character. At that time his memory was, no + doubt, enfeebled: he had forgotten the book, why did he not + reread it! + + This history is so little ours! It was the very reverse of it + There were between us neither the same raptures [enivrements] + nor the same sufferings. Our history had nothing of a romance; + its foundation was too simple and too serious for us ever to + have had occasion for a quarrel with each other, a propos of + each other. + +The arguments advanced by George Sand are anything but +convincing; in fact, her defence is extremely weak. She does not +even tell us that she did not make use of Chopin as a model. That +she drew a caricature and not a portrait will hardly be accepted +as an excuse, nay, is sure to be regarded as the very head and +front of her offending. But George Sand had extraordinarily naive +notions on this subject, notions which are not likely to be +shared by many, at least not by many outside the fraternities of +novelists and dramatists. Having mentioned, in speaking of her +grand-uncle the Abbe de Beaumont, that she thought of him when +sketching the portrait of a certain canon in Consuelo, and that +she had very much exaggerated the resemblance to meet the +requirements of the romance, she remarks that portraits traced in +this way are no longer portraits, and that those who feel +offended on recognising themselves do an injustice both to the +author and themselves. "Caricature or idealisation," she writes, +"it is no longer the original model, and this model has little +judgment if it thinks it recognises itself, if it becomes angry +or vain on seeing what art or imagination has been able to make +of it." This is turning the tables with a vengeance; and if +impudence can silence the voice of truth and humanity, George +Sand has gained her case. In her account of the Lucrezia Floriani +incident George Sand proceeds as usual when she is attacked and +does not find it more convenient simply to declare that she will +not condescend to defend herself--namely, she envelops the whole +matter in a mist of beautiful words and sentiments out of which +issues--and this is the only clearly-distinguishable thing--her +own saintly self in celestial radiance. But notwithstanding all +her arguments and explanations there remains the fact that Liszt +and thousands of others, I one of them, read Lucrezia Floriani +and were not a moment in doubt that Chopin was the prototype of +Prince Karol. We will not charge George Sand with the atrocity of +writing the novel for the purpose of getting rid of Chopin; but +we cannot absolve her from the sin of being regardless of the +pain she would inflict on one who once was dear to her, and who +still loved her ardently. Even Miss Thomas, [FOOTNOTE: In George +Sand, a volume of the "Eminent Women Series."] who generally +takes George Sand at her own valuation, and in this case too +tries to excuse her, admits that in Lucrezia Floriani there was +enough of reality interwoven to make the world hasten to identify +or confound Chopin with Prince Karol, that Chopin, the most +sensitive of mortals, could not but be pained by the inferences +which would be drawn, that "perhaps if only as a genius he had +the right to be spared such an infliction," and that, therefore, +"one must wish it could have appeared in this light to Madame +Sand." This is a mild way of expressing disapproval of conduct +that shows, to say the least, an inhuman callousness to the +susceptibilities of a fellow-being. And to speak of the +irresistible prompting of genius in connection with one who had +her faculties so well under her control is downright mockery. It +would, however, be foolish to expect considerateness for others +in one who needlessly detailed and proclaimed to the world not +only the little foibles but also the drunkenness and consequent +idiocy and madness of a brother whose family was still living. +Her practice was, indeed, so much at variance with her profession +that it is preposterous rather to accept than to doubt her words. +George Sand was certainly not the self-sacrificing woman she +pretended to be; for her sacrifices never outlasted her +inclinations, they were, indeed, nothing else than an abandonment +to her desires. And these desires were the directors of her +reason, which, aided by an exuberant imagination, was never at a +loss to justify any act, be it ever so cruel and abject. In +short, the chief characteristic of George Sand's moral +constitution was her incapacity of regarding anything she did +otherwise than as right. What I have said is fully borne out by +her Ma Vie and the "Correspondance," which, of course, can be +more easily and safely examined than her deeds and spoken words. + +And now we will continue our investigations of the causes and +circumstances of the rupture. First I shall quote some passages +from letters written by George Sand, between which will be +inserted a note from Chopin to her. If the reader does not see at +once what several of these quotations have to do with the matter +under discussion, he will do so before long. + + Madame Sand to Madame Marliani; Nohant, September 1, 1846:-- + + It is exceedingly kind of you to offer me shelter [un gîte]. + We have still our apartments in the Square Saint-Lazare + [Square d'Orleans], and nothing would prevent us from going + there. + + + Chopin to Madame Sand; Tuesday 2 1/2 [Paris, December 15, + 1846] + + [FOOTNOTE: The date is that of the postmark. A German + translation of the French original (in the Imperial Public + Library at St. Petersburg) will be found in La Mara's + "Musikerbriefe."]:-- + + Mademoiselle de Rozieres has found the piece of cloth in + question (it was in the camail-carton of Mdlle. Augustine), + and I sent it at once last night to Borie, [Victor Borie a + publicist and friend of George Sand] who, as Peter was told, + does not yet leave to-day. Here we have a little sun and + Russian snow. I am glad of this weather for your sake, and + imagine you walking about a great deal. Did Dib dance in last + night's pantomime? May you and yours enjoy good health! + + Your most devoted, + + C. + + For your dear children. + + I am well; but I have not the courage to leave my fireside for + a moment. + + + Madame Sand to Madame Marliani; Nohant, May 6, 1847:-- + + Solange marries in a fortnight Clesinger, the sculptor, a man + of great talent, who is making much money, and can give her + the brilliant existence which, I believe, is to her taste. He + is very violently in love with her, and he pleases her much. + She was this time as prompt and firm in her determination as + she was hitherto capricious and irresolute. Apparently she has + met with what she dreamt of. May God grant it! + + As regards myself, the young man pleases me also much and + Maurice likewise. He is little civilised at first sight; but + he is full of sacred fire and for some time past, since I + noticed him making advances, I have been studying him without + having the appearance of doing so...He has other qualities + which compensate for all the defects he may have and ought to + have. + + ...Somebody told me of him all the ill that can be said of a + man [on making inquiries George Sand found that Clesinger was + a man "irreproachable in the best sense of the word"]. + + M. Dudevant, whom he has been to see, consents. We do not know + yet where the marriage will take place. Perhaps at Nerac, + [FOOTNOTE: Where M. Dudevant, her whilom husband, resided.] in + order to prevent M. Dudevant from falling asleep in the + eternal to-morrow to the province. + + + Madame Sand to Mazzini; Nohant, May 22, 1847:-- + + I have just married and, I believe, well married my daughter + to an artist of powerful inspiration and will. I had for her + but one ambition--namely, that she should love and be loved; + my wish is realised. The future is in the hand of God, but I + believe in the duration of this love and this union. + + + Madame Sand to Charles Poncy; Nohant, August 9, 1847:-- + + My good Maurice is always calm, occupied, and lively. He + sustains and consoles me. Solange is in Paris with her + husband; they are going to travel. Chopin is in Paris also; + his health has not yet permitted him to make the journey; but + he is better. + + +The following letter, of an earlier date than those from which my +last two excerpts are taken, is more directly concerned with +Chopin. + + + Madame Sand to Gutmann; Nohant, May 12, 1847:-- + + Thanks, my good Gutmann, thanks from the bottom of my heart + for the admirable care which you lavish on him [Chopin]. I + know well that it is for him, for yourself, and not for me, + that you act thus, but I do not the less feel the need of + thanking you. It is a great misfortune for me that this + happens at a moment like that in which I find myself. Truly, + this is too much anxiety at one time! I would have gone mad, I + believe, if I had learned the gravity of his illness before + hearing that the danger was past. He does not know that I know + of it, and on account, especially, of the embarras in which he + knows I find myself, he wishes it to be concealed from me. He + wrote to me yesterday as if nothing had taken place, and I + have answered him as if I suspected as yet nothing. Therefore, + do not tell him that I write to you, and that for twenty-four + hours I have suffered terribly. Grzymala writes about you very + kindly a propos of the tenderness with which you have taken my + place by the side of him, and you especially, so that I will + tell you that I know it, and that my heart will keep account + of it seriously and for ever... + + Au revoir, then, soon, my dear child, and receive my maternal + benediction. May it bring you luck as I wish! + + George Sand. + + [FOOTNOTE: This letter, which is not contained in the + "Correspondance," was, as far as I know, first published in + "Die Gegenwart" (Berlin, July 12, 1879)] + +If all that George Sand here says is bona fide, the letter proves +that the rupture had not yet taken place. Indeed, Gutmann was of +opinion that it did not take place till 1848, shortly before +Chopin's departure for England, that, in-fact, she, her daughter, +and son-in-law were present at the concert he gave on February +16, 1848. That this, however, was not the case is shown both by a +letter written by George Sand from Nohant on February 18, 1848, +and by another statement of Gutmann's, according to which one of +the causes of the rupture was the marriage of Solange with +Clesinger of which Chopin (foreseeing unhappiness which did not +fail to come, and led to separation) did not approve. Another +cause, he thought, was Chopin's disagreements with Maurice Sand. +There were hasty remarks and sharp retorts between lover and son, +and scenes in consequence. Gutmann is a very unsatisfactory +informant, everything he read and heard seemed to pass through +the retort of his imagination and reappear transformed as his own +experience. + +A more reliable witness is Franchomme, who in a letter to me +summed up the information which he had given me on this subject +by word of mouth as follows:-- + + Strange to say [chose bizarre], Chopin had a horror of the + figure 7; he would not have taken lodgings in a house which + bore the number 7; he would not have set out on a journey on + the 7th or 17th, &c. It was in 1837 that he formed the liaison + with George Sand; it was in 1847 that the rupture took place; + it was on the 17th October that my dear friend said farewell + to us. The rupture between Chopin and Madame Sand came about + in this way. In June, 1847, Chopin was making ready to start + for Nohant when he received a letter from Madame Sand to the + effect that she had just turned out her daughter and son-in- + law, and that if he received them in his house all would be + over between them [i.e., between George Sand and Chopin]. I + was with Chopin at the time the letter arrived, and he said to + me, "They have only me, and should I close my door upon them? + No, I shall not do it!" and he did not do it, and yet he knew + that this creature whom he adored would not forgive it him. + Poor friend, how I have seen him suffer! + +Of the quarrel at Nohant, Franchomme gave the following account:- +-There was staying at that time at Nohant a gentleman who treated +Madame Clesinger invariably with rudeness. One day as Clesinger +and his wife went downstairs the person in question passed +without taking off his hat. The sculptor stopped him, and said, +"Bid madam a good day"; and when the gentleman or churl, as the +case may be, refused, he gave him a box on the ear. George Sand, +who stood at the top of the stairs, saw it, came down, and gave +in her turn Clesinger a box on the ear. After this she turned her +son-in-law together with his wife out of her house, and wrote the +above-mentioned letter to Chopin. + +Madame Rubio had also heard of the box on the ear which George +Sand gave Clesinger. According to this informant there were many +quarrels between mother and daughter, the former objecting to the +latter's frequent visits to Chopin, and using this as a pretext +to break with him. Gutmann said to me that Chopin was fond of +Solange, though not in love with her. But now we have again got +into the current of gossip, and the sooner we get out of it the +better. + +Before I draw my conclusions from the evidence I have collected, +I must find room for some extracts from two letters, respectively +written on August 9, 1847, and December 14,1847, to Charles +Poncy. The contents of these extracts will to a great extent be a +mystery to the reader, a mystery to which I cannot furnish the +key. Was Solange the chief subject of George Sand's lamentations? +Had Chopin or her brother, or both, to do with this paroxysm of +despair? + +After saying how she has been overwhelmed by a chain of chagrins, +how her purest intentions have had a fatal issue, how her best +actions have been blamed by men and punished by heaven as crimes, +she proceeds:-- + + And do you think I have reached the end? No, all I have told + you hitherto is nothing, and since my last letter I have + exhausted all the cup of life contains of tribulation. It is + even so bitter and unprecedented that I cannot speak of it, at + least I cannot write it. Even that would give me too much + pain. I will tell you something about it when I see you...I + hoped at least for the old age on which I was entering the + recompense of great sacrifices, of much work, fatigue, and a + whole life of devotion and abnegation. I asked for nothing but + to render happy the objects of my affection. Well, I have been + repaid with ingratitude, and evil has got the upper hand in a + soul which I wished to make the sanctuary and the hearth of + the beautiful and the good. At present I struggle against + myself in order not to let myself die. I wish to accomplish my + task unto the end. May God aid me! I believe in Him and + hope!...Augustine has suffered much, but she has had great + courage and a true feeling of her dignity; and her health, + thank God, has not suffered. + + [FOOTNOTE: Augustine Brault was according to the editor of the + Correspondance a cousin of George Sand's; George Sand herself + calls her in Ma Vie her parent, and tells us in a vague way + how her connection with this young lady gave occasion to + scandalous libels.] + +The next quotation is from the letter dated Nohant, December 14, +1847. Desirez is the wife of Charles Poncy, to whom the letter is +addressed. + + You have understood, Desirez and you, you whose soul is + delicate because it is ardent, that I passed through the + gravest and most painful phase of my life. I nearly succumbed, + although I had foreseen it for a long time. But you know one + is not always under the pressure of a sinister foresight, + however evident it may be. There are days, weeks, entire + months even, when one lives on illusions, and when one + flatters one's self one is turning aside the blow which + threatens one. At last, the most probable misfortune always + surprises us disarmed and unprepared. In addition to this + development of the unhappy germ, which was going on unnoticed, + there have arisen several very bitter and altogether + unexpected accessory circumstances. The result is that I am + broken in soul and body with chagrin. I believe that this + chagrin is incurable; for the better I succeed in freeing + myself from it for some hours, the more sombre and poignant + does it re-enter into me in the following hours...I have + undertaken a lengthy work [un ouvrage de longue haleine] + entitled Histoire de ma Vie...However, I shall not reveal the + whole of my life...It will be, moreover, a pretty good piece + of business, which will put me on my feet again, and will + relieve me of a part of my anxieties with regard to the future + of Solange, which is rather compromised. + +We have, then, the choice of two explanations of the rupture: +George Sand's, that it was caused by the disagreement of Chopin +and her son; and Franchomme's, that it was brought about by +Chopin's disregard of George Sand's injunction not to receive her +daughter and son-in-law. I prefer the latter version, which is +reconcilable with George Sand's letters, confirmed by the +testimony of several of Chopin's friends, and given by an honest, +simple-minded man who may be trusted to have told a plain +unvarnished tale. + +[FOOTNOTE: The contradictions are merely apparent, and disappear +if we consider that George Sand cannot have had any inclination +to give to Gutmann and Poncy an explanation of the real state of +matters. Moreover, when she wrote to the former the rupture had, +according to Franchomme, not yet taken place.] + +But whatever reason may have been alleged to justify, whatever +circumstance may have been the ostensible cause of the rupture, +in reality it was only a pretext. On this point all agree-- +Franchomme, Gutmann, Kwiatkowski, Madame Rubio, Liszt, &c. George +Sand was tired of Chopin, and as he did not leave her +voluntarily, the separation had to be forced upon him. Gutmann +thought there was no rupture at all. George Sand went to Nohant +without Chopin, ceased to write to him, and thus the connection +came to an end. Of course, Chopin ought to have left her before +she had recourse to the "heroic means" of kicking him, +metaphorically speaking, out of doors. But the strength of his +passion for this woman made him weak. If a tithe of what is +rumoured about George Sand's amorous escapades is true, a lover +who stayed with her for eight years must have found his capacity +of overlooking and forgiving severely tested. We hear on all +sides of the infidelities she permitted herself. A Polish friend +of Chopin's informed me that one day when he was about to enter +the composer's, room to pay him a visit, the married Berrichon +female servant of George Sand came out of it; and Chopin, who was +lying ill in bed, told him afterwards that she had been +complaining of her mistress and husband. Gutmann, who said that +Chopin knew of George Sand's occasional infidelities, pretended +to have heard him say when she had left him behind in Paris: "I +would overlook all if only she would allow me to stay with her at +Nohant." I regard these and such like stories, especially the +last one, with suspicion (is it probable that the reticent artist +was communicative on so delicate a subject, and with Gutmann, his +pupil and a much younger man?), but they cannot be ignored, as +they are characteristic of how Chopin's friends viewed his +position. And yet, tormented as he must have been in the days of +possession, crushed as he was by the loss, tempted as he +subsequently often felt to curse her and her deceitfulness, he +loved and missed George Sand to the very end--even the day before +his death he said to Franchomme that she had told him he would +die in no other arms but hers (que je ne mourrais que dans ses +bras). + +If George Sand had represented her separation from Chopin as a +matter of convenience, she would have got more sympathy and been +able to make out a better case. + + The friendship of Chopin [she writes in Ma Vie] has never been + for me a refuge in sadness. He had quite enough troubles of + his own to bear. Mine would have overwhelmed him; moreover, he + knew them only vaguely and did not understand them at all. He + would have appreciated them from a point of view very + different from mine. + +Besides Chopin's illnesses became more frequent, his strength +diminished from day to day, and care and attendance were +consequently more than ever needful. That he was a "detestable +patient" has already been said. The world takes it for granted +that the wife or paramour of a man of genius is in duty bound to +sacrifice herself for him. But how does the matter stand when +there is genius on both sides, and self-sacrifice of either party +entails loss to the world? By the way, is it not very selfish and +hypocritical of this world which generally does so little for men +of genius to demand that women shall entirely, self-denyingly +devote themselves to their gifted lovers? Well, both George Sand +and Chopin had to do work worth doing, and if one of them was +hampered by the other in doing it, the dissolution of the union +was justified. But perhaps this was not the reason of the +separation. At any rate, George Sand does not advance such a +plea. Still, it would have been unfair not to discuss this +possible point of view. + +The passage from the letter of George Sand dated September 1, +1846, which I quoted earlier in this chapter, justifies us, I +think, in assuming that, although she was still keeping on her +apartments in the Square d'Orleans, the phalanstery had ceased to +exist. The apartments she gave up probably sometime in 1847; at +any rate, she passed the winter of 1847-8, for the most part at +least, at Nohant; and when after the outbreak of the revolution +of 1848 she came to Paris (between the 9th and 14th of March), +she put up at a hotel garni. Chopin continued to live in his old +quarters in the Square d'Orldans, and, according to Gutmann, was +after the cessation of his connection with George Sand in the +habit of dining either with him (Gutmann) or Grzymala, that is to +say, in their company. + +It is much to be regretted that no letters are forthcoming to +tell us of Chopin's feelings and doings at this time. I can place +before the reader no more than one note, the satisfactory nature +of which makes up to some extent for its brevity. It is addressed +to Franchomme; dated Friday, October 1, 1847; and contains only +these few words:-- + + Dear friend,--I thank you for your good heart, but I am very + RICH this evening. Yours with all my heart. + +In this year--i.e., 1847--appeared the three last works which +Chopin published, although among his posthumous compositions +there are two of a later date. The Trois Mazurkas, Op. 63 +(dedicated to the Comtesse L. Czosnowska), and the Trois Valses, +Op. 64 (dedicated respectively to Madame la Comtesse Potocka, +Madame la Baronne de Rothschild, and Madame la Baronne Bronicka), +appeared in September, and the Sonata for piano and violoncello, +Op. 65 (dedicated to Franchomme), in October. Now I will say of +these compositions only that the mazurkas and waltzes are not +inferior to his previous works of this kind, and that the sonata +is one of his most strenuous efforts in the larger forms. Mr. +Charles Halle remembers going one evening in 1847 with Stephen +Heller to Chopin, who had invited some friends to let them hear +this sonata which he had lately finished. On arriving at his +house they found him rather unwell; he went about the room bent +like a half-opened penknife. The visitors proposed to leave him +and to postpone the performance, but Chopin would not hear of it. +He said he would try. Having once begun, he soon became straight +again, warming as he proceeded. As will be seen from some remarks +of Madame Dubois's, which I shall quote farther on, the sonata +did not make an altogether favourable impression on the auditors. + +The name of Madame Dubois reminds me of the soiree immortalised +by a letter of Madame Girardin (see the one of March 7, 1847, in +Vol. IV. of Le Vicomte de Launay), and already several times +alluded to by me in preceding chapters. At this soiree Chopin not +only performed several of his pieces, but also accompanied on a +second piano his E minor Concerto which was played by his pupil, +the youthful and beautiful Mdlle. Camille O'Meara. But the +musical event par excellence of the period of Chopin's life with +which we are concerned in this chapter is his concert, the last +he gave in Paris, on February 16, 1848. Before I proceed with my +account of it, I must quote a note, enclosing tickets for this +concert, which Chopin wrote at this time to Franchomme. It runs +thus: "The best places en evidence for Madame D., but not for her +cook." Madame D. was Madame Paul Delaroche, the wife of the great +painter, and a friend of Franchomme's. + +But here is a copy of the original programme:-- + + + FIRST PART. + + Trio by Mozart, for piano, violin, and violoncello, + performed by MM. Chopin, Alard, and Franchomme. + + Aria, sung by Mdlle. Antonia Molina di Mondi. + + Nocturne, | + |--composed and performed by M. Chopin. + Barcarole, | + + Air, sung by Mdlle. Antonia Molina di Mondi. + + Etude, | + |--composed and performed by M. Chopin. + Berceuse, | + + SECOND PART. + + Scherzo, Adagio, and Finale of the Sonata in G minor, for + piano and violoncello, composed by M. Chopin, and performed + by the author and M. Franchomme. + + Air nouveau from Robert le Diable, composed by M. Meyerbeer, + sung by M. Roger. + + Preludes, | + | + Mazurkas, |--composed and performed by M. Chopin. + | + Valse, | + + Accompanists:--MM. Aulary and de Garaude. + + +The report of "M. S." in the Gazette musicale of February 20, +1848, transports us at once into the midst of the exquisite, +perfume-laden atmosphere of Pleyel's rooms on February 16:-- + + A concert by the Ariel of pianists is a thing too rare to be + given, like other concerts, by opening both wings of the doors + to whomsoever wishes to enter. For this one a list had been + drawn up: everyone inscribed thereon his name: but everyone + was not sure of obtaining the precious ticket: patronage was + required to be admitted into the holy of holies, to obtain the + favour of depositing one's offering, and yet this offering + amounted to a louis; but who has not a louis to spare whep + Chopin may be heard? + + The outcome of all this naturally was that the fine flower of + the aristocracy of the most distinguished women, the most + elegant toilettes, filled on Wednesday Pleyel's rooms. There + was also the aristocracy of artists and amateurs, happy to + seize in his flight this musical sylph who had promised to let + himself once more and for a few hours be approached, seen, and + heard. + + The sylph kept his word, and with what success, what + enthusiasm! It is easier to tell you of the reception he got, + the transport he excited, than to describe, analyse, divulge, + the mysteries of an execution which was nothing analogous in + our terrestrial regions. If we had in our power the pen which + traced the delicate marvels of Queen Mab, not bigger than an + agate that glitters on the finger of an alderman, of her liny + chariot, of her diaphanous team, only then should we succeed + in giving an idea of a purely ideal talent into which matter + enters hardly at all. Only Chopin can make Chopin understood: + all those who were present at the seance of Wednesday are + convinced of this as well as we. + + The programme announced first a trio of Mozart, which Chopin, + Alard, and Franchomme executed in such a manner that one + despairs of ever hearing it again so well performed. Then + Chopin played studies, preludes, mazurkas, waltzes; he + performed afterwards his beautiful sonata with Franchomme. Do + not ask us how all these masterpieces small and great were + rendered. We said at first we would not attempt to reproduce + these thousands and thousands of nuances of an exceptional + genius having in his service an organisation of the same kind. + We shall only say that the charm did not cease to act a single + instant on the audience, and that it still lasted after the + concert was ended. + + Let us add that Roger, our brilliant tenor, sang with his most + expressive voice the beautiful prayer intercalated in Robert + le Diable by the author himself at the debut of Mario at the + Opera; that Mdlle. Antonia de Mendi [a niece of Pauline + Viardot's; see the spelling of her name in the programme], the + young and beautiful singer, carried off her share of bravos by + her talent full of hope and promise. + + There is a talk of a second concert which Chopin is to give on + the 10th of March, and already more than 600 names are put + down on the new list. In this there is nothing astonishing; + Chopin owed us this recompense, and he well deserves this + eagerness. + +As this report, although it enables us to realise the atmosphere, +is otherwise lacking in substance, we must try to get further +information elsewhere. Happily, there is plenty at our disposal. + + Before playing the violoncello sonata in public [wrote Madame + Dubois to me], Chopin had tried it before some artists and + intimate friends; the first movement, the masterpiece, was not + understood. It appeared to the hearers obscure, involved by + too many ideas, in short, it had no success. At the last + moment Chopin dared not play the whole sonata before so + worldly and elegant an audience, but confined himself to the + Scherzo, Adagio, and Finale. I shall never forget the manner + in which he executed the Barcarole, that adorable composition; + the Waltz in D flat (la valse au petit chien) was encored + amidst the acclamations of the public. A grande dame who was + present at this concert wished to know Chopin's secret of + making the scales so flowing on the piano [faire les gammes si + coulees stir le piano]. The expression is good, and this + limpidity has never been equalled. + +Stephen Heller's remark to me, that Chopin became in his last +years so weak that his playing was sometimes hardly audible, I +have already related in a preceding chapter. There I have also +mentioned what Mr. Charles Halle' told me--namely, that in the +latter part of his life Chopin often played forte passages piano +and even pianissimo, that, for instance, at the concert we are +speaking of he played the two forte passages towards the end of +the Barcarole pianissimo and with all sorts of dynamic finesses. +Mr. Otto Goldschmidt, who was present at the concert on February +16, 1848, gave some interesting recollections of it, after the +reading of a paper on the subject of Chopin, by Mr. G. A. +Osborne, at one of the meetings of the Musical Association (see +Proceedings, of the Musical Association for the year 1879-80):-- + + He [Chopin] was extremely weak, but still his playing--by + reason of that remarkable quality which he possessed of + gradation in touch--betrayed none of the impress of weakness + which some attributed to piano playing or softness of touch; + and he possessed in a greater degree than any pianoforte- + player he [Mr. Goldschmidt] had ever heard, the faculty of + passing upwards from piano through all gradations of tone...It + was extremely difficult to obtain admission, for Chopin, who + had been truly described as a most sensitive man--which seemed + to be pre-eminently a quality of artistic organisations--not + only had a list submitted to him of those who ought to be + admitted, but he sifted that list, and made a selection from + the selected list; he was, therefore, surrounded by none but + friends and admirers. The room was beautifully decorated with + flowers of all kinds, and he could truly say that even now, at + the distance of thirty years, he had the most vivid + recollection of the concert...The audience was so enraptured + with his [Chopin's] playing that he was called forward again + and again. + +In connection with what Mr. Goldschmidt and the writer in the +Gazette musicale say about the difficulty of admission and a +sifted list, I have to record, and I shall do no more than +record, Franchomme's denial. "I really believe," he said to me, +"that this is a mere fiction. I saw Chopin every day; how, then, +could I remain ignorant of it?" + +To complete my account of Chopin's last concert in Paris, I have +yet to add some scraps of information derived from Un nid +d'autographes, by Oscar Comettant, who was present at it, and, +moreover, reported on it in Le Siecle. The memory of the event +was brought back to him when on looking over autographs in the +possession of Auguste Wolff, the successor of Camille Pleyel, he +found a ticket for the above described concert. As the concert so +was also the ticket unlike that of any other artist. "Les lettres +d'ecriture anglaise etaient gravees au burin et imprimees en +taille-douce sur de beau papier mi-carton glace, d'un carre long +elegant et distingue." It bore the following words and figures:-- + + + SOIREE DE M. CHOPIN, + DANS L'UN DES SALONS DE MM. PLEYEL ET CIE., + 20, Rue Rochechouart, + Le mercredi 16 fevrier 1848 a 8 heures 1/2. + Rang....Prix 20 francs....Place reservee. + + +M. Comettant, in contradiction to what has been said by others +about Chopin's physical condition, states that when the latter +came on the platform, he walked upright and without feebleness; +his face, though pale, did not seem greatly altered; and he +played as he had always played. But M. Comettant was told that +Chopin, having spent at the concert all his moral and physical +energy, afterwards nearly fainted in the artists' room. + +In March Chopin and George Sand saw each other once more. We will +rest satisfied with the latter's laconic account of the meeting +already quoted: "Je serrai sa main tremblante et glacee. Je voulu +lui parler, il s'echappa." Karasowski's account of this last +meeting is in the feuilleton style and a worthy pendant to that +of the first meeting:-- + + A month before his departure [he writes], in the last days of + March, Chopin was invited by a lady to whose hospitable house + he had in former times often gone. Some moments he hesitated + whether he should accept this invitation, for he had of late + years less frequented the salons; at last--as if impelled by + an inner voice--he accepted. An hour before he entered the + house of Madame H... + +And then follow wonderful conversations, sighs, blushes, tears, a +lady hiding behind an ivy screen, and afterwards advancing with a +gliding step, and whispering with a look full of repentance: +"Frederick!" Alas, this was not the way George Sand met her +dismissed lovers. Moreover, let it be remembered she was at this +time not a girl in her teens, but a woman of nearly forty-four. + +The outbreak of the revolution on February 22, 1848, upset the +arrangements for the second concert, which was to take place on +the 10th of March, and, along with the desire to seek +forgetfulness of the grievous loss he had sustained in a change +of scene, decided him at last to accept the pressing and +unwearied invitations of his Scotch and English friends to visit +Great Britain. On April 2 the Gazette musicale announced that +Chopin would shortly betake himself to London and pass the season +there. And before many weeks had passed he set out upon his +journey. But the history of his doings in the capital and in +other parts of the United Kingdom shall be related in another +chapter. + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + + +DIFFERENCE OF STYLE IN CHOPIN'S WORKS.----THEIR CHARACTERISTICS +DISCUSSED, AND POPULAR PREJUDICES CONTROVERTED.----POLISH +NATIONAL MUSIC AND ITS INFLUENCE ON CHOPIN.----CHOPIN A PERSONAL +AS WELL AS NATIONAL TONE-POET.--A REVIEW OF SOME OF HIS LESS +PERFECT COMPOSITIONS AND OF HIS MASTERPIECES: BOLERO; RONDEAU; +VARIATIONS; TARANTELLE; ALLEGRO DE CONCERT; TWO SONATAS FOR +PIANOFORTE (OP. 38 AND 58); SONATA (OP. 65) AND GRAND DUO +CONCERTANT FOR PIANOFORTE AND VIOLONCELLO; FANTAISIE; MAZURKAS; +POLONAISES; VALSES; ETUDES; PRELUDES; SCHERZI; IMPROMPTUS; +NOCTURNES; BERCEUSE; BARCAROLE; AND BALLADES-----THE SONGS.---- +VARIOUS EDITIONS. + + + +Before we inquire into the doings and sufferings of Chopin in +England and Scotland, let us take a general survey of his life- +work as a composer. We may fitly do so now; as at the stage of +his career we have reached, his creative activity had come to a +close. The last composition he published, the G minor Sonata for +piano and violoncello, Op. 65, appeared in October, 1847; and +among his posthumous compositions published by Fontana there are +only two of later date--namely, the mazurkas, No. 2 of Op. 67 (G +minor) and No. 4 of Op. 68 (F minor), which came into existence +in 1849. Neither of these compositions can be numbered with the +master's best works, but the latter of them is interesting, +because it seems in its tonal writhings and wailings a picture of +the bodily and mental torments Chopin was at the time enduring. + +A considerable number of the master's works I have already +discussed in Chapters III., VIII., and XIII. These, if we except +the two Concertos, Op. II and 21 (although they, too, do not rank +with his chefs-d'oeuvre), are, however, for us of greater importance +biographically, perhaps also historically, than otherwise. It is +true, we hear now and then of some virtuoso playing the Variations, +Op. 2, or the Fantasia on Polish airs, Op. 13, nay, we may hear even +of the performance of the Trio, Op. 8; but such occurrences are of +the rarest rarity, and, considering how rich musical literature is +in unexceptionable concert-pieces and chamber compositions, one +feels on the whole pleased that these enterprising soloists and +trio-players find neither much encouragement nor many imitators. +While in examining the earlier works, the praise bestowed on them +was often largely mixed with censure, and the admiration felt for +them tempered by dissatisfaction; we shall have little else than +pure praise and admiration for the works that remain to be +considered, at least for the vast majority of them. One thing, +however, seems to me needful before justice can be done to the +composer Chopin: certain prejudices abroad concerning him have to +be combated. I shall, therefore, preface my remarks on particular +compositions and groups of compositions by some general +observations. + +It is sometimes said that there are hardly any traces of a +development in the productions of Chopin, and that in this +respect he is unlike all the other great masters. Such an opinion +cannot be the result of a thorough and comprehensive study of the +composer's works. So far from agreeing with those who hold it, I +am tempted to assert that the difference of style between +Chopin's early and latest works (even when juvenile compositions +like the first two Rondos are left out of account) is as great as +that between Beethoven's first and ninth Symphony. It would be +easy to classify the Polish master's works according to three and +even four (with the usual exceptions) successive styles, but I +have no taste for this cheap kind of useless ingenuity. In fact, +I shall confine myself to saying that in Chopin's works there are +clearly distinguishable two styles--the early virtuosic and the +later poetic style. The latter is in a certain sense also +virtuosic, but with this difference, that its virtuosity is not +virtuosity for virtuosity's sake. The poetic style which has +thrown off the tinsel showiness of its predecessor does not, +however, remain unchanged, for its texture becomes more and more +close, and affords conclusive evidence of the increasing +influence of Johann Sebastian Bach. Of course, the grand master +of fugue does not appear here, as it were, full life-size, in +peruke, knee-breeches, and shoe-buckles, but his presence in +spite of transformation and attenuation is unmistakable. It is, +however, not only in the closeness and complexity of texture that +we notice Chopin's style changing: a striving after greater +breadth and fulness of form are likewise apparent, and, alas! +also an increase in sombreness, the result of deteriorating +health. All this the reader will have to keep in mind when he +passes in review the master's works, for I shall marshal them by +groups, not chronologically. + +Another prejudice, wide-spread, almost universal, is that +Chopin's music is all languor and melancholy, and, consequently, +wanting in variety. Now, there can be no greater error than this +belief. As to variety, we should be obliged to wonder at its +infiniteness if he had composed nothing but the pieces to which +are really applicable the epithets dreamy, pensive, mournful, and +despondent. But what vigour, what more than manly vigour, +manifests itself in many of his creations! Think only of the +Polonaises in A major (Op. 40, No. 1) and in A flat major (Op. +53), of many of his studies, the first three of his ballades, the +scherzos, and much besides! To be sure, a great deal of this +vigour is not natural, but the outcome of despair and maddening +passion. Still, it is vigour, and such vigour as is not often to +be met with. And, then, it is not the only kind to be found in +his music. There is also a healthy vigour, which, for instance, +in the A major Polonaise assumes a brilliantly-heroic form. Nor +are serene and even joyous moods so rare that it would be +permissible to ignore them. While thus controverting the so- +called vox Dei (are not popular opinions generally popular +prejudices?) and the pseudo-critics who create or follow it, I +have no intention either to deny or conceal the Polish master's +excess of languor and melancholy. I only wish to avoid vulgar +exaggeration, to keep within the bounds of the factual. In art as +in life, in biography as in history, there are not many questions +that can be answered by a plain "yea" or "nay. It was, indeed, +with Chopin as has been said of him, "his heart was sad, his mind +was gay. "One day when Chopin, Liszt, and the Comtesse d'Agoult +spent the after-dinner hours together, the lady, deeply moved by +the Polish composer's playing, ventured to ask him "by what name +he called the extraordinary feeling which he enclosed in his +compositions, like unknown ashes in superb urns of most +exquisitely-chiselled alabaster? "He answered her that-- + + her heart had not deceived her in its melancholy saddening, + for whatever his moments of cheerfulness might be, he never + for all that got rid of a feeling which formed, as it were, + the soil of his heart, and for which he found a name only in + his mother-tongue, no other possessing an equivalent to the + Polish word zal [sadness, pain, sorrow, grief, trouble, + repentance, &c.]. Indeed, he uttered the word repeatedly, as + if his ear had been eager for this sound, which for him + comprised the whole scale of the feelings which is produced by + an intense plaint, from repentance to hatred, blessed or + poisoned fruits of this acrid root. + +After a long dissertation on the meaning of the word zal, Liszt, +from whose book this quotation is taken, proceeds thus:-- + + Yes, truly, the zal colours with a reflection now argent, now + ardent, the whole of Chopin's works. It is not even absent + from his sweetest reveries. These impressions had so much the + more importance in the life of Chopin that they manifested + themselves distinctly in his last works. They little by little + attained a kind of sickly irascibility, reaching the point of + feverish tremulousness. This latter reveals itself in some of + his last writings by a distortion of his thought which one is + sometimes rather pained than surprised to meet. Suffocating + almost under the oppression of his repressed transports of + passion, making no longer use of the art except to rehearse to + himself his own tragedy, he began, after having sung his + feeling, to tear it to pieces. + +Read together with my matter-of-fact statements, Liszt's +hyperbolical and circumlocutional poetic prose will not be +misunderstood by the reader. The case may be briefly summed up +thus. Zal is not to be found in every one of Chopin's +compositions, but in the greater part of them: sometimes it +appears clearly on the surface, now as a smooth or lightly- +rippled flow, now as a wildly-coursing, fiercely-gushing torrent; +sometimes it is dimly felt only as an undercurrent whose presence +not unfrequently becomes temporarily lost to ear and eye. We +must, however, take care not to overlook that this zal is not +exclusively individual, although its width and intensity are so. + + The key-note [of Polish songs] [says the editor and translator + into German of an interesting collection of Folk-songs of the + Poles][FOOTNOTE: Volkslieder der Polen. Gesammelt und + ubersetzt von W. P. (Leipzig,1833).] is melancholy--even in + playful and naive songs something may be heard which reminds + one of the pain of past sorrows; a plaintive sigh, a death- + groan, which seems to accuse the Creator, curses His + existence, and, as Tieck thinks, cries to heaven out of the + dust of annihilation: + + "What sin have I committed?" + + These are the after-throes of whole races; these are the pains + of whole centuries, which in these melodies entwine themselves + in an infinite sigh. One is tempted to call them sentimental, + because they seem to reflect sometimes on their own feeling; + but, on the other hand, they are not so, for the impulse to an + annihilating outpouring of feeling expresses itself too + powerfully for these musical poems to be products of conscious + creativeness. One feels when one hears these songs that the + implacable wheel of fate has only too often rolled over the + terrene happiness of this people, and life has turned to them + only its dark side. Therefore, the dark side is so + conspicuous; therefore, much pain and poetry--unhappiness and + greatness. + +The remarks on Polish folk-music lead us naturally to the +question of Chopin's indebtedness to it, which, while in one +respect it cannot be too highly rated, is yet in another respect +generally overrated. The opinion that every peculiarity which +distinguishes his music from that of other masters is to be put +to the account of his nationality, and may be traced in Polish +folk-music, is erroneous. But, on the other hand, it is +emphatically true that this same folk-music was to him a potent +inspirer and trainer. Generally speaking, however, Chopin has +more of the spirit than of the form of Polish folk-music. The +only two classes of his compositions where we find also something +of the form are his mazurkas and polonaises; and, what is +noteworthy, more in the former, the dance of the people, than in +the latter, the dance of the aristocracy. In Chopin's mazurkas we +meet not only with many of the most characteristic rhythms, but +also with many equally characteristic melodic and harmonic traits +of this chief of all the Polish dances. + +Polish national music conforms in part to the tonality prevailing +in modern art-music, that is, to our major and minor modes; in +part, however, it reminds one of other tonalities--for instance, +of that of the mediaeval church modes, and of that or those +prevalent in the music of the Hungarians, Wallachians, and other +peoples of that quarter. + +[FOOTNOTE: The strictly diatonic church modes (not to be +confounded with the ancient Greek modes bearing the same names) +differ from each other by the position of the two semitones: the +Ionian is like our C major; the Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, +Mixolydian, Aeolian. &c., are like the series of natural notes +starting respectively from d, c, f, g, a, &c. The characteristic +interval of the Hungarian scale is the augmented second (a, b, c, +d#, e, f, g#, a).] + +The melodic progression, not always immediate, of an augmented +fourth and major seventh occurs frequently, and that of an +augmented second occasionally. Skips of a third after or before +one or more steps of a second are very common. In connection with +these skips of a third may be mentioned that one meets with +melodies evidently based on a scale with a degree less than our +major and minor scales, having in one place a step of a third +instead of a second. [FOOTNOTE: Connoisseurs of Scotch music, on +becoming acquainted with Polish music, will be incited by many +traits of the latter to undertake a comparative study of the +two.] The opening and the closing note stand often to each other +in the relation of a second, sometimes also of a seventh. The +numerous peculiarities to be met with in Polish folkmusic with +regard to melodic progression are not likely to be reducible to +one tonality or a simple system of tonalities. Time and district +of origin have much to do with the formal character of the +melodies. And besides political, social, and local influences +direct musical ones--the mediaeval church music, eastern secular +music, &c.--have to be taken into account. Of most Polish +melodies it may be said that they are as capricious as they are +piquant. Any attempt to harmonise them according to our tonal +system must end in failure. Many of them would, indeed, be +spoiled by any kind of harmony, being essentially melodic, not +outgrowths of harmony. + +[FOOTNOTE: To those who wish to study this subject may be +recommended Oskar Kolberg's Piesni Ludu Polskiego (Warsaw, 1857), +the best collection of Polish folk-songs. Charles Lipinski's +collection, Piesni Polskie i Ruskie Luttu Galicyjskiego, although +much less interesting, is yet noteworthy.] + +To treat, however, this subject adequately, one requires volumes, +not pages; to speak on it authoritatively, one must have studied +it more thoroughly than I have done. The following melodies and +snatches of melodies will to some extent illustrate what I have +said, although they are chosen with a view rather to illustrate +Chopin's indebtedness to Polish folk-music than Polish folk-music +itself:-- + +[11 music score excerpts illustrated here] + +Chopin, while piquantly and daringly varying the tonality +prevailing in art-music, hardly ever departs from it altogether-- +he keeps at least in contact with it, however light that contact +may be now and then in the mazurkas. + +[FOOTNOTE: One of the most decided exceptions is the Mazurka, Op. +24, No. 2, of which only the A fiat major part adheres frankly to +our tonality. The portion beginning with the twenty-first bar and +extending over that and the next fifteen bars displays, on the +other hand, the purest Lydian, while the other portions, although +less definite as regards tonality, keep in closer touch with the +mediaeval church smode [sic: mode] than with our major and +minor.] + +Further, he adopted only some of the striking peculiarities of +the national music, and added to them others which were +individual. These individual characteristics--those audacities of +rhythm, melody, and harmony (in progressions and modulations, as +well as in single chords)--may, however, be said to have been +fathered by the national ones. As to the predominating +chromaticism of his style, it is not to be found in Polish folk- +music; although slight rudiments are discoverable (see Nos. 6-12 +of the musical illustrations). Of course, no one would seek there +his indescribably-exquisite and highly-elaborate workmanship, +which alone enabled him to give expression to the finest shades +and most sudden changes of gentle feelings and turbulent +passions. Indeed, as I have already said, it is rather the +national spirit than the form which manifests itself in Chopin's +music. The writer of the article on Polish music in Mendel's +Conversations-Lexikon remarks:-- + + What Chopin has written remains for all times the highest + ideal of Polish music. Although it would be impossible to + point out in a single bar a vulgar utilisation of a national + theme, or a Slavonic aping of it, there yet hovers over the + whole the spirit of Polish melody, with its chivalrous, proud, + and dreamy accents; yea, even the spirit of the Polish + language is so pregnantly reproduced in the musical diction as + perhaps in no composition of any of his countrymen; unless it + be that Prince Oginski with his polonaises and Dobrzynski in + his happiest moments have approached him. + +Liszt, as so often, has also in connection with this aspect of +the composer Chopin some excellent remarks to offer. + + He neither applied himself nor exerted himself to write Polish + music; it is possible that he would have been astonished to + hear himself called a Polish musician. + + [FOOTNOTE: Liszt decidedly overshoots here the mark, and does + so in a less degree in the rest of these observations. Did not + Chopin himself say to Hiller that he wished to be to his + countrymen what Uhland was to the Germans? And did he not + write in one of his letters (see p. 168): "You know how I wish + to understand, and how I have in part succeeded in + understanding, our national music"?] + + Nevertheless, he was a national musician par excellence...He + summed up in his imagination, he represented in his talent, a + poetic feeling inherent in his nation and diffused there among + all his contemporaries. Like the true national poets, Chopin + sang, without a fixed design, without a preconceived choice, + what inspiration spontaneously dictated to him; it is thus + that there arose in his music, without solicitation, without + effort, the most idealised form of the emotions which had + animated his childhood, chequered his adolescence, and + embellished his youth...Without making any pretence to it, he + collected into a luminous sheaf sentiments confusedly felt by + all in his country, fragmentarily disseminated in their + hearts, vaguely perceived by some. + +George Sand tells us that Chopin's works were the mysterious and +vague expression of his inner life. That they were the expression +of his inner life is indeed a fact which no attentive hearer can +fail to discover without the aid of external evidence. For the +composer has hardly written a bar in which, so to speak, the +beating of his heart may not be felt. Chopin revealed himself +only in his music, but there he revealed himself fully. And was +this expression of his inner life really "mysterious and vague"? +I think not! At least, no effusion of words could have made +clearer and more distinct what he expressed. For the +communications of dreams and visions such as he dreamt and saw, +of the fluctuating emotional actualities such as his sensitive +heart experienced, musical forms are, no doubt, less clumsy than +verbal and pictorial ones. And if we know something of his +history and that of his nation, we cannot be at a loss to give +names and local habitations to the impalpable, but emotionally +and intellectually-perceptible contents of his music. We have to +distinguish in Chopin the personal and the national tone-poet, +the singer of his own joys and sorrows and that of his country's. +But, while distinguishing these two aspects, we must take care +not to regard them as two separate things. They were a duality +the constitutive forces of which alternately assumed supremacy. +The national poet at no time absorbed the personal, the personal +poet at no time disowned the national. His imagination was always +ready to conjure up his native atmosphere, nay, we may even say +that, wherever he might be, he lived in it. The scene of his +dreams and visions lay oftenest in the land of his birth. And +what did the national poet dream and see in these dreams and +visions? A past, present, and future which never existed and +never will exist, a Poland and a Polish people glorified. Reality +passed through the refining fires of his love and genius and +reappeared in his music sublimated as beauty and poetry. No other +poet has like Chopin embodied in art the romance of the land and +people of Poland. And, also, no other poet has like him embodied +in art the romance of his own existence. But whereas as a +national poet he was a flattering idealist, he was as a personal +poet an uncompromising realist. + +The masterpieces of Chopin consist of mazurkas, polonaises, +waltzes, etudes, preludes, nocturnes (with which we will class +the berceuse and barcarole), scherzos and impromptus, and +ballades. They do not, however, comprise all his notable +compositions. And about these notable compositions which do not +rank with his masterpieces, either because they are of less +significance or otherwise fail to reach the standard of requisite +perfectness, I shall first say a few words. + +Chopin's Bolero, Op. 19, may be described as a Bolero a la +polonaise. It is livelier in movement and more coquettish in +character than the compositions which he entitles polonaises, but +for all that its physiognomy does not on the whole strike one as +particularly Spanish, certainly not beyond the first section of +the Bolero proper and the seductive strains of the Pililento, the +second tempo of the introduction. And in saying this I am not +misled by the points of resemblance in the rhythmical +accompaniment of these dances. Chopin published the Bolero in +1834, four years before he visited Spain, but one may doubt +whether it would have turned out less Polish if he had composed +it subsequently. Although an excellent imitator in the way of +mimicry, he lacked the talent of imitating musical thought and +character; at any rate, there are no traces of it in his works. +The cause of this lack of talent lies, of course, in the strength +of his subjectivism in the first place, and of his nationalism in +the second. I said the Bolero was published four years before his +visit to Spain. But how many years before this visit was it +composed? I think a good many years earlier; for it has so much +of his youthful style about it, and not only of his youthful +style, but also of his youthful character--by which I mean that +it is less intensely poetic. It is not impossible that Chopin was +instigated to write it by hearing the Bolero in Auber's "La +Muette de Portici" ("Masaniello"), which opera was first +performed on February 28, 1828. These remarks are thrown out +merely as hints. The second composition which we shall consider +will show how dangerous it is to dogmatise on the strength of +internal evidence. + +Op. 16, a lightsome Rondeau with a dramatic Introduction, is, +like the Bolero, not without its beauties; but in spite of +greater individuality, ranks, like it, low among the master's +works, being patchy, unequal, and little poetical. + +If ever Chopin is not Chopin in his music, he is so in his +Variations brillantes (in B flat major) sur le Rondeau favori: +"Je vends des Scapulaires" de Ludovic, de Herold et Halevy, Op. +12. Did we not know that he must have composed the. work about +the middle of 1833, we should be tempted to class it with the +works which came into existence when his individuality was as yet +little developed. [FOOTNOTE: The opera Ludovic, on which Herold +was engaged when he died on January 19, 1833, and which Halevy +completed, was produced in Paris on May 16, 1833. From the German +publishers of Chopin's Op. 12 I learned that it appeared in +November, 1833. In the Gazette musicale of January 26, 1834, may +be read a review of it.] But knowing what we do, we can only +wonder at the strange phenomenon. It is as if Chopin had here +thrown overboard the Polish part of his natal inheritance and +given himself up unrestrainedly and voluptuously to the French +part. Besides various diatonic runs of an inessential and purely +ornamental character, there is in the finale actually a plain and +full-toned C flat major scale. What other work of the composer +could be pointed out exhibiting the like feature? Of course, +Chopin is as little successful in entirely hiding his +serpentining and chromaticising tendency as Mephistopheles in +hiding the limp arising from his cloven foot. Still, these +fallings out of the role are rare and transient, and, on the +whole, Chopin presents himself as a perfect homme du monde who +knows how to say the most insignificant trifles with the most +exquisite grace imaginable. There can. be nothing more amusing +than the contemporary critical opinions regarding this work, +nothing more amusing than to see the at other times censorious +Philistines unwrinkle their brows, relax generally the sternness +of their features, and welcome, as it were, the return of the +prodigal son. We wiser critics of to-day, who, of course, think +very differently about this matter, can, nevertheless, enjoy and +heartily applaud the prettiness and elegance of the simple first +variation, the playful tripping second, the schwarmerische +melodious third, the merry swinging fourth, and the brilliant +finale. + +From Chopin's letters we see that the publication of the +Tarantelle, Op. 43, which took place in the latter part of 1841, +was attended with difficulties and annoyances. [FOOTNOTE: Herr +Schuberth, of Leipzig, informed me that a honorarium of 500 +francs was paid to Chopin for this work on July 1, 1841. The +French publisher deposited the work at the library of the +Conservatoire in October, 1841.] What these difficulties and +annoyances were, is, however, only in part ascertainable. To turn +from the publication to the composition itself, I may say that it +is full of life, indeed, spirited in every respect, in movement +and in boldness of harmonic and melodic conception. The +Tarantelle is a translation from Italian into Polish, a +transmutation of Rossini into Chopin, a Neapolitan scene painted +with opaque colours, the south without its transparent sky, balmy +air, and general brightness. That this composition was inspired +by impressions received from Rossini's Tarantella, and not from +impressions received in Italy (of which, as has already been +related, he had a short glimpse in 1839), is evident. A +comparison of Chopin's Op. 43 with Liszt's glowing and +intoxicating transcription of Rossini's composition may be +recommended as a study equally pleasant and instructive. Although +not an enthusiastic admirer of Chopin's Tarantelle, I protest in +the interest of the composer and for justice's sake against +Schumann's dictum: "Nobody can call that beautiful music; but we +pardon the master his wild fantasies, for once he may let us see +also the dark sides of his inner life." + +The Allegro de Concert, Op. 46, which was published in November, +1841, although written for the pianoforte alone, contains, +nevertheless, passages which are more distinctly orchestral than +anything Chopin ever wrote for the orchestra. The form resembles +somewhat that of the concerto. In the first section, which +occupies the place of the opening tutti, we cannot fail to +distinguish the entrances of single instruments, groups of +instruments, and the full orchestra. The soloist starts in the +eighty-seventh bar, and in the following commences a cadenza. +With the a tempo comes the first subject (A major), and the +passage-work which brings up the rear leads to the second subject +(E major), which had already appeared in the first section in A +major. The first subject, if I may dignify the matter in question +with that designation, does not recur again, nor was it +introduced by the tutti. The central and principal thought is +what I called the second subject. The second section concludes +with brilliant passage-work in E major, the time--honoured shake +rousing the drowsy orchestra from its sweet repose. The hint is +not lost, and the orchestra, in the disguise of the pianoforte, +attends to its duty right vigorously. With the poco rit. the +soloist sets to work again, and in the next bar takes up the +principal subject in A minor. After that we have once more +brilliant passage-work, closing this time in A major, and then a +final tutti. The Allegro de Concert gives rise to all sorts of +surmises. Was it written first for the pianoforte and orchestra, +as Schumann suspects? Or may we make even a bolder guess, and +suppose that the composer, at a more advanced age, worked up into +this Allegro de Concert a sketch for the first movement of a +concerto conceived in his younger days? Have we, perhaps, here a +fragment or fragments of the Concerto for two pianos which +Chopin, in a letter written at Vienna on December 21, 1830, said +he would play in public with his friend Nidecki, if he succeeded +in writing it to his satisfaction? And is there any significance +in the fact that Chopin, when (probably in the summer of 1841) +sending the manuscript of this work to Fontana, calls it a +Concerto? Be this as it may, the principal subject and some of +the passage-work remind one of the time of the concertos; other +things, again, belong undoubtedly to a later period. The tutti +and solo parts are unmistakable, so different is the treatment of +the pianoforte: in the former the style has the heaviness of an +arrangement, in the latter it has Chopin's usual airiness. The +work, as a whole, is unsatisfactory, nay, almost indigestible. +The subjects are neither striking nor important. Of the passage- +work, that which follows the second subject contains the most +interesting matter. Piquant traits and all sorts of fragmentary +beauties are scattered here and there over the movement. But +after we have considered all, we must confess that this opus adds +little or nothing to the value of our Chopin inheritance. + +[FOOTNOTE: In justice to the composer I must here quote a +criticism which since I wrote the above appeared in the Athenaum +(January 21, 1888):--"The last-named work [the Allegro de +Concert, Op. 46] is not often heard, and is generally regarded as +one of Chopin's least interesting and least characteristic +pieces. Let us hasten to say that these impressions are +distinctly wrong; the executive difficulties of the work are +extremely great, and a mere mastery of them is far from all that +is needed. When M. de Pachmann commenced to play it was quickly +evident that his reading would be most remarkable, and in the end +it amounted to an astounding revelation. That which seemed dry +and involved became under his fingers instinct with beauty and +feeling; the musicians and amateurs present listened as if +spellbound, and opinion was unanimous that the performance was +nothing short of an artistic creation. For the sake of the +composer, if not for his own reputation, the pianist should +repeat it, not once, but many times." Notwithstanding this +decided judgment of a weighty authority--for such everyone will, +without hesitation, acknowledge the critic in question to be--I +am unable, after once more examining the work, to alter my +previously formed opinion.] + +As a further confirmation of the supposed origin of the Allegro +de Concert, I may mention the arrangement of it for piano and +orchestra (also for two pianos) by Jean Louis Nicode. + +[FOOTNOTE: Nicode has done his work well so far as he kept close +to the text of Chopin; but his insertion of a working-out section +of more than seventy bars is not justifiable, and, moreover, +though making the work more like an orthodox first movement of a +concerto, does not enhance its beauty and artistic value.] + +To the Sonata in B flat minor, Op. 35 (published in May, 1840), +this most powerful of Chopin's works in the larger forms, Liszt's +remark, "Plus de volonte que d'inspiration," is hardly +applicable, although he used the expression in speaking of +Chopin's concertos and sonatas in general; for there is no lack +of inspiration here, nor are there traces of painful, unrewarded +effort. Each of the four pieces of which the sonata consists is +full of vigour, originality, and interest. But whether they can +be called a sonata is another question. Schumann, in his playful +manner, speaks of caprice and wantonness, and insinuates that +Chopin bound together four of his maddest children, and entitled +them sonata, in order that he might perhaps under this name +smuggle them in where otherwise they would not penetrate. Of +course, this is a fancy of Schumann's. Still, one cannot help +wondering whether the composer from the first intended to write a +sonata and obtained this result--amphora coepit institui; +currente rota cur urceus exit?--or whether these four movements +got into existence without any predestination, and were +afterwards put under one cover. [FOOTNOTE: At any rate, the march +was finished before the rest of the work. See the quotation from +one of Chopin's letters farther on.] With all Schumann's +admiration for Chopin and praise of this sonata, it appears to me +that he does not give Chopin his due. There is something gigantic +in the work which, although it does not elevate and ennoble, +being for the most part a purposeless fuming, impresses one +powerfully. The first movement begins with four bars grave, a +groan full of pain; then the composer, in restless, breathless +haste, is driven by his feelings onward, ever onward, till he +comes to the lovely, peaceful second subject (in D flat major, a +real contrast this time), which grows by-and-by more passionate, +and in the concluding portion of the first part transcends the +limits of propriety--VIDE those ugly dissonances. The connection +of the close of the first part with the repetition of this and +the beginning of the second part by means of the chord of the +dominant seventh in A flat and that in D flat with the suspended +sixth, is noteworthy. The strange second section, in which the +first subject is worked out, has the appearance rather of an +improvisation than of a composition. After this a few bars in 6/4 +time, fiercely wild (stretto) at first, but gradually subsiding, +lead to the repeat in B flat major of the second subject--the +first subject does not appear again in its original form. To the +close, which is like that of the corresponding section in the +first part (6/4), is added a coda (2/2) introducing the +characteristic motive of the first subject. In the scherzo, the +grandest movement and the climax of the sonata, the gloom and the +threatening power which rise to a higher and higher pitch become +quite weird and fear-inspiring; it affects one like lowering +clouds, rolling of thunder, and howling and whistling of the wind- +-to the latter, for instance, the chromatic successions of chords +of the sixth may not inappropriately be likened. The piu lento is +certainly one of the most scherzo-like thoughts in Chopin's +scherzos--so light and joyful, yet a volcano is murmuring under +this serenity. The return of this piu lento, after the repeat of +the first section, is very fine and beneficently refreshing, like +nature after a storm. The Marche funebre ranks among Chopin's +best-known and most highly-appreciated pieces. Liszt mentions it +with particular distinction, and grows justly eloquent over it. I +do not altogether understand Schumann's objection: "It is still +more gloomy than the scherzo," he says, "and contains even much +that is repulsive; in its place an adagio, perhaps in D flat, +would have had an incomparably finer effect." Out of the dull, +stupefied brooding, which is the fundamental mood of the first +section, there rises once and again (bars 7 and 8, and 11 and 12) +a pitiable wailing, and then an outburst of passionate appealing +(the forte passage in D flat major), followed by a sinking +helplessness (the two bars with the shakes in the bass), +accompanied by moans and deep breathings. The two parts of the +second section are a rapturous gaze into the beatific regions of +a beyond, a vision of reunion of what for the time is severed. +The last movement may be counted among the curiosities of +composition--a presto in B flat minor of seventy-five bars, an +endless series of triplets from beginning to end in octaves. It +calls up in one's mind the solitude and dreariness of a desert. +"The last movement is more like mockery than music," says +Schumann, but adds, truly and wisely-- + + and yet one confesses to one's self that also out of this + unmelodious and joyless movement a peculiar dismal spirit + breathes upon us, who keeps down with a strong hand that which + would revolt, so that we obey, as if we were charmed, without + murmuring, but also without praising, for that is no music. + Thus the sonata concludes, as it began, enigmatically, like a + sphinx with a mocking smile. + +J. W. Davison, in the preface to an edition of Chopin's mazurkas, +relates that Mendelssohn, on being questioned about the finale of +one of Chopin's sonatas (I think it must have been the one before +us), said briefly and bitterly, "Oh, I abhor it!" H. Barbedette +remarks in his "Chopin," a criticism without insight and +originality, of this finale, "C'est Lazare grattant de ses ongles +la pierre de son tombeau et tombant epuise de fatigue, de faim et +de desespoir." And now let the reader recall the words which +Chopin wrote from Nohant to Fontana in the summer of 1839:-- + + I am composing here a Sonata in B flat minor, in which will be + the funeral march which you have already. There is an Allegro, + then a Scherzo, in E flat minor, the March, and a short Finale + of about three pages. The left hand unisono with the right + hand are gossiping after the March [ogaduja po Marszu]. + +The meaning of which somewhat obscure interpretation seems to be, +that after the burial the good neighbours took to discussing the +merits of the departed, not without a spice of backbiting. + +The Sonata in B minor, Op. 58, the second of Chopin's notable +pianoforte sonatas (the third if we take into account the +unpalatable Op. 4), made its appearance five years later, in +June, 1845. Unity is as little discernible in this sonata as in +its predecessor. The four movements of which the work consists +are rather affiliated than cognate; nay, this may be said even of +many parts of the movements. The first movement by far surpasses +the other three in importance: indeed, the wealth of beautiful +and interesting matter which is here heaped up--for it is rather +an unsifted accumulation than an artistic presentation and +evolution--would have sufficed many a composer for several +movements. The ideas are very unequal and their course very jerky +till we come to the second subject (D major), which swells out +into a broad stream of impassioned melody. Farther on the matter +becomes again jerky and mosaic-like. While the close of the first +part is very fine, the beginning of the second is a comfortless +waste. Things mend with the re-entrance of the subsidiary part of +the second subject (now in D flat major), which, after being +dwelt upon for some time and varied, disappears, and is followed +by a repetition of portions of the first subject, the whole +second subject (in B major), and the closing period, which is +prolonged by a coda to make the close more emphatic and +satisfying. A light and graceful quaver figure winds with now +rippling, now waving motion through the first and third sections +of the scherzo; in the contrasting second section, with the +sustained accompaniment and the melody in one of the middle +parts, the entrance of the bright A major, after the gloom of the +preceding bars, is very effective. The third movement has the +character of a nocturne, and as such cannot fail to be admired. +In the visionary dreaming of the long middle section we imagine +the composer with dilated eyes and rapture in his look--it is +rather a reverie than a composition. The finale surrounds us with +an emotional atmosphere somewhat akin to that of the first +movement, but more agitated. After eight bold introductory bars +with piercing dissonances begins the first subject, which, with +its rhythmically differently-accompanied repetition, is the most +important constituent of the movement. The rest, although finely +polished, is somewhat insignificant. In short, this is the old +story, plus de volonte que d'inspiration, that is to say, +inspiration of the right sort. And also, plus de volonte que de +savoir-faire. + +There is one work of Chopin's to which Liszt's dictum, plus de +volnte que d'inspiratio, applies in all, and even more than all +its force. I allude to the Sonata (in G minor) for piano and +violoncello, Op. 65 (published in September, 1847), in which +hardly anything else but effort, painful effort, manifests +itself. The first and last movements are immense wildernesses +with only here and there a small flower. The middle movements, a +Scherzo and an Andante, do not rise to the dignity of a sonata, +and, moreover, lack distinction, especially the slow movement, a +nocturne-like dialogue between the two instruments. As to the +beauties--such as the first subject of the first movement (at the +entrance of the violoncello), the opening bars of the Scherzo, +part of the ANDANTE, &c.--they are merely beginnings, springs +that lose themselves soon in a sandy waste. Hence I have not the +heart to controvert Moscheles who, in his diary, says some +cutting things about this work: "In composition Chopin proves +that he has only isolated happy thoughts which he does not know +how to work up into a rounded whole. In the just published sonata +with violoncello I find often passages which sound as if someone +were preluding on the piano and knocked at all the keys to learn +whether euphony was at home." [FOOTNOTE: Aus Moscheles' Leben; +Vol. II., p. 171.] An entry of the year 1850 runs as follows: +"But a trial of patience of another kind is imposed on me by +Chopin's Violoncello Sonata, which I am arranging for four hands. +To me it is a tangled forest, through which now and then +penetrates a gleam of the sun." [FOOTNOTE: Ibid., Vol. II., p. +216.] To take up after the last-discussed work a composition like +the Grand Duo Concertant for piano and violoncello, on themes +from "Robert le Diable," by Chopin and A. Franchomme, is quite a +relief, although it is really of no artistic importance. Schumann +is right when he says of this DUO, which saw the light of +publicity (without OPUS number) in 1833:14 [FOOTNOTE: The first +performance of Meyerbeer's "Robert le Diable" took place at the +Paris Opera on November 21, 1831.] "A piece for a SALON where +behind the shoulders of counts and countesses now and then rises +the head of a celebrated artist." And he may also be right when +he says:-- + + It seems to me that Chopin sketched the whole of it, and that + Franchomme said "yes" to everything; for what Chopin touches + takes his form and spirit, and in this minor salon-style he + expresses himself with grace and distinction, compared with + which all the gentility of other brilliant composers together + with all their elegance vanish into thin air. + +The mention of the DUO is somewhat out of place here, but the +Sonata, Op. 65, in which the violoncello is employed, naturally +suggested it. + +We have only one more work to consider before we come to the +groups of masterpieces in the smaller forms above enumerated. But +this last work is one of Chopin's best compositions, and in its +way no less a masterpiece than these. Unfettered by the scheme of +a definite form such as the sonata or concerto, the composer +develops in the Fantaisie, Op. 49 (published in November, 1841), +his thought with masterly freedom. There is an enthralling +weirdness about this work, a weirdness made up of force of +passion and an indescribable fantastic waywardness. Nothing more +common than the name of Fantasia, here we have the thing! The +music falls on our ears like the insuppressible outpouring of a +being stirred to its heart's core, and full of immeasurable love +and longing. Who would suspect the composer's fragility and +sickliness in this work? Does it not rather suggest a Titan in +commotion? There was a time when I spoke of the Fantasia in a +less complimentary tone, now I bow down my head regretfully and +exclaim peccavi. The disposition of the composition may be thus +briefly indicated. A tempo di marcia opens the Fantasia--it forms +the porch of the edifice. The dreamy triplet passages of the poco +a poco piu mosso are comparable to galleries that connect the +various blocks of buildings. The principal subject, or +accumulation of themes, recurs again and again in different keys, +whilst other subjects appear only once or twice between the +repetitions of the principal subject. + +The mazurkas of Chopin are a literature in themselves, said Lenz, +and there is some truth in his saying. They may, indeed, be +called a literature in themselves for two reasons--first, because +of their originality, which makes them things sui generis; and +secondly, because of the poetical and musical wealth of their +contents. Chopin, as I have already said, is most national in the +mazurkas and polonaises, for the former of which he draws not +only inspiration, but even rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic +motives from his country's folk-music. Liszt told me, in a +conversation I had with him, that he did not care much for +Chopin's mazurkas. "One often meets in them with bars which might +just as well be in another place." But he added, "And yet as +Chopin puts them, perhaps nobody else could have put them." And +mark, those are the words of one who also told me that when he +sometimes played half-an-hour for his amusement, he liked to +resort to Chopin. Moscheles, I suspect, had especially the +mazurkas in his mind when, in 1833, [FOOTNOTE: At this time the +published compositions of Chopin were, of course, not numerous, +but they included the first two books of Mazurkas, Op. 6 and 7.] +he said of the Polish master's compositions that he found "much +charm in their originality and national colouring," and that "his +thoughts and through them the fingers stumbled over certain hard, +inartistic modulations." Startling progressions, unreconciled +contrasts, and abrupt changes of mood are characteristic of +Slavonic music and expressive of the Slavonic character. Whether +they ought to be called inartistic or not, we will leave time to +decide, if it has not done so already; the Russian and other +Slavonic composers, who are now coming more and more to the +front, seem to be little in doubt as to their legitimacy. I +neither regard Chopin's mazurkas as his most artistic +achievements nor recommend their capriciousness and +fragmentariness for general imitation. But if we view them from +the right stand-point, which is not that of classicism, we cannot +help admiring them. The musical idiom which the composer uses in +these, notwithstanding their capriciousness and fragmentariness, +exquisitely-finished miniatures, has a truly delightful piquancy. +Yet delightful as their language is, the mazurkas have a far +higher claim to our admiration. They are poems--social poems, +poems of private life, in distinction from the polonaises, which +are political poems. Although Chopin's mazurkas and polonaises +are no less individual than the other compositions of this most +subjective of subjective poets, they incorporate, nevertheless, a +good deal of the poetry of which the national dances of those +names are the expression or vehicle. And let it be noted, in +Poland so-called civilisation did not do its work so fast and +effectually as in Western Europe; there dancing had not yet +become in Chopin's days a merely formal and conventional affair, +a matter of sinew and muscle. + +It is, therefore, advisable that we should make ourselves +acquainted with the principal Polish dances; such an +acquaintance, moreover, will not only help us to interpret aright +Chopin's mazurkas and polonaises, but also to gain a deeper +insight into his ways of feeling and seeing generally. Now the +reader will become aware that the long disquisitions on Poland +and the Poles at the commencement of this biography were not +superfluous accessories. For completeness' sake I shall preface +the description of the mazurka by a short one of the krakowiak, +the third of the triad of principal Polish dances. The informants +on whom I shall chiefly rely when I am not guided by my own +observations are the musician Sowinski and the poet Brodzinski, +both Poles: + + The krakowiak [says Albert Sowinski in chant polonais] bubbles + over with esprit and gaiety; its name indicates its origin. It + is the delight of the salons, and especially of the huts. The + Cracovians dance it in a very agitated and expressive manner, + singing at the same time words made for the occasion of which + they multiply the stanzas and which they often improvise. + These words are of an easy gaiety which remind one strangely + of the rather loose [semi-grivoises] songs so popular in + France; others again are connected with the glorious epochs of + history, with the sweet or sad memories which it calls up, and + are a faithful expression of the character and manners of the + nation. + +Casimir Brodzinski describes the dance as follows:-- + + The krakowiak resembles in its figures a simplified polonaise; + it represents, compared with the latter, a less advanced + social state. The boldest and strongest takes the position of + leader and conducts the dance; he sings, the others join in + chorus; he dances, they imitate him. Often also the krakowiak + represents, in a kind of little ballet, the simple course of a + love-affair: one sees a couple of young people place + themselves before the orchestra; the young man looks proud, + presumptuous, preoccupied with his costume and beauty. Before + long he becomes meditative, and seeks inspiration to improvise + verses which the cries of his companions ask for, and which + the time beaten by them provoke, as well as the manoeuvre of + the young girl, who is impatient to dance. Arriving before the + orchestra after making a round, the dancer generally takes the + liberty of singing a refrain which makes the young girl blush; + she runs away, and it is in pursuing her that the young man + displays all his agility. At the last round it is the young + man who pretends to run away from his partner; she tries to + seize his arm, after which they dance together until the + ritornello puts an end to their pleasure. + +As a technical supplement to the above, I may say that this +lively dance is in 2/4 time, and like other Polish dances has the +rhythmical peculiarity of having frequently the accent on a +usually unaccented part of the bar, especially at the end of a +section or a phrase, for instance, on the second quaver of the +second and the fourth bar, thus:-- + +[Here, the author illustrates with a rhythm diagram consisting of +a line of notes divided in measures: 1/8 1/16 1/16 1/8 1/8 | 1/8 +1/4 1/8 | 1/8 1/16 1/16 1/8 1/8 | 1/8 1/4 dot] + +Chopin has only once been inspired by the krakowiak--namely, in +his Op. 14, entitled Krakowiak, Grand Rondeau de Concert, a +composition which was discussed in Chapter VIII. Thus much of the +krakowiak; now to the more interesting second of the triad. + + The mazurek [or mazurka], whose name comes from Mazovia, one + of our finest provinces, is the most characteristic dance-tune + --it is the model of all our new tunes. One distinguishes, + however, these latter easily from the ancient ones on account + of their less original and less cantabile form. There are two + kinds of mazureks: one, of which the first portion is always + in minor and the second in major, has a romance-like + colouring, it is made to be sung, in Polish one says "to be + heard" (do sludninin); the other serves as an accompaniment to + a dance, of which the figures arc multiplied passes and + coiuluiles. Its movement is in time, and yet less quick than + the waltz. The motive is in dotted notes, which must be + executed with energy and warmth, but not without a certain + dignity. + +Now the mazurka is generally written in 3/4-time; Chopin's are +all written thus. The dotted rhythmical motive alluded to by +Sowinski is this, or similar to this-- + +[Another rhythm diagram: 1/8 dot 1/16 1/4 1/4 | 1/8 dot 1/16 1/2] + +But the dotted notes are by no means de rigueur. As motives like +the following-- + +[Another rhythm diagram: 1/4 1/2 | 1/8 1/8 1/4 1/4 | triplet 1/4 +1/4 | triple 1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8] + +are of frequent occurrence, I would propose a more comprehensive +definition--namely, that the first part of the bar consists +mostly of quicker notes than the latter part. But even this more +comprehensive definition does not comprehend all; it is a rule +which has many exceptions. [FOOTNOTE: See the musical +illustrations on pp. 217-218.] Le Sowinski mentions only one +classification of mazurkas. Several others, however, exist. +First, according to the district from which they derive--mazurkas +of Kujavia, of Podlachia, of Lublin, &c.; or, secondly, according +to their character, or to the purpose or occasion for which they +were composed: wedding, village, historical, martial, and +political mazurkas. And now let us hear what the poet Brodzinski +has to say about the nature of this dance:- + + The mazurek in its primitive form and as the common people + dance is only a kind of krakowiak, only less lively and less + sautillant. The agile Cracovians and the mountaineers of the + Carpathians call the mazurek danced by the inhabitants of the + plain but a dwarfed krakowiak. The proximity of the Germans, + or rather the sojourn of the German troops, has caused the + true character of the mazurek among the people to be lost; + this dance hap become a kind of awkward waltz. + + With the people of the capital the real dances of the country + are disfigured not only by the influx of foreigners, but + especially also by the unfortunate employment of barrel- + organs....It is this instrument which crushes among the people + the practice of music, and takes the means of subsistence from + the village fiddler, who becomes more and more rare since + every tavern-keeper, in buying a barrel-organ, easily puts an + end to all competition. We see already more and more disappear + from our country sides these sweet songs and improvised + refrains which the rustic minstrels remembered and repeated, + and the truly national music gives way, alas! to the themes + borrowed from the operas most in vogue. + + The mazurek, thus degenerated among the people, has been + adopted by the upper classes who, in preserving the national + allures, perfected it to the extent of rendering it, beyond + doubt, one of the most graceful dances in Europe. This dance + has much resemblance with the French quadrille, according to + what is analogous in the characters of the two nations; in + seeing these two dances one might say that a French woman + dances only to please, and that a Polish woman pleases by + abandoning herself to a kind of maiden gaiety--the graces + which she displays come rather from nature than from art. A + French female dancer recalls the ideal of Greek statues; a + Polish female dancer has something which recalls the + shepherdesses created by the imagination of the poets; if the + former charms us, the latter attaches us. + + As modern dances lend themselves especially to the triumph of + the women, because the costume of the men is so little + favourable, it is noteworthy that the mazurek forms here an + exception; for a young man, and especially a young Pole, + remarkable by a certain amiable boldness, becomes soon the + soul and hero of this dance. A light and in some sort pastoral + dress for the women, and the Polish military costume so + advantageous for the men, add to the charm of the picture + which the mazurek presents to the eye of the painter. This + dance permits to the whole body the most lively and varied + movements, leaves the shoulders full liberty to bend with that + ABANDON which, accompanied by a joyous laisser-aller and a + certain movement of the foot striking the floor, is + exceedingly graceful. + + One finds often a magic effect in the animated enthusiasm + which characterises the different movements of the head--now + proudly erect, now tenderly sunk on the bosom, now lightly + inclined towards the shoulder, and always depicting in large + traits the abundance of life and joy, shaded with simple, + graceful, and delicate sentiments. Seeing in the mazurek the + female dancer almost carried away in the arms and on the + shoulders of her cavalier, abandoning herself entirely to his + guidance, one thinks one sees two beings intoxicated with + happiness and flying towards the celestial regions. The female + dancer, lightly dressed, scarcely skimming the earth with her + dainty foot, holding on by the hand of her partner, in the + twinkling of an eye carried away by several others, and then, + like lightning, precipitating herself again into the arms of + the first, offers the image of the most happy and delightful + creature. The music of the mazurek is altogether national and + original; through its gaiety breathes usually something of + melancholy--one might say that it is destined to direct the + steps of lovers, whose passing sorrows are not without charm. + +Chopin himself published forty-one mazurkas of his composition in +eleven sets of four, five, or three numbers--Op. 6, Quatre +Mazurkas, and Op. 7, Cinq Mazurkas, in December, 1832; Op. 17, +Quatre Mazurkas, in May, 1834; Op. 24, Quatre Mazurkas, in +November, 1835; Op. 30, Quatre Maazurkas, in December, 1837; Op. +33, Quatre Mazurkas, in October, 1838; Op. 41, Quatre Mazurkas, +in December, 1840; Op. 50, Trois Mazurkas, in November, 1841; Op, +56, Trois Mazurkas, in August, 1844; Op. 59, Trois Mazurkas, in +April, 1846; and Op. 63, Trois Mazurkas, in September, 1847. In +tne posthumous works published by Fontana there are two more +sets, each of four numbers, and respectively marked as Op. 67 and +68. Lastly, several other mazurkas composed by or attributed to +Chopin have been published without any opus number. Two mazurkas, +both in A minor, although very feeble compositions, are included +in the editions by Klindworth and Mikuli. The Breitkopf and +Hartel edition, which includes only one of these two mazurkas, +comprises further a mazurka in G major and one in B flat major of +1825, one in D major of 1829-30, a remodelling of the same of +1832--these have already been discussed--and a somewhat more +interesting one in C major of 1833. Of one of the two mazurkas in +A minor, a poor thing and for the most part little Chopinesque, +only the dedication (a son ami Rmile Gaillard) is known, but not +the date of composition. The other (the one not included in +Breitkopf and Hartel's, No. 50 of Mikuli's and Klindworth's +edition) appeared first as No. 2 of Noire Temps, a publication by +Schott's Sohne. On inquiry I learned that Notre Temps was the +general title of a series of 12 pieces by Czerny, Chopin, +Kalliwoda, Rosenhain, Thalberg, Kalkbrenner, Mendelssohn, +Bertini, Wolff, Kontski, Osborne, and Herz, which appeared in +1842 or 1843 as a Christmas Album. [FOONOTE: I find, however, +that Chopin's Mazurka was already separately announced as "Notre +Temps, No. 2," in the Monatsberichte of February, 1842.] Whether +a Mazurka elegante by Fr, Chopin, advertised in La France +Musicale of April 6, 1845, as en vente au Bureau de musique, 29, +Place de la Bourse, is identical with one of the above-enumerated +mazurkas I have not been able to discover. In the Klindworth +edition [FOOTNOTE: That is to say, in the original Russian, not +in the English (Augener and Co.'s) edition; and there only by the +desire of the publishers and against the better judgment of the +editor.] is also to be found a very un-Chopinesque Mazurka in F +sharp major, previously published by J. P. Gotthard, in Vienna, +the authorship of which Mr. E. Pauer has shown to belong to +Charles Mayer. + +[FOOTNOTE: In an article, entitled Musical Plagiarism in the +Monthly Musical Record of July 1, 1882 (where also the mazurka in +question is reprinted), we read as follows:--"In 1877 Mr. E. +Pauer, whilst preparing a comprehensive guide through the entire +literature of the piano, looked through many thousand pieces for +that instrument published by German firms, and came across a +mazurka by Charles Mayer, published by Pietro Mechetti +(afterwards C. A. Spinal, and entitled Souvenirs de la Pologne. A +few weeks later a mazurka, a posthumous work of F. Chopin, +published by J. Gotthard, came into his hands. At first, although +the piece 'struck him as being an old acquaintance,' he could not +fix the time when and the place where he had heard it; but at +last the Mayer mazurka mentioned above returned to his +remembrance, and on comparing the two, he found that they were +one and the same piece. From the appearance of the title-page and +the size of the notes, Mr. Pauer, who has had considerable +experience in these matters, concluded that the Mayer copy must +have been published between the years 1840 and 1845, and wrote to +Mr. Gotthard pointing out the similarity of Chopin's posthumous +work, and asking how he came into possession of the Chopin +manuscript. Mr. Gotthard replied,'that he had bought the mazurka +as Chopin's autograph from a Polish countess, who, being in sad +distress, parted, though with the greatest sorrow, with the +composition of her illustrious compatriot.' Mr. Pauer naturally +concludes that Mr. Gotthard had been deceived, that the +manuscript was not a genuine autograph, and 'that the honour of +having composed the mazurka in question belongs to Charles +Mayer.' Mr. Pauer further adds: 'It is not likely that C. Mayer, +even if Chopin had made him a present of this mazurka, would have +published it during Chopin's lifetime as a work of his own, or +have sold or given it to the Polish countess. It is much more +likely that Mayer's mazurka was copied in the style of Chopin's +handwriting, and after Mayer's death in 1862 sold as Chopin's +autograph to Mr. Gotthard.'"] + +Surveying the mazurkas in their totality, we cannot but notice +that there is a marked difference between those up to and those +above Op. 41. In the later ones we look in vain for the beautes +sauvages which charm us in the earlier ones--they strike us +rather by their propriety of manner and scholarly elaboration; in +short, they have more of reflective composition and less of +spontaneous effusion about them. This, however, must not be taken +too literally. There are exceptions, partial and total. The +"native wood-notes wild" make themselves often heard, only they +are almost as often stifled in the close air of the study. +Strange to say, the last opus (63) of mazurkas published by +Chopin has again something of the early freshness and poetry. +Schumann spoke truly when he said that some poetical trait, +something new, was to be found in every one of Chopin's mazurkas. +They are indeed teeming with interesting matter. Looked at from +the musician's point of view, how much do we not see that is +novel and strange, and beautiful and fascinating withal? Sharp +dissonances, chromatic passing notes, suspensions and +anticipations, displacements of accent, progressions of perfect +fifths (the horror of schoolmen), [FOOTNOTE: See especially the +passage near the close of Op. 30, No. 4, where there are four +bars of simultaneous consecutive fifths and sevenths.] sudden +turns and unexpected digressions that are so unaccountable, so +out of the line of logical sequence, that one's following the +composer is beset with difficulties, marked rhythm picture to us +the graceful motions of the dancers, and suggest the clashing of +the spurs and the striking of heels against the ground. The +second mazurka might be called "the request." All the arts of +persuasion are tried, from the pathetic to the playful, and a +vein of longing, not unmixed with sadness, runs through the +whole, or rather forms the basis of it. The tender commencement +of the second part is followed, as it were, by the several times +repeated questions--Yes? No? (Bright sunshine? Dark clouds?) But +there comes no answer, and the poor wretch has to begin anew. A +helpless, questioning uncertainty and indecision characterise the +third mazurka. For a while the composer gives way (at the +beginning of the second part) to anger, and speaks in a defiant +tone; but, as if perceiving the unprofitableness of it, returns +soon to his first strain. Syncopations, suspensions, and +chromatic passing notes form here the composer's chief stock in +trade, displacement of everything in melody, harmony, and rhythm +is the rule. Nobody did anything like this before Chopin, and, as +far as I know, nobody has given to the world an equally minute +and distinct representation of the same intimate emotional +experiences. My last remarks hold good with the fourth mazurka, +which is bleak and joyless till, with the entrance of A major, a +fairer prospect opens. But those jarring tones that strike in +wake the dreamer pitilessly. The commencement of the mazurka, as +well as the close on the chord of the sixth, the chromatic +glidings of the harmonies, the strange twirls and skips, give a +weird character to this piece. + +The origin of the polonaise (Taniec Polski, Polish dance), like +that of the, no doubt, older mazurka, is lost in the dim past. +For much credit can hardly be given to the popular belief that it +developed out of the measured procession, to the sound of music, +of the nobles and their ladies, which is said to have first taken +place in 1574, the year after his election to the Polish throne, +when Henry of Anjou received the grandees of his realm. The +ancient polonaises were without words, and thus they were still +in the time of King Sobieski (1674-96). Under the subsequent +kings of the house of Saxony, however, they were often adapted to +words or words were adapted to them. Celebrated polonaises of +political significance are: the Polonaise of the 3rd of May, +adapted to words relative to the promulgation of the famous +constitution of the 3rd of May, 1791; the Kosciuszko Polonaise, +with words adapted to already existing music, dedicated to the +great patriot and general when, in 1792, the nation rose in +defence of the constitution; the Oginski Polonaise, also called +the Swan's song and the Partition of Poland, a composition +without words, of the year 1793 (at the time of the second +partition), by Prince Michael Cleophas Oginski. Among the Polish +composers of the second half of the last century and the +beginning of the present whose polonaises enjoyed in their day, +and partly enjoy still, a high reputation, are especially notable +Kozlowski, Kamienski, Elsner, Deszczynski, Bracicki, Wanski, +Prince Oginski, Kurpinski, and Dobrzynski. Outside Poland the +polonaise, both as an instrumental and vocal composition, both as +an independent piece and part of larger works, had during the +same period quite an extraordinary popularity. Whether we examine +the productions of the classics or those of the inferior +virtuosic and drawing-room composers, [FOOTNOTE: I should have +added "operatic composers."] everywhere we find specimens of the +polonaise. Pre-eminence among the most successful foreign +cultivators of this Polish dance has, however, been accorded to +Spohr and Weber. I said just now "this dance," but, strictly +speaking, the polonaise, which has been called a marche dansante, +is not so much a dance as a figured walk, or procession, full of +gravity and a certain courtly etiquette. As to the music of the +polonaise, it is in 3/4 time, and of a moderate movement (rather +slow than quick). The flowing and more or less florid melody has +rhythmically a tendency to lean on the second crotchet and even +on the second quaver of the bar (see illustration No. 1, a and +b), and generally concludes each of its parts with one of certain +stereotyped formulas of a similar rhythmical cast (see +illustration No. 2, a, b, c, and d). The usual accompaniment +consists of a bass note at the beginning of the bar followed, +except at the cadences, by five quavers, of which the first may +be divided into semiquavers. Chopin, however, emancipated himself +more and more from these conventionalities in his later poetic +polonaises. + +[Two music score excerpts here, labeled No. 1 and No. 2] + + The polonaise [writes Brodzinski] is the only dance which + suits mature age, and is not unbecoming to persons of elevated + rank; it is the dance of kings, heroes, and even old men; it + alone suits the martial dress. It does not breathe any + passion, but seems to be only a triumphal march, an expression + of chivalrous and polite manners. A solemn gravity presides + always at the polonaise, which, perhaps, alone recalls neither + the fire of primitive manners nor the gallantry of more + civilised but more enervated ages. Besides these principal + characteristics, the polonaise bears a singularly national and + historical impress; for its laws recall an aristocratic + republic with a disposition to anarchy, flowing less from the + character of the people than from its particular legislation. + In the olden times the polonaise was a kind of solemn + ceremony. The king, holding by the hand the most distinguished + personage of the assembly, marched at the head of a numerous + train of couples composed of men alone: this dance, made more + effective by the splendour of the chivalrous costumes, was + only, strictly speaking, a triumphal march. + + If a lady was the object of the festival, it was her privilege + to open the march, holding by the hand another lady. All the + others followed until the queen of the ball, having offered + her hand to one of the men standing round the room, induced + the other ladies to follow her example. + + The ordinary polonaise is opened by the most distinguished + person of the gathering, whose privilege it is to conduct the + whole file of the dancers or to break it up. This is called in + Polish rey wodzic, figuratively, to be the leader, in some + sort the king (from the Latin rex). To dance at the head was + also called to be the marshal, on account of the privileges of + a marshal at the Diets. The whole of this form is connected + with the memories and customs of raising the militia + (pospolite), or rather of the gathering of the national + assemblies in Poland. Hence, notwithstanding the deference + paid to the leaders, who have the privilege of conducting at + will the chain of dancers, it is allowable, by a singular + practice made into a law, to dethrone a leader every time any + bold person calls out odbiianego, which means retaken by force + or reconquered; he who pronounces this word is supposed to + wish to reconquer the hand of the first lady and the direction + of the dance; it is a kind of act of liberum veto, to which + everyone is obliged to give way. The leader then abandons the + hand of his lady to the new pretender; every cavalier dances + with the lady of the following couple, and it is only the + cavalier of the last couple who finds himself definitively + ousted if he has not the boldness to insist likewise upon his + privilege of equality by demanding odbiianego, and placing + himself at the head. + + But as a privilege of this nature too often employed would + throw the whole ball into complete anarchy, two means are + established to obviate this abuse--namely, the leader makes + use of his right to terminate the polonaise, in imitation of a + king or marshal dissolving a Diet, or else, according to the + predominating wish, all the cavaliers leave the ladies alone + in the middle, who then choose new partners and continue the + dance, excluding the disturbers and discontented, which + recalls the confederations employed for the purpose of making + the will of the majority prevail. + + The polonaise breathes and paints the whole national + character; the music of this dance, while admitting much art, + combines something martial with a sweetness marked by the + simplicity of manners of an agricultural people. Foreigners + have distorted this character of the polonaises; the natives + themselves preserve it less in our day in consequence of the + frequent employment of motives drawn from modern operas. As to + the dance itself, the polonaise has become in our day a kind + of promenade which has little charm for the young, and is but + a scene of etiquette for those of a riper age. Our fathers + danced it with a marvellous ability and a gravity full of + nobleness; the dancer, making gliding steps with energy, but + without skips, and caressing his moustache, varied his + movements by the position of his sabre, of his cap, and of + his tucked-up coat-sleeves, distinctive signs of a free man + and warlike citizen. Whoever has seen a Pole of the old school + dance the polonaise in the national costume will confess + without hesitation that this dance is the triumph of a well- + made man, with a noble and proud tournure, and with an air at + once manly and gay. + +After this Brodzinski goes on to describe the way in which the +polonaise used to be danced. But instead of his description I +shall quote a not less true and more picturesque one from the +last canto of Mickiewicz's "Pan Tadeusz":-- + + It is time to dance the polonaise. The President comes + forward; he lightly throws back the fausses manches of his + overcoat, caresses his moustache, presents his hand to Sophia: + and, by a respectful salute, invites her for the first couple. + Behind them range themselves the other dancers, two and two; + the signal is given, the dance is begun, the President directs + it. + + His red boots move over the green sward, his belt sends forth + flashes of light; he proceeds slowly, as if at random: but in + every one of his steps, in every one of his movements, one can + read the feelings and the thoughts of the dancer. He stops as + if to question his partner; he leans towards her, wishes to + speak to her in an undertone. The lady turns away, does not + listen, blushes. He takes off his cap, and salutes her + respectfully. The lady is not disinclined to look at him, but + persists in being silent. He slackens his pace, seeks to read + in her eyes, and smiles. Happy in her mute answer, he walks + more quickly, looking proudly at his rivals; now he draws his + cap with the heron-feathers forward, now he pushes it back. At + last he puts it on one side and turns up his moustaches. He + withdraws; all envy him, all follow his footsteps. He would + like to disappear with his lady. Sometimes he stops, raises + politely his hand, and begs the dancers to pass by him. + Sometimes he tries to slip dexterously away, changing the + direction. He would like to deceive his companions; but the + troublesome individuals follow him with a nimble step, entwine + him with more and more tightened loops. He becomes angry; lays + his right hand on his sword as if he wished to say: "Woe to + the jealous!" He turns, pride on his countenance, a challenge + in his air, and marches straight on the company, who give way + at his approach, open to him a passage, and soon, by a rapid + evolution, are off again in pursuit of him. + + On all sides one hears the exclamation: "Ah! this is perhaps + the last. Look, young people, perhaps this is the last who + will know how to conduct thus the polonaise!" + +Among those of Chopin's compositions which he himself published +are, exclusive of the "Introduction et Polonaise brillante" for +piano and violoncello, Op. 3, eight polonaises--namely: "Grande +Polonaise brillante" (in E flat major), "precedee d'un Andante +spianato" (in G major), "pour le piano avec orchestre," Op. 22; +"Deux Polonaises" (in C sharp minor and E flat minor), Op. 26; +"Deux Polonaises" (in A major and C minor), Op. 40; "Polonaise" +(F sharp minor), Op. 44; "Polonaise" (in A flat major), Op. 53; +[FOOTNOTE: This polonaise is called the "eighth" on the title- +page, which, of course, it is only by including the "Polonaise," +Op. 3, for piano and violoncello.] and "Polonaise-Fantaisie" (in +A flat major), Op. 61. The three early polonaises posthumously- +published by Fontana as Op. 71 have already been discussed in +Chapter VIII. Other posthumously-published polonaises--such as +the Polonaise in G sharp minor, to be found in Mikuli's edition, +and one in B flat minor of the year 1826, first published in the +supplement of the journal "Echo Muzyczne"--need not be considered +by us. [FOOTNOTE: Both polonaises are included in the Breitkopf +and Hartel edition, where the one in G sharp minor bears the +unlikely date 1822. The internal evidence speaks against this +statement.] + +Chopin's Polonaises Op. 26, 40, 53, and 61 are pre-eminently +political, they are the composer's expression of his patriotic +feelings. It is not difficult to recognise in them proud memories +of past splendours, sad broodings over present humiliations, +bright visions of a future resurrection. They are full of martial +chivalry, of wailing dejection, of conspiracy and sedition, of +glorious victories. The poetically-inferior Polonaise, Op. 22, on +the other hand, while unquestionably Polish in spirit, is not +political. Chopin played this work, which was probably composed, +or at least sketched, in 1830, [FOOTNOTE: See Vol. I., Chapter +xiii., pp. 201, 202.] and certainly published in July, 1836, for +the first time in public at a Paris Conservatoire concert for the +benefit of Habeneck on April 26, 1835; and this was the only +occasion on which he played it with orchestral accompaniments. +The introductory Andante (in G major, and 6/8 time), as the +accompanying adjective indicates, is smooth and even. It makes +one think of a lake on a calm, bright summer day. A boat glides +over the pellucid, unruffled surface of the water, by-and-by +halts at a shady spot by the shore, or by the side of some island +(3/4 time), then continues its course (f time), and finally +returns to its moorings (3/4). I can perceive no connection +between the Andante and the following Polonaise (in E flat major) +except the factitious one of a formal and forced transition, with +which the orchestra enters on the scene of action (Allegro molto, +3/4). After sixteen bars of tutti, the pianoforte commences, +unaccompanied, the polonaise. Barring the short and in no way +attractive and remarkable test's, the orchestra plays a very +subordinate and often silent role, being, indeed, hardly missed +when the pianoforte part is. played alone. The pronounced bravura +character of the piece would warrant the supposition that it was +written expressly for the concert-room, even if the orchestral +accompaniments were not there to prove the fact. A proud bearing, +healthful vigour, and sprightly vivacity distinguish Chopin on +this occasion. But notwithstanding the brave appearance, one +misses his best qualities. This polonaise illustrates not only +the most brilliant, but also the least lovable features of the +Polish character--ostentatiousness and exaggerated rhetoric. In +it Chopin is discovered posturing, dealing in phrases, and +coquetting with sentimental affectations. In short, the composer +comes before us as a man of the world, intent on pleasing, and +sure of himself and success. The general airiness of the style is +a particularly-noticeable feature of this piece of Chopin's +virtuosic period. + +The first bars of the first (in C sharp minor) of the two +Polonaises, Op. 26 (published in July, 1836), fall upon one's ear +like a decision of irresistible, inexorable fate. Indignation +flares up for a moment, and then dies away, leaving behind +sufficient strength only for a dull stupor (beginning of the +second part), deprecation, melting tenderness (the E major in the +second part, and the closing bars of the first and second parts), +and declarations of devotion (meno mosso). While the first +polonaise expresses weak timidity, sweet plaintiveness, and a +looking for help from above, the second one (in E flat minor) +speaks of physical force and self-reliance--it is full of +conspiracy and sedition. The ill-suppressed murmurs of +discontent, which may be compared to the ominous growls of a +volcano, grow in loudness and intensity, till at last, with a +rush and a wild shriek, there follows an explosion. The thoughts +flutter hither and thither, in anxious, helpless agitation. Then +martial sounds are heard--a secret gathering of a few, which soon +grows in number and in boldness. Now they draw nearer; you +distinguish the clatter of spurs and weapons, the clang of +trumpets (D flat major). Revenge and death are their watchwords, +and with sullen determination they stare desolation in the face +(the pedal F with the trebled part above). After an interesting +transition the first section returns. In the meno mosso (B major) +again a martial rhythm is heard; this time, however, the +gathering is not one for revenge and death, but for battle and +victory. From the far-off distance the winds carry the message +that tells of freedom and glory. But what is this (the four bars +before the tempo I.)? Alas! the awakening from a dream. Once more +we hear those sombre sounds, the shriek and explosion, and so on. +Of the two Polonaises, Op. 26, the second is the grander, and the +definiteness which distinguishes it from the vague first shows +itself also in the form. + +A greater contrast than the two Polonaises, Op. 40 (published in +November, 1840), can hardly be imagined. In the first (in A +major) the mind of the composer is fixed on one elating thought-- +he sees the gallantly-advancing chivalry of Poland, determination +in every look and gesture; he hears rising above the noise of +stamping horses and the clash of arms their bold challenge +scornfully hurled at the enemy. In the second (in C minor), on +the other hand, the mind of the composer turns from one +depressing or exasperating thought to another--he seems to review +the different aspects of his country's unhappy state, its sullen +discontent, fretful agitation, and uncertain hopes. The manly +Polonaise in A major, one of the simplest (not easiest) +compositions of Chopin, is the most popular of his polonaises. +The second polonaise, however, although not so often heard, is +the more interesting one, the emotional contents being more +varied, and engaging more our sympathy. Further, the pianoforte, +however fully and effectively employed, cannot do justice to the +martial music of the one, while its capacities are well suited +for the rendering of the less material effect of the other. In +conclusion, let me point out in the C minor Polonaise the chafing +agitation of the second part, the fitful play between light and +shade of the trio-like part in A flat major, and the added +wailing voice in the recurring first portion at the end of the +piece. [FOOTNOTE: In connection with the A major Polonaise, see +last paragraph on next page.] + +If Schiller is right in saying "Ernst ist das Leben, heiter ist +die Kunst," then what we find in the Polonaise (in F sharp +minor), Op. 44 (published in November, 1841), cannot be art. We +look in vain for beauty of melody and harmony; dreary unisons, +querulous melodic phrases, hollow-eyed chords, hard progressions +and modulations throughout every part of the polonaise proper. We +receive a pathological rather than aesthetical impression. +Nevertheless, no one can deny the grandeur and originality that +shine through this gloom. The intervening Doppio movimento, tempo +di Mazurka, sends forth soft beneficent rays--reminiscences of +long ago, vague and vanishing, sweet and melancholy. But there is +an end to this as to all such dreams. Those harassing, +exasperating gloomy thoughts (Tempo di Polacca) return. The sharp +corners which we round so pleasantly and beautifully in our +reconstructions of the past make themselves only too soon felt in +the things of the present, and cruelly waken us to reality and +its miseries. + +The Polonaise, Op. 53 (in A flat major; published in December, +1843), is one of the most stirring compositions of Chopin, +manifesting an overmastering power and consuming fire. But is it +really the same Chopin, is it the composer of the dreamy +nocturnes, the elegant waltzes, who here fumes and frets, +struggling with a fierce, suffocating rage (mark the rushing +succession of chords of the sixth, the growling semiquaver +figures, and the crashing dissonances of the sixteen introductory +bars), and then shouts forth, sure of victory, his bold and +scornful challenge? And farther on, in the part of the polonaise +where the ostinato semiquaver figure in octaves for the left hand +begins, do we not hear the trampling of horses, the clatter of +arms and spurs, and the sound of trumpets? Do we not hear--yea, +and see too--a high-spirited chivalry approaching and passing? +Only pianoforte giants can do justice to this martial tone- +picture, the physical strength of the composer certainly did not +suffice. + +The story goes that when Chopin played one of his polonaises in +the night-time, just after finishing its composition, he saw the +door open, and a long train of Polish knights and ladies, dressed +in antique costumes, enter through it and defile past him. This +vision filled the composer with such terror that he fled through +the opposite door, and dared not return to the room the whole +night. Karasowski says that the polonaise in question is the last- +mentioned one, in A flat major; but from M. Kwiatkowski, who +depicted the scene three times, [FOOTNOTE: "Le Reve de Chopin," a +water-colour, and two sketches in oils representing, according to +Chopin's indication (d'apres l'avis de Chopin), the polonaise.] +learned that it is the one in A major, No. 1 of Op. 40, dedicated +to Fontana. + +I know of no more affecting composition among all the productions +of Chopin than the "Polonaise-Fantaisie" (in A flat major), Op. +61 (published in September, 1846). What an unspeakable, +unfathomable wretchedness reveals itself in these sounds! We gaze +on a boundless desolation. These lamentations and cries of +despair rend our heart, these strange, troubled wanderings from +thought to thought fill us with intensest pity. There are +thoughts of sweet resignation, but the absence of hope makes them +perhaps the saddest of all. The martial strains, the bold +challenges, the shouts of triumph, which we heard so often in the +composer's polonaises, are silenced. + + An elegiac sadness [says Liszt] predominates, intersected by + wild movements, melancholy smiles, unexpected starts, and + intervals of rest full of dread such as those experience who + have been surprised by an ambuscade, who are surrounded on all + sides, for whom there dawns no hope upon the vast horizon, and + to whose brain despair has gone like a deep draught of Cyprian + wine, which gives a more instinctive rapidity to every + gesture, a sharper point to every emotion, causing the mind to + arrive at a pitch of irritability bordering on madness. + +Thus, although comprising thoughts that in beauty and grandeur +equal--I would almost say surpass-anything Chopin has written, +the work stands, on account of its pathological contents, outside +the sphere of art. + +Chopin's waltzes, the most popular of his compositions, are not +poesie intime like the greater number of his works. [FOOTNOTE: +Op. 34, No. 2, and Op. 64, No. 2, however, have to be excepted, +to some extent at least.] In them the composer mixes with the +world-looks without him rather than within--and as a man of the +world conceals his sorrows and discontents under smiles and +graceful manners. The bright brilliancy and light pleasantness of +the earlier years of his artistic career, which are almost +entirely lost in the later years, rise to the surface in the +waltzes. These waltzes are salon music of the most aristocratic +kind. Schumann makes Florestan say of one of them, and he might +have said it of all, that he would not play it unless one half of +the female dancers were countesses. But the aristocraticalness of +Chopin's waltzes is real, not conventional; their exquisite +gracefulness and distinction are natural, not affected. They are, +indeed, dance-poems whose content is the poetry of waltz-rhythm +and movement, and the feelings these indicate and call forth. In +one of his most extravagantly-romantic critical productions +Schumann speaks, in connection with Chopin's Op. 18, "Grande +Valse brillante," the first-published (in June, 1834) of his +waltzes, of "Chopin's body and mind elevating waltz," and its +"enveloping the dancer deeper and deeper in its floods." This +language is altogether out of proportion with the thing spoken +of; for Op. 18 differs from the master's best waltzes in being, +not a dance-poem, but simply a dance, although it must be +admitted that it is an exceedingly spirited one, both as regards +piquancy and dash. When, however, we come to Op. 34, "Trois +Valses brillantes" (published in December, 1838), Op. 42, "Valse" +(published in July, 1840), and Op. 64, "Trois Valses" (published +in September, 1847), the only other waltzes published by him, we +find ourselves face to face with true dance-poems. Let us tarry +for a moment over Op. 34. How brisk the introductory bars of the +first (in A flat major) of these three waltzes! And what a +striking manifestation of the spirit of that dance all that +follows! We feel the wheeling motions; and where, at the +seventeenth bar of the second part, the quaver figure enters, we +think we see the flowing dresses sweeping round. Again what +vigour in the third part, and how coaxingly tender the fourth! +And, lastly, the brilliant conclusion--the quavers intertwined +with triplets! The second waltz (in A minor; Lento) is of quite +another, of a more retired and private, nature, an exception to +the rule. The composer evidently found pleasure in giving way to +this delicious languor, in indulging in these melancholy thoughts +full of sweetest, tenderest loving and longing. But here words +will not avail. One day when Stephen Heller--my informant--was at +Schlesinger's music-shop in Paris, Chopin entered. The latter, +hearing Heller ask for one of his waltzes, inquired of him which +of them he liked best. "It is difficult to say which I like +best," replied Heller, "for I like them all; but if I were +pressed for an answer I would probably say the one in A minor." +This gave Chopin much pleasure. "I am glad you do," he said; "it +is also my favourite." And in an exuberance of amiability he +invited Heller to lunch with him, an invitation which was +accepted, the two artists taking the meal together at the Cafe +Riche. The third waltz (in F major; Vivace) shows a character +very different from the preceding one. What a stretching of +muscles! What a whirling! Mark the giddy motions of the melody +beginning at bar seventeen! Of this waltz of Chopin's and the +first it is more especially true what Schumann said of all three: +"Such flooding life moves within these waltzes that they seem to +have been improvised in the ball-room." And the words which the +same critic applies to Op. 34 may be applied to all the waltzes +Chopin published himself--"They must please; they are of another +stamp than the usual waltzes, and in the style in which they can +only be conceived by Chopin when he looks in a grandly-artistic +way into the dancing crowd, which he elevates by his playing, +thinking of other things than of what is being danced." In the A +flat major waltz which bears the opus number 42, the duple rhythm +of the melody along with the triple one of the accompaniment +seems to me indicative of the loving nestling and tender +embracing of the dancing couples. Then, after the smooth +gyrations of the first period, come those sweeping motions, free +and graceful like those of birds, that intervene again and again +between the different portions of the waltz. The D flat major +part bubbles over with joyousness. In the sostenuto, on the other +hand, the composer becomes sentimental, protests, and heaves +sighs. But at the very height of his rising ardour he suddenly +plunges back into that wild, self-surrendering, heaven and earth- +forgetting joyousness--a stroke of genius as delightful as it is +clever. If we do not understand by the name of scherzo a fixed +form, but rather a state of mind, we may say that Chopin's +waltzes are his scherzos and not the pieces to which he has given +that name. None of Chopin's waltzes is more popular than the +first of Op. 64 (in D flat major). And no wonder! The life, flow, +and oneness are unique; the charm of the multiform motions is +indescribable. That it has been and why it has been called valse +au petit chien need here only be recalled to the reader's +recollection (see Chapter XXVI., p. 142). No. 2 (in C sharp +minor); different as it is, is in its own way nearly as perfect +as No. 1. Tender, love-sick longing cannot be depicted more +truthfully, sweetly, and entrancingly. The excellent No. 3 (in A +flat major), with the exquisite serpentining melodic lines, which +play so important a part in Chopin's waltzes, and other beautiful +details, is in a somewhat trying position beside the other two +waltzes. The non-publication by the composer of the waltzes which +have got into print, thanks to the zeal of his admirers and the +avidity of publishers, proves to me that he was a good judge of +his own works. Fontana included in his collection of posthumous +compositions five waltzes--"Deux Valses," Op. 69 (in F minor, of +1836; in B minor, of 1829);. and "Trois Valses," Op. 70 (in G +flat major, of 1835; in F minor, of 1843; in D flat major, of +1830). There are further a waltz in E minor and one in E major +(of 1829). [FOOTNOTE: The "Deux Valses melancoliques" (in F minor +and B minor), ecrits sur l'album de Madame la Comtesse P., 1844 +(Cracow: J. Wildt), the English edition of which (London: Edwin +Ashdown) is entitled "Une soiree en 1844," "Deux Valses +melancoliques," are Op. 70. No. 2, and Op. 69, No. 2, of the +works of Chopin posthumously published by Fontana.] Some of these +waltzes I discussed already when speaking of the master's early +compositions, to which they belong. The last-mentioned waltz, +which the reader will find in Mikuli's edition (No. 15 of the +waltzes), and also in Breitkopf and Hartel's (No. 22 of the +Posthumous works), is a very weak composition; and of all the +waltzes not published by the composer himself it may be said that +what is good in them has been expressed better in others. + +We have of Chopin 27 studies: Op. 10, "Douze Etudes," published +in July, 1833; Op. 25, "Douze Etudes," published in October, +1837; and "Trois nouvelles Etudes," which, before being +separately published, appeared in 1840 in the "Methode des +Methodes pour le piano" by F. J. Fetis and I. Moscheles. The +dates of their publication, as in the case of many other works, +do not indicate the approximate dates of their composition. +Sowinski tells us, for instance, that Chopin brought the first +book of his studies with him to Paris in 1831. A Polish musician +who visited the French capital in 1834 heard Chopin play the +studies contained in Op. 25. And about the last-mentioned opus we +read in a critical notice by Schumann, who had, no doubt, his +information directly from Chopin: "The studies which have now +appeared [that is, those of Op. 25] were almost all composed at +the same time as the others [that is, those of Op. 10] and only +some of them, the greater masterliness of which is noticeable, +such as the first, in A flat major, and the splendid one in C +minor [that is, the twelfth] but lately." Regarding the Trois +nouvelles Etudes without OPUS number we have no similar +testimony. But internal evidence seems to show that these weakest +of the master's studies--which, however, are by no means +uninteresting, and certainly very characteristic--may be regarded +more than Op. 25 as the outcome of a gleaning. In two of Chopin's +letters of the year 1829, we meet with announcements of his +having composed studies. On the 2Oth of October he writes: "I +have composed a study in my own manner"; and on the 14th of +November: "I have written some studies." From Karasowski learn +that the master composed the twelfth study of Op. 10 during his +stay in Stuttgart, being inspired by the capture of Warsaw by the +Russians, which took place on September 8, 1831. Whether looked +at from the aesthetical or technical point of view, Chopin's +studies will be seen to be second to those of no composer. Were +it not wrong to speak of anything as absolutely best, their +excellences would induce one to call them unequalled. A striking +feature in them compared with Chopin's other works is their +healthy freshness and vigour. Even the slow, dreamy, and elegiac +ones have none of the faintness and sickliness to be found in not +a few of the composer's pieces, especially in several of the +nocturnes. The diversity of character exhibited by these studies +is very great. In some of them the aesthetical, in others the +technical purpose predominates; in a few the two are evenly +balanced: in none is either of them absent. They give a summary +of Chopin's ways and means, of his pianoforte language: chords in +extended positions, wide-spread arpeggios, chromatic progressions +(simple, in thirds, and in octaves), simultaneous combinations of +contrasting rhythms, &c--nothing is wanting. In playing them or +hearing them played Chopin's words cannot fail to recur to one's +mind: "I have composed a study in my own manner." Indeed, the +composer's demands on the technique of the executant were so +novel at the time when the studies made their first public +appearance that one does not wonder at poor blind Rellstab being +staggered, and venting his feelings in the following uncouthly- +jocular manner: "Those who have distorted fingers may put them +right by practising these studies; but those who have not, should +not play them, at least not without having a surgeon at hand." In +Op. 10 there are three studies especially noteworthy for their +musical beauty. The third (Lento ma non troppo, in E major) and +the sixth (Andante, in E flat minor) may be reckoned among +Chopin's loveliest compositions. They combine classical +chasteness of contour with the fragrance of romanticism. And the +twelfth study (Allegro con fuoco, in C minor), the one composed +at Stuttgart after the fall of Warsaw, how superbly grand! The +composer seems to be fuming with rage: the left hand rushes +impetuously along and the right hand strikes in with passionate +ejaculations. With regard to the above-named Lento ma non troppo +(Op. 10, No. 3), Chopin said to Gutmann that he had never in his +life written another such beautiful melody (CHANT); and on one +occasion when Gutmann was studying it the master lifted up his +arms with his hands clasped and exclaimed: "O, my fatherland!" +("O, me patrie!") I share with Schumann the opinion that the +total weight of Op. 10 amounts to more than that of Op. 25. Like +him I regard also Nos. 1 and 12 as the most important items of +the latter collection of studies: No. 1 (Allegro sostenuto, in A +flat major)--a tremulous mist below, a beautiful breezy melody +floating above, and once or twice a more opaque body becoming +discernible within the vaporous element--of which Schumann says +that "after listening to the study one feels as one does after a +blissful vision, seen in a dream, which, already half-awake, one +would fain bring back": [FOOTNOTE: See the whole quotation, Vol. +I., p. 310.] and No. 12 (in C minor, Allegro molto con fuoco), in +which the emotions rise not less than the waves of arpeggios (in +both hands) which symbolise them. Stephen Heller's likings differ +from Schumann's. Discussing Chopin's Op. 25 in the Gazette +musicale of February 24, 1839, he says:-- + + What more do we require to pass one or several evenings in as + perfect a happiness as possible? As for me, I seek in this + collection of poesy (this is the only name appropriate to the + works of Chopin) some favourite pieces which I might fix in my + memory rather than others. Who could retain everything? For + this reason I have in my note book quite particularly marked + the numbers 4, 5, and 7 of the present poems. Of these twelve + much-loved studies (every one of which has a charm of its own) + these three numbers are those I prefer to all the rest. + +In connection with the fourth, Heller points out that it reminds +him of the first bar of the Kyrie (rather the Requiem aeternam) +of Mozart's Requiem. And of the seventh study he remarks:-- + + It engenders the sweetest sadness, the most enviable torments; + and if in playing it one feels one's self insensibly drawn + towards mournful and melancholy ideas, it is a disposition of + the soul which I prefer to all others. Alas! how I love these + sombre and mysterious dreams, and Chopin is the god who + creates them. + +This No. 7 (in C sharp minor, lento), a duet between a HE and a +SHE, of whom the former shows himself more talkative and emphatic +than the latter, is, indeed, very sweet, but perhaps, also +somewhat tiresomely monotonous, as such tete-a-tete naturally are +to third parties. As a contrast to No. 7, and in conclusion-- +leaving several aerial flights and other charming conceptions +undiscussed--I will yet mention the octave study, No. 10, which +is a real pandemonium; for a while holier sounds intervene, but +finally hell prevails. + +The genesis of the Vingt-quatre Preludes, Op. 28, published in +September, 1839, I have tried to elucidate in the twenty-first +chapter. I need, therefore, not discuss the question here. The +indefinite character and form of the prelude, no doubt, +determined the choice of the title which, however, does not +describe the contents of this OPUS. Indeed, no ONE name could do +so. This heterogeneous collection of pieces reminds me of nothing +so much as of an artist's portfolio filled with drawings in all +stages of advancement--finished and unfinished, complete and +incomplete compositions, sketches and mere memoranda, all mixed +indiscriminately together. The finished works were either too +small or too slight to be sent into the world separately, and the +right mood for developing, completing, and giving the last touch +to the rest was gone, and could not be found again. Schumann, +after expressing his admiration for these preludes, as well he +might, adds: "This book contains morbid, feverish, and repellent +matter." I do not think that there is much that could justly be +called repellent; but the morbidity and feverishness of a +considerable portion must be admitted. + + I described the preludes [writes Schumann] as remarkable. To + confess the truth, I expected they would be executed like the + studies, in the grandest style. Almost the reverse is the + case; they are sketches, commencements of studies, or, if you + will, ruins, single eagle-wings, all strangely mixed together. + But in his fine nonpareil there stands in every piece:-- + "Frederick Chopin wrote it." One recognises him by the violent + breathing during the rests. He is, and remains, the proudest + poet-mind of the time. + +The almost infinite and infinitely-varied beauties collected in +this treasure-trove denominated Vingt-quatre Preludes could only +be done justice to by a minute analysis, for which, however, +there is no room here. I must content myself with a word or two +about a few of them, picked out at random. No. 4 is a little poem +the exquisitely-sweet languid pensiveness of which defies +description. The composer seems to be absorbed in the narrow +sphere of his ego, from which the wide, noisy world is for the +time being shut out. In No. 6 we have, no doubt, the one of which +George Sand said that it occurred to Chopin one evening while +rain was falling, and that it "precipitates the soul into a +frightful depression."30 [FOOTNOTE: See George Sand's account and +description in Chapter XXI., p. 43.] How wonderfully the +contending rhythms of the accompaniment, and the fitful, jerky +course of the melody, depict in No. 8 a state of anxiety and +agitation! The premature conclusion of that bright vivacious +thing No. 11 fills one with regret. Of the beautifully-melodious +No. 13, the piu lento and the peculiar closing bars are +especially noteworthy. No. 14 invites a comparison with the +finale of the B flat minor Sonata. In the middle section (in C +sharp minor) of the following number (in D flat major), one of +the larger pieces, rises before one's mind the cloistered court +of the monastery of Valdemosa, and a procession of monks chanting +lugubrious prayers, and carrying in the dark hours of night their +departed brother to his last resting-place. It reminds one of the +words of George Sand, that the monastery was to Chopin full of +terrors and phantoms. This C sharp minor portion of No. 15 +affects one like an oppressive dream; the re-entrance of the +opening D flat major, which dispels the dreadful nightmare, comes +upon one with the smiling freshness of dear, familiar nature-- +only after these horrors of the imagination can its serene beauty +be fully appreciated. No. 17, another developed piece, strikes +one as akin to Mendelssohn's Songs without Words. I must not omit +to mention No. 21, one of the finest of the collection, with its +calming cantilena and palpitating quaver figure. Besides the set +of twenty-four preludes, Op. 28, Chopin published a single one, +Op. 45, which appeared in December, 1841. This composition +deserves its name better than almost anyone of the twenty-four; +still, I would rather call it an improvisata. It seems +unpremeditated, a heedless outpouring when sitting at the piano +in a lonely, dreary hour, perhaps in the twilight. The quaver +figure rises aspiringly, and the sustained parts swell out +proudly. The piquant cadenza forestalls in the progression of +diminished chords favourite effects of some of our more modern +composers. The modulation from C sharp minor to D major and back +again (after the cadenza) is very striking and equally beautiful. + +It can hardly be said, although Liszt seemed to be of a different +opinion, that Chopin created a new type by his preludes--they are +too unlike each other in form and character. On the other hand, +he has done so by his four scherzos--Op. 20 (in B minor), +published in February, 1835; Op. 31 (B flat minor), published in +December, 1837; Op. 39 (C sharp minor), published in October, +1840; and Op. 54 (in E major), published in December, 1843. "How +is 'gravity' to clothe itself, if 'jest' goes about in dark +veils?" exclaims Schumann. No doubt, scherzo, if we consider the +original meaning of the word, is a misnomer. But are not +Beethoven's scherzos, too, misnamed? To a certain extent they +are. But if Beethoven's scherzos often lack frolicsomeness, they +are endowed with humour, whereas Chopin's have neither the one +nor the other. Were it not that we attach, especially since +Mendelssohn's time, the idea of lightness and light-heartedness +to the word capriccio, this would certainly be the more +descriptive name for the things Chopin entitled SCHERZO. But what +is the use of carping at a name? Let us rather look at the +things, and thus employ our time better. Did ever composer begin +like Chopin in his Premier Scherzo, Op. 20? Is this not like a +shriek of despair? and what follows, bewildered efforts of a soul +shut in by a wall of circumstances through which it strives in +vain to break? at last sinking down with fatigue, dreaming a +dream of idyllic beauty? but beginning the struggle again as soon +as its strength is recruited? Schumann compared the second +SCHERZO, Op. 31, to a poem of Byron's, "so tender, so bold, as +full of love as of scorn." Indeed, scorn--an element which does +not belong to what is generally understood by either +frolicsomeness or humour--plays an important part in Chopin's +scherzos. The very beginning of Op. 31 offers an example. + +[FOOTNOTE: "It must be a question [the doubled triplet figure A, +B flat, d flat, in the first bar], taught Chopin, and for him it +was never question enough, never piano enough, never vaulted +(tombe) enough, as he said, never important enough. It must be a +charnel-house, he said on one occasion." (W. von Lenz, in Vol. +XXVI. of the Berliner Musikzeitung.)] + +And then, we do not meet with a phrase of a more cheerful nature +which is not clouded by sadness. Weber--I mention his name +intentionally--would, for instance, in the D flat major portion +have concluded the melodic phrase in diatonic progression and +left the harmony pure. Now see what Chopin does. The con anima +has this mark of melancholy still more distinctly impressed upon +it. After the repetition of the capricious, impulsively- +passionate first section (in B flat minor and D flat major) +follows the delicious second, the expression of which is as +indescribable as that of Leonardo da Vinci's "La Gioconda." It is +a pondering and wondering full of longing. In the deep, tender +yearning, with the urging undercurrent of feeling, of the C sharp +minor portion, the vague dreaming of the preceding portion of the +section grows into wakefulness, and the fitful imagination is +concentrated on one object. Without continuing the emotional or +entering on a formal analysis of this scherzo, I venture to say +that it is a very important composition, richer and more varied +in emotional incidents than the other works of Chopin which bear +the same name. More than to any one of the master's scherzos, the +name capriccio would be suitable to his third "Scherzo," Op. 39, +with its capricious starts and changes, its rudderless drifting. +Peevishness, a fierce scornfulness, and a fretful agitation, may +be heard in these sounds, of jest and humour there is nothing +perceptible. At any rate, the curled lip, as it were, contradicts +the jesting words, and the careless exterior does not altogether +conceal the seething rage within. But with the meno mosso (D flat +major) come pleasanter thoughts. The hymn-like snatches of +sustained melody with the intervening airy interludes are very +lovely. These are the principal features, to describe all the +whims is of course impossible. You may call this work an +extravaganza, and point out its grotesqueness; but you must admit +that only by this erratic character of the form and these +spasmodic movements, could be expressed the peculiar restiveness, +fitfulness, and waywardness of thought and feeling that +characterise Chopin's individuality. To these unclassical +qualities--for classical art is above all plastic and self- +possessed--combined as they are with a high degree of refinement +and delicacy, his compositions owe much of their peculiar charm. +The absence of scorn distinguishes the fourth "Scherzo," Op. 54, +from the other three; but, like them, although less closely +wrapped, it wears dark veils. The tripping fairy steps which we +find in bars 17-20 and in other places are a new feature in +Chopin. As to the comparative value of the work, it seems to me +inferior to its brothers. The first section is too fragmentary to +give altogether satisfaction. One is hustled from one phrase to +another, and they are as unlike each other as can well be +imagined. The beauty of many of the details, however, must be +acknowledged; indeed, the harmonic finesses, the melodic cunning, +and rhythmical piquancy, are too potent to be ignored. The +resting-place and redeeming part of this scherzo is the sweetly- +melodious second section, with its long, smooth, gently and +beautifully-curved lines. Also the return to the repetition of +the first section is very interesting. This scherzo has the +appearance of being laboured, painfully hammered and welded +together. But as the poet is born, not made-which "being born" is +not brought about without travail, nor makes the less desirable a +careful bringing-up--so also does a work of art owe what is best +in it to a propitious concurrence of circumstances in the natal +hour. + +The contents of Chopin's impromptus are of a more pleasing nature +than those of the scherzos. Like the latter they are wayward, but +theirs is a charming, lovable waywardness. The composer's three +first impromptus were published during his lifetime: Op. 29 in +December, 1837; Op. 36 in May, 1840; and Op. 51 in February, +1843. The fourth impromptu ("Fantaisie-Impromptu"), Op. 66, is a +posthumous publication. What name has been more misapplied than +that of impromptu? Again and again we meet with works thus +christened which bear upon them the distinct marks of painful +effort and anxious filing, which maybe said to smell of the mid- +night lamp, and to be dripping with the hard-working artificer's +sweat. How Chopin produced the "Impromptu," Op. 29 (in A flat +major), I do not know. Although an admired improviser, the +process of composition was to him neither easy nor quick. But be +this as it may, this impromptu has quite the air of a +spontaneous, unconstrained outpouring. The first section with its +triplets bubbles forth and sparkles like a fountain on which the +sunbeams that steal through the interstices of the overhanging +foliage are playing. The F minor section is sung out clearly and +heartily, with graces beautiful as nature's. The song over, our +attention is again attracted by the harmonious murmuring and the +changing lights of the water. The "Deuxieme Impromptu," Op. 36 +(in F sharp major), is, like the first, a true impromptu, but +while the first is a fresh and lusty welling forth of joy amidst +the pleasures of a present reality, this is a dreamy lingering +over thoughts and scenes of the imagination that appear and +vanish like dissolving views. One would wish to have a programme +of this piece. Without such assistance the D major section of the +impromptu is insignificant. We want to see, or at least to know, +who the persons that walk in the procession which the music +accompanies are. Some bars in the second half of this section +remind one of Schumann's "Fantasia" in C. After this section a +curious transition leads in again the theme, which first appeared +in F sharp major, in F major, and with a triplet accompaniment. +When F sharp major is once more reached, the theme is still +further varied (melodically), till at last the wondrous, fairy- +like phrase from the first section brings the piece to a +conclusion. This impromptu is inferior to the first, having less +pith in it; but its tender sweetness and euphony cannot be +denied. The idle forgetfulness of the more serious duties and the +deep miseries of life in the enjoyment of a dolce far niente +recalls Schubert and the "Fantasia," Op. 78, and other works of +his. In the "Troisieme Impromptu" (in G flat major), Op. 51, the +rhythmical motion and the melodical form of the two parts that +serpentine their lines in opposite directions remind one of the +first impromptu (in A flat), but the characters of these pieces +are otherwise very unlike. The earlier work is distinguished by a +brisk freshness; the later one by a feverish restlessness and +faint plaintiveness. After the irresolute flutter of the relaxing +and enervating chromatic progressions and successions of thirds +and sixths, the greater steadiness of the middle section, more +especially the subdued strength and passionate eloquence at the D +flat major, has a good effect. But here, too, the languid, +lamenting chromatic passing and auxiliary notes are not wanting, +and the anxious, breathless accompaniment does not make things +more cheerful. In short, the piece is very fine in its way, but +the unrelieved, or at least very insufficiently relieved, +morbidezza is anything but healthy. We may take note of the plain +chord progressions which intervene in the first and last sections +of the impromptu; such progressions are of frequent occurrence in +Chopin's works. Is there not something pleonastic in the title +"Fantaisie-Impromptu?" Whether the reader may think so or not, he +will agree with me that the fourth impromptu (in C sharp minor), +Op. 66, is the most valuable of the compositions published by +Fontana; indeed, it has become one of the favourites of the +pianoforte-playing world. Spontaneity of emotional expression and +effective treatment of the pianoforte distinguish the Fantaisie- +Impromptu. In the first section we have the restless, surging, +gushing semiquavers, carrying along with them a passionate, +urging melody, and the simultaneous waving triplet accompaniment; +in the second section, where the motion of the accompaniment is +on the whole preserved, the sonorous, expressive cantilena in D +flat major; the third section repeats the first, which it +supplements with a coda containing a reminiscence of the +cantilena of the second section, which calms the agitation of the +semiquavers. According to Fontana, Chopin composed this piece +about 1834. Why did he keep it in his portfolio? I suspect he +missed in it, more especially in the middle section, that degree +of distinction and perfection of detail which alone satisfied his +fastidious taste. + +Among Chopin's nocturnes some of his most popular works are to be +found. Nay, the most widely-prevailing idea of his character as a +man and musician seems to have been derived from them. But the +idea thus formed is an erroneous one; these dulcet, effeminate +compositions illustrate only one side of the master's character, +and by no means the best or most interesting. Notwithstanding +such precious pearls as the two Nocturnes, Op. 37, and a few +others, Chopin shows himself greater both as a man and a musician +in every other class of pieces he has originated and cultivated, +more especially in his polonaises, ballades, and studies. That, +however, there is much to be admired in the class now under +consideration will be seen from the following brief comments on +the eighteen nocturnes (leaving out of account the one of the +year 1828 published by Fontana as Op. 72, No. 1, and already +discussed in an earlier chapter) which Chopin gave to the world-- +Op. 9, Trois Nocturnes, in January, 1833; Op. 15, Trois +Nocturnes, in January, 1834; Op. 27, Deux Nocturnes, in May, +1836; Op. 32, Deux Nocturnes, December, 1837; Op. 37, Deux +Nocturnes, in May, 1840; Op. 48, Deux Nocturnes, in November, +1841; Op. 55, Deux Nocturnes, in August, 1844; and Op. 62, Deux +Nocturnes, in September, 1846. Rellstab remarked in 1833 of the +Trois Nocturnes, Op. 9, that Chopin, without borrowing directly +from Field, copied the latter's melody and manner of +accompaniment. There is some truth in this; only the word "copy" +is not the correct one. The younger received from the elder +artist the first impulse to write in this form, and naturally +adopted also something of his manner. On the whole, the +similitude is rather generic than specific. Even the contents of +Op. 9 give Chopin a just claim to originality; and the Field +reminiscences which are noticeable in Nos. 1 and 2 (most +strikingly in the commencement of No. 2) of the first set of +nocturnes will be looked for in vain in the subsequent ones. + + Where Field smiles [said the above-mentioned critic], Chopin + makes a grinning grimace; where Field sighs, Chopin groans; + where Field shrugs his shoulders, Chopin twists his whole + body; where Field puts some seasoning into the food, Chopin + empties a handful of Cayenne pepper...In short, if one holds + Field's charming romances before a distorting concave mirror, + so that every delicate expression becomes a coarse one, one + gets Chopin's work...We implore Mr. Chopin to return to + nature. + +Now, what remains of this statement after subtracting prejudices +and narrow-mindedness? Nothing but that Chopin is more varied and +passionate than Field, and has developed to the utmost some of +the means of expression used by the latter. No. 1 (in B flat +minor) of Op. 9 is pervaded by a voluptuous dreaminess and +cloying sweetness: it suggests twilight, the stillness of night, +and thoughts engendered thereby. The tone of sentiment and the +phraseology of No. 2 (in E fiat major) have been made so common +by fashionable salon composers that one cannot help suspecting +that it is not quite a natural tone--not a tone of true feeling, +but of sentimentality. The vulgar do not imitate the true and +noble, but the false and ostentatious. In this piece one breathes +drawing-room air, and ostentation of sentiment and affectation of +speech are native to that place. What, however, the imitations +often lack is present in every tone and motion of the original: +eloquence, grace, and genuine refinement. + +[FOOTNOTE: Gutmann played the return of the principal subject in +a way very different from that in which it is printed, with a +great deal of ornamentation, and said that Chopin played it +always in that way. Also the cadence at the end of the nocturne +(Op. 9, No. 2) had a different form. But the composer very +frequently altered the ornamentions of his pieces or excogitated +alternative readings.] + +The third is, like the preceding nocturne, exquisite salon music. +Little is said, but that little very prettily. Although the +atmosphere is close, impregnated with musk and other perfumes, +there is here no affectation. The concluding cadenza, that +twirling line, reads plainly "Frederic Chopin." Op. 15 shows a +higher degree of independence and poetic power than Op. 9. The +third (in G minor) of these nocturnes is the finest of the three. +The words languido e rubato describe well the wavering +pensiveness of the first portion of the nocturne, which finds its +expression in the indecision of the melodic progressions, +harmonies, and modulations. The second section is marked +religiose, and may be characterised as a trustful prayer, +conducive to calm and comfort. The Nocturnes in F major and F +sharp major, Op. 15, are more passionate than the one we just now +considered, at least in the middle sections. The serene, tender +Andante in F major, always sweet, and here and there with touches +of delicate playfulness, is interrupted by thoughts of impetuous +defiance, which give way to sobs and sighs, start up again with +equal violence, and at last die away into the first sweet, tender +serenity. The contrast between the languid dreaming and the fiery +upstarting is striking and effective, and the practical musician, +as well as the student of aesthetics, will do well to examine by +what means these various effects are produced. In the second +nocturne, F sharp major, the brightness and warmth of the world +without have penetrated into the world within. The fioriture flit +about as lightly as gossamer threads. The sweetly-sad longing of +the first section becomes more disquieting in the doppio +movimento, but the beneficial influence of the sun never quite +loses its power, and after a little there is a relapse into the +calmer mood, with a close like a hazy distance on a summer day. +The second (in D flat major) of Op. 27 was, no doubt, conceived +in a more auspicious moment than the first (in C sharp minor), of +which the extravagantly wide-meshed netting of the accompaniment +is the most noteworthy feature. [FOOTNOTE: In most of the pieces +where, as in this one, the left-hand accompaniment consists of an +undulating figure, Chopin wished it to be played very soft and +subdued. This is what Gutmann said.] As to the one in D flat, +nothing can equal the finish and delicacy of execution, the flow +of gentle feeling, lightly rippled by melancholy, and spreading +out here and there in smooth expansiveness. But all this +sweetness enervates; there is poison in it. We should not drink +in these thirds, sixths, &c., without taking an antidote of Bach +or Beethoven. Both the nocturnes of Op. 32 are pretty specimens +of Chopin's style of writing in the tender, calm, and dreamy +moods. Of the two (in B major and A flat major) I prefer the +quiet, pellucid first one. It is very simple, ornaments being +very sparingly introduced. The quietness and simplicity are, +however, at last disturbed by an interrupted cadence, sombre +sounds as of a kettle-drum, and a passionate recitative with +intervening abrupt chords. The second nocturne has less +originality and pith. Deux Nocturnes (in G minor and G major), +Op. 37, are two of the finest, I am inclined to say, the two +finest, of this class of Chopin's pieces; but they are of +contrasting natures. The first and last sections of the one in G +minor are plaintive and longing, and have a wailing +accompaniment; the chord progressions of the middle section glide +along hymn-like. [FOOTNOTE: Gutmann played this section quicker +than the rest, and said that Chopin forgot to mark the change of +movement.] Were it possible to praise one part more emphatically +than another without committing an injustice, I would speak of +the melodic exquisiteness of the first motive. But already I see +other parts rise reproachfully before my repentant conscience. A +beautiful sensuousness distinguishes the nocturne in G major: it +is luscious, soft, rounded, and not without a certain degree of +languor. The successions of thirds and, sixths, the semitone +progressions, the rocking motion, the modulations (note +especially those of the first section and the transition from +that to the second), all tend to express the essential character. +The second section in C major reappears in E major, after a +repetition of part of the first section; a few bars of the latter +and a reminiscence of the former conclude the nocturne. But let +us not tarry too long in the treacherous atmosphere of this Capua- +-it bewitches and unmans. The two nocturnes (in C minor and F +sharp minor) which form Op. 48 are not of the number of those +that occupy foremost places among their companions. Still, they +need not be despised. The melody of the C minor portion of the +first is very expressive, and the second has in the C sharp minor +portion the peculiar Chopinesque flebile dolcezza. In playing +these nocturnes there occurred to me a remark of Schumann's, made +when he reviewed some nocturnes by Count Wielhorski. He said, on +that occasion, that the quicker middle movements which Chopin +frequently introduces into his nocturnes are often weaker than +his first conceptions, meaning the first portions of the +nocturnes. Now, although the middle parts in the present +instances are, on the contrary, slower movements, yet the +judgment holds good; at least, with respect to the first +nocturne, the middle part of which has nothing to recommend it +but the effective use of a full and sonorous instrumentation, if +I may use this word in speaking of one instrument. The middle +part of the second (f, D flat, Molto piu lento), however, is much +finer; in it we meet again, as we did in some other nocturnes, +with soothing, simple chord progressions. When Gutmann studied +the C sharp minor nocturne with Chopin, the master told him that +the middle section (the Molto piu lento, in D flat major) should +be played as a recitative: "A tyrant commands" (the first two +chords), he said, "and the other asks for mercy." Regarding the +first nocturne (in F minor) of Op. 55, we will note only the +flebile dolcezza of the first and the last section, and the +inferiority of the more impassioned middle section. The second +nocturne (in E flat major) differs in form from the other +nocturnes in this, that it has no contrasting second section, the +melody flowing onward from begining to end in a uniform manner. +The monotony of the unrelieved sentimentality does not fail to +make itself felt. One is seized by an ever-increasing longing to +get out of this oppressive atmosphere, to feel the fresh breezes +and warm sunshine, to see smiling faces and the many-coloured +dress of Nature, to hear the rustling of leaves, the murmuring of +streams, and voices which have not yet lost the clear, sonorous +ring that joy in the present and hope in the future impart. The +two nocturnes, Op. 62, seem to owe their existence rather to the +sweet habit of activity than to inspiration. At any rate, the +tender flutings, trills, roulades, syncopations, &c., of the +first nocturne (in B major), and the sentimental declarations and +confused, monotonous agitation of the second (in E major), do not +interest me sufficiently to induce me to discuss their merits and +demerits. + +One day Tausig, the great pianoforte-virtuoso, promised W. von +Lenz to play him Chopin's "Barcarolle," Op. 60 (published in +September, 1846), adding, "That is a performance which must not +be undertaken before more than two persons. I shall play you my +own self (meinen Menschen). I love the piece, but take it up only +rarely." Lenz, who did not know the barcarolle, thereupon went to +a music-shop and read it through attentively. The piece, however, +did not please him at all; it seemed to him a long movement in +the nocturne-style, a Babel of figuration on a lightly-laid +foundation. But he found that he had made a mistake, and, after +hearing it played by Tausig, confessed that the virtuoso had +infused into the "nine pages of enervating music, of one and the +same long-breathed rhythm (12/8), so much interest, so much +motion, and so much action," that he regretted the long piece was +not longer. And now let us hear what remarks Tausig made with +regard to the barcarolle:-- + + There are two persons concerned in the affair; it is a love- + scene in a discrete gondola; let us say this mise en scene is + the symbol of a lovers' meeting generally. This is expressed + in the thirds and sixths; the dualism of two notes (persons) + is maintained throughout; all is two-voiced, two-souled. In + this modulation here in C sharp major (superscribed dolce + sfogato), there are kiss and embrace! This is evident! When, + after three bars of introduction, the theme, lightly rocking + in the bass solo, enters in the fourth, this theme is + nevertheless made use of throughout the whole fabric only as + an accompaniment, and on this the cantilena in two parts is + laid; we have thus a continuous, tender dialogue. + +Both Lenz's first and last impressions were correct. The form of +the barcarolle is that of most of Chopin's nocturnes--consisting +of three sections, of which the third is a modified repetition of +the first--only everything is on a larger scale, and more worked +out. Unfortunately, the contrast of the middle section is not +great enough to prevent the length, in spite of the excellence of +the contents, from being felt. Thus we must also subscribe to the +"nine pages of enervating music." Still, the barcarolle is one of +the most important of Chopin's compositions in the nocturne- +style. It has distinctive features which decidedly justify and +make valuable its existence. Local colouring is not wanting. The +first section reminded me of Schumann's saying that Chopin in his +melodies leans sometimes over Germany towards Italy. If properly +told, this love-laden romance cannot fail to produce effect. + +Of the pieces that bear the name "Berceuse," Chopin's Op. 57 +(published in June, 1845) is the finest, or at least one of the +finest and happiest conceptions. It rests on the harmonic basis +of tonic and dominant. The triad of the tonic and the chord of +the dominant seventh divide every bar between them in a brotherly +manner. Only in the twelfth and thirteenth bars from the end (the +whole piece contains seventy) the triad of the subdominant comes +forward, and gives a little breathing time to the triad of the +tonic, the chord of the dominant having already dropped off. +Well, on this basis Chopin builds, or let us rather say, on this +rocking harmonic fluid he sets afloat a charming melody, which is +soon joined by a self-willed second part. Afterwards, this melody +is dissolved into all kinds of fioriture, colorature, and other +trickeries, and they are of such fineness, subtlety, loveliness, +and gracefulness, that one is reminded of Queen Mab, who comes-- + + In shape no bigger than an agate-stone + On the fore-finger of an alderman. + Drawn with a team of little atomies + Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep; + Her waggon-spokes made of long spinners' legs, + The cover of the wings of grasshoppers; + The traces of the smallest spider's web; + The collars of the moonshine's watery beams; + Her whip of cricket's bone; the lash of film; + Her waggoner a small grey-coated gnat. + +[FOOTNOTE: Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, I., iv., 59-68] + +But who does not know the delightful description of the fairy in +her hazel-nut coach, and the amusing story of her frolics and +pranks? By-and-by the nimble motions of the colorature become +slower, and finally glide into the original form of the melody, +which, however, already after the third bar comes to a stand- +still, is resumed for a short phrase, then expires, after a long- +drawn chord of the dominant seventh, on the chord of the tonic, +and all is rest and silence. Alexandre Dumas fils speaks in the +"Affaire Clemenceau" of the "Berceuse" as-- + + this muted music [musique en sourdine] which penetrated little + by little the atmosphere and enveloped us in one and the same + sensation, comparable perhaps to that which follows a Turkish + bath, when all the senses are confounded in a general + apaisement, when the body, harmoniously broken, has no longer + any other wish than rest, and when, the soul, seeing all the + doors of its prison open, goes wherever it lists, but always + towards the Blue, into the dream-land. + +None of Chopin's compositions surpass in masterliness of form and +beauty and poetry of contents his ballades. In them he attains, I +think, the acme of his power as an artist. It is much to be +regretted that they are only four in number--Op. 23, published in +June, 1836; Op. 38, in September, 1840; Op. 47, in November, +1841; and Op 52, in December, 1843. When Schumann reviewed the +second ballade he wrote: "Chopin has already written a piece +under the same title, one of his wildest and most individual +compositions." Schumann relates also that the poems of Mickiewicz +incited Chopin to write his ballades, which information he got +from the Polish composer himself. He adds significantly: "A poet, +again, might easily write words to them [Chopin's ballades]. They +move the innermost depth of the soul." Indeed, the "Ballade" (in +G minor), Op. 23, is all over quivering with intensest feeling, +full of sighs, sobs, groans, and passionate ebullitions. The +seven introductory bars (Lento) begin firm, ponderous, and loud, +but gradually become looser, lighter, and softer, terminating +with a dissonant chord, which some editors have thought fit to +correct. [FOOTNOTE: For the correctness of the suspected note we +have the testimony of pupils--Gutmann, Mikuli, &c.] Yet this +dissonant E flat may be said to be the emotional key-note of the +whole poem. It is a questioning thought that, like a sudden pain, +shoots through mind and body. And now the story-teller begins his +simple but pathetic tale, heaving every now and then a sigh. +After the ritenuto the matter becomes more affecting; the sighs +and groans, yet for a while kept under restraint, grow louder +with the increasing agitation, till at last the whole being is +moved to its very depths. On the uproar of the passions follows a +delicious calm that descends like a heavenly vision (meno mosso, +E flat major). But this does not last, and before long there +comes, in the train of the first theme, an outburst of passion +with mighty upheavings and fearful lulls that presage new +eruptions. Thus the ballade rises and falls on the sea of passion +till a mad, reckless rush (presto con fuoco) brings it to a +conclusion. Schumann tells us a rather interesting fact in his +notice of the "Deuxieme Ballade" (in F major), Op. 38. He heard +Chopin play it in Leipzig before its publication, and at that +time the passionate middle parts did not exist, and the piece +closed in F major, now it closes in A minor. Schumann's opinion +of this ballade is, that as a work of art it stands below the +first, yet is not less fantastic and geistreich. If two such +wholly dissimilar things can be compared and weighed in this +fashion, Schumann is very likely right; but I rather think they +cannot. The second ballade possesses beauties in no way inferior +to those of the first. What can be finer than the simple strains +of the opening section! They sound as if they had been drawn from +the people's storehouse of song. The entrance of the presto +surprises, and seems out of keeping with what precedes; but what +we hear after the return of the tempo primo--the development of +those simple strains, or rather the cogitations on them-- +justifies the presence of the presto. The second appearance of +the latter leads to an urging, restless coda in A minor, which +closes in the same key and pianissimo with a few bars of the +simple, serene, now veiled, first strain. The "Troisieme Ballade" +(in A flat major), Op. 47, does not equal its sisters in +emotional intensity, at any rate, not in emotional +tumultuousness. On this occasion the composer shows himself in a +fundamentally caressing mood. But the fine gradations, the +iridescence of feeling, mocks at verbal definition. Insinuation +and persuasion cannot be more irresistible, grace and affection +more seductive. Over everything in melody, harmony, and rhythm, +there is suffused a most exquisite elegance. A quiver of +excitement runs through the whole piece. The syncopations, +reversions of accent, silences on accented parts of the bar +(sighs and suspended respiration, felicitously expressed), which +occur very frequently in this ballade, give much charm and +piquancy to it. As an example, I may mention the bewitching +subject in F major of the second section. The appearances of this +subject in different keys and in a new guise are also very +effective. Indeed, one cannot but be struck with wonder at the +ease, refinement, and success with which Chopin handles here the +form, while in almost every work in the larger forms we find him +floundering lamentably. It would be foolish and presumptuous to +pronounce this or that one of the ballades the finest; but one +may safely say that the fourth (in F minor), Op. 52, is fully +worthy of her sisters. The emotional key-note of the piece is +longing sadness, and this key-note is well preserved throughout; +there are no long or distant excursions from it. The variations +of the principal subject are more emphatic restatements of it: +the first is more impressive than the original, the second more +eloquently beseeching than either of them. I resist, though with +difficulty, the temptation to point out in detail the interesting +course of the composer's thoughts, and proceed at once to the +coda which, palpitating and swelling with passion, concludes the +fourth and, alas! last ballade. + +We have now passed in review not only all the compositions published +by Chopin himself, but also a number of those published without his +authorisation. The publications not brought about by the master +himself were without exception indiscretions; most of them, no +doubt, well meant, but nevertheless regrettable. Whatever Fontana +says to the contrary in the preface to his collection of Chopin's +posthumous works, [FOOTNOTE: The Chopin compositions published by +Fontana (in 1855) comprise the Op. 66- 74; the reader will see them +enumerated in detail in the list of cur composer's works at the end +of this volume.] the composer unequivocally expressed the wish that +his manuscripts should not be published. Indeed, no one acquainted +with the artistic character of the master, and the nature of the +works published by himself, could for a moment imagine that the +latter would at any time or in any circumstances have given his +consent to the publication of insignificant and imperfect +compositions such as most of those presented to the world by his +ill-advised friend are. Still, besides the "Fantaisie-Impromptu," +which one would not like to have lost, and one or two mazurkas, +which cannot but be prized, though perhaps less for their artistic +than their human interest, Fontana's collection contains an item +which, if it adds little value to Chopin's musical legacy, attracts +at least the attention of the lover and student of his music-namely, +Op. 74, Seventeen Polish Songs, composed in the years 1824-1844, the +only vocal compositions of this pianist-composer that have got into +print. The words of most of these songs are by his friend Stephen +Witwicki; others are by Adam Mickiewicz, Bogdan Zaleski, and +Sigismond Krasinski, poets with all of whom he was personally +acquainted. As to the musical settings, they are very unequal: a +considerable number of them decidedly commonplace--Nos. 1, 5, 8, and +also 4 and 12 may be instanced; several, and these belong to the +better ones, exceedingly simple and in the style of folk-songs-- +No. 2 consists of a phrase of four bars (accompanied by a pedal bass +and the tonic and dominant harmonies) repeated alternately in G +minor and B flat major; and a few more developed in form and of a +more artistic character. In the symphonies (the preludes, +interludes, &c.) of the songs, we meet now and then with +reminiscences from his instrumental pieces. In one or two cases one +notices also pretty tone-painting--for instance, No. 10, "Horseman +before the Battle," and No. 15, "The return Home" (storm). Among the +most noteworthy are: the already-described No. 2; the +sweetly-melancholy No. 3; the artistically more dignified No. 9; the +popular No. 13; the weird No. 15; and the impressive, but, by its +terrible monotony, also oppressive No. 17 ("Poland's Dirge"). The +mazurka movement and the augmented fourth degree of the scale (Nos. +2 and 4) present themselves, apart from the emotional contents, as +the most strikingly-national features of these songs. Karasowski +states that many songs sung by the people in Poland are attributed +to Chopin, chief among them one entitled "The third of May." + +I must not conclude this chapter without saying something about +the editions of Chopin's works. The original French, German, and +English editions all leave much to be desired in the way of +correctness. To begin with, the composer's manuscripts were very +negligently prepared, and of the German and the English, and even +of the French edition, he did not always see the proofs; and, +whether he did or not, he was not likely to be a good proof- +reader, which presupposes a special talent, or rather +disposition. Indeed, that much in the preparation of the +manuscripts for the press and the correction of the proofs was +left to his friends and pupils may be gathered both from his +letters and from other sources. "The first comprehension of the +piece," says Schumann, in speaking of the German edition of the +Tarantella, "is, unfortunately, rendered very difficult by the +misprints with which it is really swarming." Those who assisted +Chopin in the work incident to publication--more especially by +copying his autographs--were Fontana, Wolff, Gutmann, and in +later years Mikuli and Tellefsen. + +Here I may fitly insert a letter written by Chopin to Maurice +Schlesinger on July 22, 1843 (not 1836, as La Mara supposes), +which has some bearing on the subject under discussion. The +Impromptu spoken of is the third, Op. 51, in G flat major:-- + + Dear friend,--In the Impromptu which you have issued with the + paper [Gazette musicals] of July 9, there is a confusion in + the paging, which makes my composition unintelligible. Though + I cannot at all pretend to taking the pains which our friend + Moscheles bestows on his works, I consider myself, however, + with regard to your subscribers, in duty bound to ask you on + this occasion to insert in your next number an erratum:-- + + Page 3--read page 5. + Page 5--read page 3. + + If you are too busy or too lazy to write to me, answer me + through the erratum in the paper, and that shall signify to me + that you, Madame Schlesinger, and your children are all well. + --Yours very truly, July 22 [1843]. + F. CHOPIN. + +The first complete edition of Chopin's works was, according to +Karasowski, [FOOTNOTE: More recently the same firm brought out +the works of Chopin edited by Jean Kleczynski.] that published in +1864, with the authorisation of the composer's family, by +Gebethner and Wolff, of Warsaw. But the most important editions-- +namely, critical editions--are Tellefsen's (I mention them in +chronological order), Klindworth's, Scholtz's, and Breitkopf and +Hartel's. Simon Richault, of Paris, the publisher of the first- +named edition, which appeared in 1860, says in the preface to it +that Tellefsen had in his possession a collection of the works of +Chopin corrected by the composer's own hand. As to the +violoncello part of the Polonaise, it was printed as Franchomme +always played it with the composer. The edition was also to be +free from all marks of expression that were not Chopin's own. +Notwithstanding all this, Tellefsen's edition left much to be +desired. + + My friend and fellow-pupil, Thomas Tellefsen [writes Mikuli], + who, till Chopin's last breath, had the happiness to be in + uninterrupted intercourse with him, was quite in a position to + bring out correctly his master's works in the complete edition + undertaken by him for Richault. Unfortunately, a serious + illness and his death interrupted this labour, so that + numerous misprints remained uncorrected. + + [FOOTNOTE: Mikuli's spelling of the name is Telefsen, whereas + it is Tellefsen on the Norwegian's edition of Chopin's works, + in all the dictionaries that mention him, and in the + contemporary newspaper notices and advertisements I have come + across.] + + [FOOTNOTE: I do not know how to reconcile this last remark + with the publisher's statement that the edition appeared in + 1860 (it was entered at Stationers' Hall on September 20, + 1860), and Tellefsen's death at Paris in October, 1874.] + +Klindworth's edition, the first volume of which appeared in +October, 1873, and the last in March, 1876, at Moscow (P. +Jurgenson), in six volumes, is described on the title-page as +"Complete works of Fr. Chopin critically revised after the +original French, German, and Polish editions, carefully corrected +and minutely fingered for pupils." [FOOTNOTE: This edition has +been reprinted by Augener & Co., of London.] The work done by +Klindworth is one of the greatest merit, and has received the +highest commendations of such men as Liszt and Hans von Bulow. +Objections that can be made to it are, that the fingering, +although excellent, is not always Chopinesque; and that the +alteration of the rhythmically-indefinite small notes of the +original into rhythmically-definite ones, although facilitating +the execution for learners, counteracts the composer's intention. +Mikuli holds that an appeal to Chopin's manuscripts is of no use +as they are full of slips of the pen--wrong notes and values, +wrong accidentals and clefs, wrong slurs and 8va markings, and +omissions of dots and chord-intervals. The original French, +German, and English editions he regards likewise as unreliable. +But of them he gives the preference to the French editions, as +the composer oftener saw proofs of them. On the other hand, the +German editions, which, he thinks, came out later than the Paris +ones, contain subsequently-made changes and improvements. +[FOOTNOTE: Take note, however, in connection with this remark, of +Chopin's letter of August 30, 1845, on pp. 119-120 of this +volume.] Sometimes, no doubt, the Paris edition preceded the +German one, but not as a rule. The reader will remember from the +letters that Chopin was always anxious that his works should +appear simultaneously in all countries, which, of course, was not +always practicable. Mikuli based his edition (Leipzig: Fr. +Kistner), the preface to which is dated "Lemberg, September, +1879," on his own copies, mostly of Parisian editions, copies +which Chopin corrected in the course of his lessons; and on other +copies, with numerous corrections from the hand of the master, +which were given him by the Countess Delphine Potocka. He had +also the assistance of Chopin's pupils the Princess Marcelline +Czartoryska and Madame Friederike Streicher (nee Muller), and +also of Madame Dubois and Madame Rubio, and of the composer's +friend Ferdinand Hiller. Mikuli's edition, like Klindworth's, is +fingered, and, as the title-page informs us, "for the most part +according to the author's markings." Hermann Scholtz, who edited +Chopin's works for Peters, of Leipzig, says in the preface (dated +"Dresden, December, 1879") that his critical apparatus consisted +of the original French, German, and English editions, various +autographs (the Preludes, Op. 28; the Scherzo, Op. 54; the +Impromptu, Op. 51; the Nocturnes, Op. 48; the Mazurka, Op. 7, No. +3, and a sketch of the Mazurka, Op. 30, No. 4), and three volumes +of Chopin's compositions with corrections, additions, and marks +of expression by his own hand, belonging to the master's pupil +Madame von Heygendorf (nee von Konneritz). In addition to these +advantages he enjoyed the advice of M. Mathias, another pupil of +Chopin. The critically-revised edition published (March, 1878-- +January, 1880) by Breitkopf and Hartel was edited by Woldemar +Bargiel, Johannes Brahms, Auguste Franchomme, Franz Liszt (the +Preludes), Carl Reinecke, and Ernst Rudorff. The prospectus sets +forth that the revision was based on manuscript material +(autographs and proofs with the composer's corrections and +additions) and the original French and German editions; and that +Madame Schumann, M. Franchomme, and friends and pupils of the +composer had been helpful with their counsel. Breitkopf and +Hartel's edition is the most complete, containing besides all the +pianoforte solo and ensemble works published by the composer +himself, a greater number of posthumous works (including the +songs) than is to be found in any other edition. Klindworth's is +a purely pianoforte edition, and excludes the trio, the pieces +with violoncello, and the songs. The above enumeration, however, +does not exhaust the existing Chopin editions, which, indeed, are +almost innumerable, as in the last decade almost every publisher, +at least, almost every German publisher, has issued one--among +others there are Schuberth's, edited by Alfred Richter, Kahnt's, +edited by S. Jadassohn, and Steingraber's, edited by Ed. Mertke. +[FOOTNOTE: Among earlier editions I may mention the incomplete +OEuvres completes, forming Vols. 21-24 of the Bibliotheque des +Pianistes, published by Schonenberger (Paris, 1860).] Voluminous +as the material for a critical edition of Chopin's works is, its +inconclusiveness, which constantly necessitates appeals to the +individual taste and judgment of the editor, precludes the +possibility of an edition that will satisfy all in all cases. +Chopin's pupils, who reject the editing of their master's works +by outsiders, do not accept even the labours of those from among +their midst. These reasons have determined me not to criticise, +but simply to describe, the most notable editions. In speaking of +the disputes about the correctness of the various editions, I +cannot help remembering a remark of Mendelssohn's, of which +Wenzel told me. "Mendelssohn said on one occasion in his naive +manner: 'In Chopin's music one really does not know sometimes +whether a thing is right or wrong.'" + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + + +CHOPIN'S ARRIVAL IN LONDON.--MUSICAL ASPECT OF THE BRITISH +METROPOLIS IN 1848.--CULTIVATION OF CHOPIN'S MUSIC IN ENGLAND.-- +CHOPIN AT EVENING PARTIES, &C. --LETTERS GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF HIS +DOINGS AND FEELINGS.--TWO MATINEES MUSICALES GIVEN BY CHOPIN; +CRITICISMS ON THEM.--ANOTHER LETTER.--KINDNESS SHOWN HIM.--CHOPIN +STARTS FOR SCOTLAND.--A LETTER WRITTEN AT EDINBURGH AND CALDER +HOUSE.--HIS SCOTCH FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES.--HIS STAY AT DR. +LYSCHINSKl'S.--PLAYS AT A CONCERT IN MANCHESTER.--RETURNS TO +SCOTLAND, AND GIVES A MATINEE MUSICALE IN GLASGOW AND IN +EDINBURGH.--MORE LETTERS FROM SCOTLAND.--BACK TO LONDON.--OTHER +LETTERS.--PLAYS AT A "GRAND POLISH BALL AND CONCERT" IN THE +GUILDHALL.--LAST LETTER FROM LONDON, AND JOURNEY AND RETURN TO +PARIS. + + + +CHOPIN arrived in London, according to Mr. A. J. Hipkins, on +April 21, 1848. + +[FOOTNOTE: The indebtedness of two writers on Chopin to Mr. +Hipkins has already been adverted to in the Preface. But his +vivid recollection of Chopin's visit to London in this year, and +of the qualities of his playing, has been found of great value +also in other published notices dealing with this period. The +present writer has to thank Mr. Hipkins, apart from second-hand +obligations, for various suggestions, answers to inquiries, and +reading the proof-sheets of this chapter.] + +He took up his quarters first at 10, Bentinck Street, but soon +removed to the house indicated in the following letter, written +by him to Franchomme on May 1, 1848:-- + + Dearest friend,--Here I am, just settled. I have at last a + room--fine and large--where I shall be able to breathe and + play, and the sun visits me to-day for the first time. I feel + less suffocated this morning, but all last week I was good for + nothing. How are you and your wife and the dear children? You + begin at last to become more tranquil, [FOOTNOTE: This, I + think, refers to some loss Franchomme had sustained in his + family] do you not? I have some tiresome visits; my letters of + introduction are not yet delivered. I trifle away my time, and + VOILA. I love you, and once more VOILA. + + Yours with all my heart. + + My kindest regards to Madame Franchomme. + 48, Dover Street. + Write to me, I will write to you also. + +Were Chopin now to make his appearance in London, what a stir +there would be in musical society! In 1848 Billet, Osborne, +Kalkbrenner, Halle, and especially Thalberg, who came about the +same time across the channel, caused more curiosity. By the way, +England was just then heroically enduring an artistic invasion +such as had never been seen before; not only from France, but +also from Germany and other musical countries arrived day after +day musicians who had found that their occupation was gone on the +Continent, where people could think of nothing but politics and +revolutions. To enumerate all the celebrities then congregated in +the British Metropolis would be beyond my power and the scope of +this publication, but I must at least mention that among them was +no less eminent a creative genius than Berlioz, no less brilliant +a vocal star than Pauline Viardot-Garcia. Of other high-priests +and high-priestesses of the art we shall hear in the sequel. But +although Chopin did not set the Thames on fire, his visit was not +altogether ignored by the press. Especially the Athenaeum (H. F. +Chorley) and the Musical World (J. W. Davison) honoured +themselves by the notice they took of the artist. The former +journal not only announced (on April 29) his arrival, but also +some weeks previously (on April 8) his prospective advent, +saying: "M. Chopin's visit is an event for which we most heartily +thank the French Republic." + +In those days, and for a long time after, the appreciation and +cultivation of Chopin's music was in England confined to a select +few. Mr. Hipkins told me that he "had to struggle for years to +gain adherents to Chopin's music, while enduring the good- +humoured banter of Sterndale Bennett and J. W. Davison." The +latter--the author of An Essay on the Works of Frederic Chopin +(London, 1843), the first publication of some length on the +subject, and a Preface to, or, to be more precise, a Memoir +prefixed to Boosey & Co.'s The Mazurkas and Valses of F. Chopin- +-seems to have in later years changed his early good opinion of +the Polish master. + +[FOOTNOTE: Two suggestions have been made to me in explanation of +this change of opinion: it may have been due to the fear that the +rising glory of Chopin might dim that of Mendelssohn; or Davison +may have taken umbrage at Chopin's conduct in an affair relative +to Mendelssohn. I shall not discuss the probability of these +suggestions, but will say a few words with regard to the last- +mentioned matter. My source of information is a Paris letter in +the Musical World of December 4, 1847. After the death of +Mendelssohn some foreign musicians living in Paris proposed to +send a letter of condolence to Mrs. Mendelssohn. One part of the +letter ran thus: "May it be permitted to us, German artists, far +from our country, to offer," &c. The signatures to it were: +Rosenhain, Kalkbrenner, Panofka, Heller, Halle, Pixis, and Wolff. +Chopin when applied to for his signature wrote: "La lettre venant +des Allemands, comment voulez-vous que je m'arroge le droit de la +signer?" One would think that no reasonable being could take +exception to Chopin's conduct in this affair, and yet the writer +in the Musical World comments most venomously on it.] + +The battle fought in the pages of the Musical World in 1841 +illustrates the then state of matters in England. Hostilities +commenced on October 28 with a criticism of the Mazurkas, Op. 41. +Of its unparalleled nature the reader shall judge himself:-- + + Monsieur Frederic Chopin has, by some means or other which we + cannot divine, obtained an enormous reputation, a reputation + but too often refused to composers of ten times his genius. M. + Chopin is by no means a putter down of commonplaces; but he + is, what by many would be esteemed worse, a dealer in the most + absurd and hyperbolical extravagances. It is a striking satire + on the capability for thought possessed by the musical + profession, that so very crude and limited a writer should be + esteemed, as he is very generally, a profound classical + musician. M. Chopin does not want ideas, but they never extend + beyond eight or sixteen bars at the utmost, and then he is + invariably in nubibus...the works of the composer give us + invariably the idea of an enthusiastic school-boy, whose parts + are by no means on a par with his enthusiasm, who WILL be + original whether he CAN or not. There is a clumsiness about + his harmonies in the midst of their affected strangeness, a + sickliness about his melodies despite their evidently FORCED + unlikeness to familiar phrases, an utter ignorance of design + everywhere apparent in his lengthened works...The entire works + of Chopin present a motley surface of ranting hyperbole and + excruciating cacophony. When he is not THUS singular, he is no + better than Strauss or any other waltz compounder...such as + admire Chopin, and they are legion, will admire these + Mazurkas, which are supereminently Chopin-ical; that do NOT + we. + +Wessel and Stapleton, the publishers, protested against this +shameful criticism, defending Chopin and adducing the opinions of +numerous musicians in support of their own. But the valorous +editor "ventures to assure the distinguished critics and the +publishers that there will be no difficulty in pointing out a +hundred palpable faults, and an infinitude of meretricious +uglinesses, such as, to real taste and judgment, are +intolerable." Three more letters appeared in the following +numbers--two for (Amateur and Professor) and one against +(Inquirer) Chopin; the editor continuing to insist with as much +violence as stupidity that he was right. It is pleasant to turn +from this senseless opposition to the friends and admirers of the +master. Of them we learn something in Davison's Essay on the +Works of F. Chopin, from which I must quote a few passages:-- + + This Concerto [the E minor] has been made known to the + amateurs of music in England by the artist-like performance of + Messrs. W. H. Holmes, F. B. Jewson, H. B. Richards, R. + Barnett, and other distinguished members of the Royal Academy, + where it is a stock piece...The Concerto [in F minor] has been + made widely known of late by the clever performance of that + true little prodigy Demoiselle Sophie Bohrer....These charming + bagatelles [the Mazurkas] have been made widely known in + England through the instrumentality of Mr. Moscheles, Mr. + Cipriani Potter, Mr. Kiallmark, Madame de Belleville-Oury, Mr. + Henry Field (of Bath), Mr. Werner, and other eminent pianists, + who enthusiastically admire and universally recommend them to + their pupils...To hear one of those eloquent streams of pure + loveliness [the nocturnes] delivered by such pianists as + Edouard Pirkhert, William Holmes, or Henry Field, a pleasure + we frequently enjoyed, is the very transcendency of delight. + + [FOOTNOTE: Information about the above-named pianists may be + found in the musical biographical dictionaries, with three + exceptions-namely, Kiallmark, Werner, and Pirkhert. George + Frederick Kiallmark (b. November 7, 1804; d. December 13, + 1887), a son of the violinist and composer George Kiallmark, + was for many years a leading professor in London. He is said + to have had a thorough appreciation and understanding of + Chopin's genius, and even in his last years played much of + that master's music. He took especial delight in playing + Chopin's Nocturnes, no Sunday ever passed without his family + hearing him play two or three of them.--Louis Werner (whose + real name was Levi) was the son of a wealthy and esteemed + Jewish family living at Clapham. He studied music in London + under Moscheles, and, though not an eminent pianist, was a + good teacher. His amiability assured him a warm welcome in + society.--Eduard Pirkhert died at Vienna, aged 63, on February + 28, 1881. To Mr. Ernst Pauer, who is never appealed to in + vain, I am indebted for the following data as well as for the + subject--matter of my notice on Werner: "Eduard Pirkhert, born + at Graz in 1817, was a pupil of Anton Halm and Carl Czerny. He + was a shy and enormously diligent artist, who, however, on + account of his nervousness, played, like Henselt, rarely in + public. His execution was extraordinary and his tone + beautiful. In 1855 he became professor at the Vienna + Conservatorium." Mr. Pauer never heard him play Chopin.] + +After this historical excursus let us take up again the record of +our hero's doings and sufferings in London. + +Chopin seems to have gone to a great many parties of various +kinds, but he could not always be prevailed upon to give the +company a taste of his artistic quality. Brinley Richards saw him +at an evening party at the house of the politician Milner Gibson, +where he did not play, although he was asked to do so. According +to Mr. Hueffer, [FOOTNOTE: Chopin in Fortnightly Review of +September, 1877, reprinted in Musical Studies (Edinburgh: A. & C. +Black, 1880).] he attended, likewise without playing, an evening +party (May 6) at the house of the historian Grote. Sometimes ill- +health prevented him from fulfilling his engagements; this, for +instance, was the case on the occasion of a dinner which Macready +is said to have given in his honour, and to which Thackeray, Mrs. +Procter, Berlioz, and Julius Benedict were invited. On the other +hand, Chopin was heard at the Countess of Blessington's (Gore +House, Kensington) and the Duchess of Sutherland's (Stafford +House). On the latter occasion Benedict played with him a duet of +Mozart's. More than thirty years after, Sir Julius had still a +clear recollection of "the great pains Chopin insisted should be +taken in rehearsing it, to make the rendering of it at the +concert as perfect as possible." John Ella heard Chopin play at +Benedict's. Of another of Chopin's private performances in the +spring of 1848 we read in the Supplement du Dictionnaire de la +Conversation, where Fiorentino writes: + + We were at most ten or twelve in a homely, comfortable little + salon, equally propitious to conversation and contemplation. + Chopin took the place of Madame Viardot at the piano, and + plunged us into ineffable raptures. I do not know what he + played to us; I do not know how long our ecstasy lasted: we + were no longer on earth; he had transported us into unknown + regions, into a sphere of flame and azure, where the soul, + freed from all corporeal bonds, floats towards the infinite. + This was, alas! the song of the swan. + +The sequel will show that the concluding sentence is no more than +a flourish of the pen. Whether Chopin played at Court, as he says +in a letter to Gutmann he expected to do, I have not ascertained. +Nor have I been able to get any information about a dinner which, +Karasowski relates, some forty countrymen of Chopin's got up in +his honour when they heard of his arrival in London. According to +this authority the pianist-composer rose when the proceedings +were drawing to an end, and many speeches extolling him as a +musician and patriot had been made, and spoke, if not these +words, to this effect: "My dear countrymen! The proofs of your +attachment and love which you have just given me have truly moved +me. I wish to thank you, but lack the talent of expressing my +feelings in words; I invite you therefore to accompany me to my +lodgings and to receive there my thanks at the piano." The +proposal was received with enthusiasm, and Chopin played to his +delighted and insatiable auditors till two o'clock in the +morning. What a crush, these forty or more people in Chopin's +lodgings! However, that is no business of mine. + +[FOOTNOTE: After reading the above, Mr. Hipkins remarked: "I +fancy this dinner resembled the dinner which will go down to +posterity as given by the Hungarians of London to Liszt in +[1886], which was really a private dinner given by Mrs. +Bretherton to fifteen people, of whom her children and mine were +four. NO Hungarians."] + +The documents--letters and newspaper advertisements and notices-- +bearing on this period of Chopin's life are so plentiful that +they tell the story without the help of many additions and +explanatory notes. This is satisfactory, for one grain of fact is +more precious than a bushel of guesses and hearsays. + + Chopin to Gutmann; London, 48, Dover Street, Piccadilly, + Saturday, May 6, 1848:-- + + Dear friend,--Here I am at last, settled in this whirlpool of + London. It is only a few days since I began to breathe; for it + is only a few days since the sun showed itself. I have seen M. + D'Orsay, and notwithstanding all the delay of my letter he + received me very well. Be so good as to thank the duchess for + me and him. I have not yet made all my calls, for many persons + to whom I have letters of introduction are not yet here. Erard + was charming; he sent me a piano. I have a Broadwood and a + Pleyel, which makes three, and yet I do not find time to play + them. I have many visitors, and my days pass like lightning--I + have not even had a moment to write to Pleyel. Let me know how + you are getting on. In what state of mind are you? How are + your people? With my people things are not going well. I am + much vexed about this. In spite of that I must think of making + a public appearance; a proposal has been made to me to play at + the Philharmonic, [FOOTNOTE: "Chopin, we are told," says the + Musical World of May 27, 1848, "was invited to play at the + Philharmonic, but declined."] but I would rather not. I shall + apparently finish off, after playing at Court before the Queen + [chez la reine], by giving a matinee, limited to a number of + persons, at a private residence [hotel particulier]. I wish + that this would terminate thus. But these projects are only + projects in the air. Write to me a great deal about yourself. + --Yours ever, my old Gut., + + + CHOPIN. + + P.S.--I heard the other evening Mdlle. Lind in La Sonnambula. + [FOOTNOTE: Jenny Lind made her first appearance at Her + Majesty's Theatre in the season 1848, on May 4, as Amina, in + La Sonnambula. The Queen was present on that occasion. Pauline + Garcia made her first appearance, likewise as Amina, at Covent + Garden Theatre, on May 9.] It was very fine; I have made her + acquaintance. Madame Viardot also came to see me. She will + make her debuts at the rival theatre [Covent Garden], likewise + in La Sonnambula. All the pianists of Paris are here. Prudent + played his Concerto at the Philharmonic with little success, + for it is necessary to play classical music there. Thalberg is + engaged for twelve concerts at the theatre where Lind is [Her + Majesty's, Haymarket]. Halle is going to play Mendelssohn at + the rival theatre. + + + Chopin to his friend Grzymala; Thursday, May 11, 1848:-- + + I have just come from the Italian Opera, where Jenny Lind + appeared to-day, for the first time, as Sonnambula, and the + Queen showed herself for the first time to the people after a + long retirement. [FOOTNOTE: Chopin must have begun this letter + on the 4th of May, and dated it later on; for on the 11th of + May Jenny Lind sang in La Figlia del Reggimento, and the + presence of the Queen at the performance is not mentioned in + the newspaper accounts of it. See preceding foot-note.] Both + were, of course, of much interest to me; more especially, + however, Wellington, who, like an old, faithful dog in a + cottage, sat in the box below his crowned mistress. I have + also made Jenny Lind's personal acquaintance: when, a few days + afterwards, I paid her a visit, she received me in the most + amiable manner, and sent me an excellent "stall" for the opera + performance. I was capitally seated and heard excellently. + This Swede is indeed an original from top to toe! She does not + show herself in the ordinary light, but in the magic rays of + an aurora borealis. Her singing is infallibly pure and sure; + but what I admired most was her piano, which has an + indescribable charm. "Your + + FREDERICK. + +Of Chopin's visit Jenny Lind-Goldschmidt had to the last years of +her life a most pleasing and vivid recollection. She sang to him +Polskas, [FOOTNOTE: Polskas are dances of Polish origin, popular +in Sweden, whose introduction dates from the time of the union of +the crowns of Sweden and Poland in 1587.] which delighted him +greatly. The way Madame Goldschmidt spoke of Chopin showed +unmistakably that he made the best possible impression upon her, +not only as an artist, but also as a man--she was sure of his +goodness, and that he could not but have been right in the Sand +affair, I mean as regards the rupture. She visited him when she +went in the following year (1849) to Paris. + +In his letter to Gutmann, Chopin speaks of his intention to give +a matinee at a private house. And he more than realised it; for +he not only gave one, but two--the first at the house of Mrs. +Sartoris (nee Adelaide Kemble) and the second at the house of +Lord Falmouth. Here are two advertisements which appeared in the +Times. + + June 15, 1848:-- + + Monsieur Chopin will give a Matinee musicale, at No. 99, Eaton + Place, on Friday, June 23, to commence at 3 o'clock. A limited + number of tickets, one guinea each, with full particulars, at + Cramer, Beale & Co.'s, 201, Regent Street. + + + July 3 and 4, 1848:-- + + Monsieur Chopin begs to announce that his second Matinee + musicale will take place on Friday next, July 7, at the + residence of the Earl of Falmouth, No. 2, St. James's Square. + To commence at half-past 3. Tickets, limited in number, and + full particulars at Cramer, Beale & Co.'s, 201, Regent Street. + + + The Musical World (July 8, 1848) says about these + performances:-- + + M. Chopin has lately given two performances of his own + pianoforte music at the residence of Mrs. Sartoris (late Miss + Adelaide Kemble), which seem to have given much pleasure to + his audiences, among whom Mdlle. Lind, who was present at the + first, seems to be the most enthusiastic. We were not present + at either, and, therefore, have nothing to say on the subject. + + [FOOTNOTE: Of course, the above-quoted advertisements prove + the reporter to be wrong in this particular; there was only + one at the house of Mrs. Sartoris.] + +From an account of the first matinee in the Athenaeum we learn +that Chopin played nocturnes, etudes, mazurkas, two waltzes, and +the Berceuse, but none of his more developed works, such as +sonatas, concertos, scherzos, and ballades. The critic tries to +analyse the master's style of execution--a "mode" in which +"delicacy, picturesqueness, elegance, and humour are blended so +as to produce that rare thing, a new delight"--pointing out his +peculiar fingering, treatment of scale and shake, tempo rubato, +&c. But although the critic speaks no less appreciatively of the +playing than of the compositions, the tenor of the notice of the +second matinee (July 15, 1848) shows that the former left +nevertheless something to be desired. "Monsieur Chopin played +better at his second than at his first matinee--not with more +delicacy (that could hardly be), but with more force and brio." +Along with other compositions of his, Chopin played on this +occasion his Scherzo in B flat and his Etude in C sharp minor. +Another attraction of the matinee was the singing of Madame +Viardot-Garcia, "who, besides her inimitable airs with Mdlle. de +Mendi, and her queerly-piquant Mazurkas, gave the Cenerentola +rondo, graced with great brilliancy; and a song by Beethoven, +'Ich denke dein.'" + +[FOOTNOTE: No doubt, those Mazurkas by Chopin which, adapting to +them Spanish words, she had arranged for voice and piano. Hiller +wrote mostenthusiastically of these arrangements and her +performance of them.] + +Mr. Salaman said, at a meeting of the London Musical Association +(April 5, 1880), in the course of a discussion on the subject of +Chopin, that he was present at the matinee at the house of Mrs. +Sartoris, and would never forget the concert-giver's playing, +especially of the waltz in D flat. "I remember every bar, how he +played it, and the appearance of his long, attenuated fingers +during the time he was playing. [FOOTNOTE: Their thinness may +have made them appear long, but they were not really so. See +Appendix III.] He seemed quite exhausted." Mr. Salaman was +particularly struck by the delicacy and refinement of Chopin's +touch, and the utmost exquisiteness of expression. + +To Chopin, as the reader will see in the letter addressed to +Franchomme, and dated August 6th and 11th, these semi-public +performances had only the one redeeming point--that they procured +him much-needed money, otherwise he regarded them as a great +annoyance. And this is not to be wondered at, if we consider the +physical weakness under which he was then labouring. When Chopin +went before these matinees to Broadwood's to try the pianoforte +on which he was to play, he had each time to be carried up the +flight of stairs which led to the piano-room. Chopin had also to +be carried upstairs when he came to a concert which his pupil +Lindsay Sloper gave in this year in the Hanover Square Rooms. But +nothing brings his miserable condition so vividly before us as +his own letters. + + + Chopin to Grzymala, London, July 18, 1848:-- + + My best thanks for your kind lines and the accompanying letter + from my people. Heaven be thanked, they are all well; but why + are they concerned about me? I cannot become sadder than I am, + a real joy I have not felt for a long time. Indeed, I feel + nothing at all, I only vegetate, waiting patiently for my end. + Next week I go to Scotland to Lord Torphichen, the brother-in- + law of my Scottish friends, the Misses Stirling, who are + already with him (in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh). He wrote + to me and invited me heartily, as did also Lady Murray, an + influential lady of high rank there, who takes an + extraordinary interest in music, not to mention the many + invitations I have received from various parts of England. But + I cannot wander about from one place to another like a + strolling musician; such a vagabond' life is hateful to me, + and not conducive to my health. I intend to remain in Scotland + till the 29th of August, on which day I go as far as + Manchester, where I am engaged to play in public. I shall play + there twice without orchestra, and receive for this 60 + [pounds]. The Alboni comes also, but all this does not + interest me--I just seat myself at the piano, and begin to + play. I shall stay during this time with rich manufacturers, + with whom also Neukomm [FOOTNOTE: Karasowski has Narkomm, + which is, of course, either a misreading or a misprint, + probably the former, as it is to be found in all editions of + his book.] has stayed. What I shall do next I don't know yet. + If only someone could foretell whether I shall not fall sick + here during the winter..."Your + + FREDERICK. + +Had Chopin, when he left Paris, really in view the possibility of +settling in London? There was at the time a rumour of this being +the case. The Athenaeum (April 8, 1848), in the note already +adverted to, said:--"M. Chopin is expected, if not already here-- +it is even added to remain in England." But if he embraced the +idea at first, he soon began to loosen his grasp of it, and, +before long, abandoned it altogether. In his then state of health +existence would have been a burden anywhere, but it was a greater +one away from his accustomed surroundings. Moreover, English life +to be enjoyable requires a robustness of constitution, +sentimental and intellectual as well as physical, which the +delicately-organised artist, even in his best time, could not +boast of. If London and the rest of Britain was not to the mind +of Chopin, it was not for want of good-will among the people. +Chopin's letters show distinctly that kindness was showered upon +him from all sides. And these letters do not by any means contain +a complete roll of those who were serviceable to him. The name of +Frederick Beale, the publisher, for instance, is not to be found +there, and yet he is said, with what truth I do not know, to have +attached himself to the tone-poet. + +[FOOTNOTE: Mr. Hipkins heard Chopin play at Broadwood's to Beale +the Waltzes in D flat major and C sharp minor (Nos. 1 and 2 of +Op. 64), subsequently published by Cramer, Beale and Co. But why +did the publisher not bring out the whole opus (three waltzes, +not two), which had already been in print in France and Germany +for nine or ten months? Was his attachment to the composer weaker +than his attachment to his cash-box?] + +The attentions of the piano-makers, on the other hand, are duly +remembered. In connection with them I must not forget to record +the fact that Mr. Henry Fowler Broadwood had a concert grand, the +first in a complete iron frame, expressly made for Chopin, who, +unfortunately, did not live to play upon it. + +[FOOTNOTE: For particulars about the Broadwood pianos used by +Chopin in England and Scotland (and he used there no others at +his public concerts and principal private entertainments), see +the List of John Broadwood & Sons' Exhibits at the International +Inventions Exhibition (1885), a pamphlet full of interesting +information concerning the history and construction of the +pianoforte. It is from the pen of A. J. Hipkins.] + +A name one misses with surprise in Chopin's letters is that of +his Norwegian pupil Tellefsen, who came over from Paris to +London, and seems to have devoted himself to his master. +[FOOTNOTE: Tellefsen, says Mr. Hipkins, was nearly always with +Chopin.] Of his ever-watchful ministering friend Miss Stirling +and her relations we shall hear more in the following letters. + +Chopin started for Scotland early in August, 1848, for on the 6th +August he writes to Franchomme that he had left London a few days +before. + + Chopin to Franchomme; Edinburgh, August 6 [1848]. Calder + House, August 11:-- + + Very dear friend,--I do not know what to say. The best, it + seems to me, is not even to attempt to console you for the + loss of your father. I know your grief--time itself assuages + little such sorrows. I left London a few days ago. I made the + journey to Edinburgh (407 miles) in twelve hours. After having + taken a day's rest in Edinburgh, I went to Calder House, + twelve miles from Edinburgh, the mansion of Lord Torphichen, + brother-in-law of Madame Erskine, where I expect to remain + till the end of the month and to rest after my great doings in + London. I gave two matinees, which it appears have given + pleasure, but which, for all that, did not the less bore me. + Without them, however, I do not know how I could have passed + three months in this dear London, with large apartments + (absolutely necessary), carriage, and valet. My health is not + altogether bad, but I become more feeble, and the air here + does not yet agree with me. Miss Stirling was going to write + to you from London, and asks me to beg you to excuse her. The + fact is that these ladies had many preparations to make before + their journey to Scotland, where they intend to remain some + months. There is in Edinburgh a pupil of yours, Mr. Drechsler, + I believe. + + [FOOTNOTE: Louis Drechsler (son of the Dessau violoncellist + Carl Drechsler and uncle of the Edinburgh violoncellist and + conductor Carl Drechsler Hamilton), who came to Edinburgh in + August, 1841, and died there on June 25,1860. From an obituary + notice in a local paper I gather that he studied under + Franchomme in 1845.] + + He came to see me in London; he appeared to me a fine young + fellow, and he loves you much. He plays duets [fait de la + musique] with a great lady of this country, Lady Murray, one + of my sexagenarian pupils in London, to whom I have also + promised a visit in her beautiful mansion. [FOOTNOTE: The wife + of Lord (Sir John Archibald) Murray, I think. At any rate, + this lady was very musical and in the habit of playing with + Louis Drechsler.] But I do not know how I shall do it, for I + have promised to be in Manchester on the 28th of August to + play at a concert for 60 pounds. Neukomm is there, and, + provided that he does not improvise on the same day [et pourvu + qu'il ne m'improvise pas le meme jour], I reckon on earning my + 60 francs [he means, of course, "60 pounds"]. + + [FOOTNOTE: Thinking that this remark had some hidden meaning, + I applied to Franchomme for an explanation; but he wrote to me + as follows: "Chopin trouvait que Neukomm etait un musicien + ennuyeux, et il lui etait desagreable de penser que Neukomm + pourrait improviser dans le concert dans lequel il devrait + jouer."] + + After that I don't know what will become of me. I should like + very much if they were to give me a pension for life for + having composed nothing, not even an air a la Osborne or + Sowinski (both of them excellent friends), the one an + Irishman, the other a compatriot of mine (I am prouder of them + than of the rejected representative Antoine de Kontski-- + Frenchman of the north and animal of the south). [FOOTNOTE: + "Frenchmen of the north" used to be a common appellation of + the Poles.] + + After these parentheses, I will tell you truly that I know + [FOOTNOTE: Here probably "not" ought to be added.] what will + become of me in autumn. At any rate, if you get no news from + me do not complain of me, for I think very often of writing to + you. If you see Mdlle. de Rozieres or Grzymala, one or the + other of them will have heard something--if not from me, from + some friends. The park here is very beautiful, the lord of the + manor very excellent, and I am as well as I am permitted to + be. Not one proper musical idea. I am out of my groove; I am + like, for instance, an ass at a masked ball, a chanterelle + [first, i.e., highest string] of a violin on a double bass-- + astonished, amazed, lulled to sleep as if I were hearing a + trait [a run or a phrase] of Bodiot [FOOTNOTE: That is, + Charles Nicolas Baudiot (1773-1849), the violoncellist, at one + time professor at the Conservatoire. He published a school and + many compositions for his instrument.] (before the 24th of + February), [FOOTNOTE: The revolution of February 24, 1848.] or + a stroke of the bow of M. Cap [FOOTNOTE: This gentleman was an + amateur player of the violoncello and other stringed + instruments.] (after the June days). [FOOTNOTE: The + insurrection of the Red Republicans on June 23-26, 1848.] I + hope they are still flourishing, for I cannot do without them + in writing. But another real question is, that I hope you have + no friends to deplore in all these terrible affairs. And the + health of Madame Franchomme and of the little children? Write + me a line, and address it to London, care of Mr. Broadwood, + 33, Great Pulteney Street, Golden Square. I have here a + perfect (material) tranquillity, and pretty Scotch airs. I + wish I were able to compose a little, were it only to please + these good ladies--Madame Erskine and Mdlle. Stirling. I have + a Broadwood piano in my room, the Pleyel of Miss Stirling in + my salon. I lack neither paper nor pens. I hope that you also + will compose something, and may God grant that I hear it soon + newly born. I have friends in London who advise me to pass + there the winter.--But I shall listen only to my I do not know + what [mon je ne sais quoi]; or, rather, I shall listen to the + last comer--this comes often to the same thing as weighing + well. Adieu dear, dear friend! My most sincere wishes to + Madame Franchomme for her children. I hope that Rene amuses + himself with his bass, that Cecile works well, and that their + little sister always reads her books. Remember me to Madame + Lasserve, I pray you, and correct my orthography as well as my + French. + + + The following words are written along the margin:-- + + The people here are ugly, but, it would seem, good. As a + compensation there are charming, apparently mischievous, + cattle, perfect milk, butter, eggs, and tout ce qui s'en suit, + cheese and chickens. + +To save the reader from becoming confused by allusions in +Chopin's letters to names of unknown persons and places, I will +now say a few words about the composer's Scotch friends. The +Stirlings of Keir, generally regarded as the principal family of +the name, are said to be descended from Walter de Striveline, +Strivelyn, or Strivelyng, Lucas of Strivelyng (1370-1449) being +the first possessor of Keyr. The family was for about two +centuries engaged in the East India and West India trade. +Archibald Stirling, the father of the late baronet, went, as +William Fraser relates in The Stirlings of Keir, like former +younger sons, to Jamaica, where he was a planter for nearly +twenty-five years. He succeeded his brother James in 1831, +greatly improved the mansion, and died in 1847. When Chopin +visited Keir it was in the possession of William Stirling, who, +in 1865, became Sir William Stirling-Maxwell (his mother was a +daughter of Sir John Maxwell), and is well-known by his literary +works--Annals of the Artists of Spain (1848), The Cloister Life +of the Emperor Charles V. (1852), Velasquez (1855), &c. He was +the uncle of Jane Stirling and Mrs. Erskine, daughters (the +former the youngest daughter) of John Stirling, of Kippendavie +and Kippenross, and friends of Chopin. W. Hanna, the editor of +the Letters of Thomas Erskine of Linlathen, says that Jane +Stirling was a cousin and particular friend of Thomas Erskine. +The latter used in later life to regard her and the Duchess de +Broglie as the most remarkable women he had ever met:-- + + In her later years she lived much in Paris, and counted among + her friends there Ary Scheffer. In his "Christus Consolator," + this eminent artist has presented in one of the figures his + ideal of female beauty, and was struck on being first + introduced to Miss Stirling to find in her the almost exact + embodiment of that ideal. She was introduced afterwards in + many of his pictures. + +In a letter addressed to Mrs. Schwabe, and dated February 14, +1859, we read about her:-- + + She was ill for eight weeks, and suffered a great deal...I + know you will feel this deeply, for you could appreciate the + purity and beauty of that stream of love which flowed through + her whole life. I don't think that I ever knew anyone who + seemed more entirely to have given up self, and devoted her + whole being to the good of others. I remember her birth like + yesterday, and I never saw anything in her but what was + lovable from the beginning to the end of her course. + +Lindsay Sloper, who lived in Paris from 1841 to 1846, told me +that Miss Stirling, who was likewise staying there, took for some +time lessons from him. As she wished to become a pupil of Chopin, +he spoke to his master about her. Chopin, Lindsay Sloper said, +was pleased with her playing, and soon began to like her. + +[FOOTNOTE: To the above I must append a cautionary foot-note. In +his account to me Lindsay Sloper made two mistakes which prove +that his memory was not one of the most trustworthy, and suggest +even the possibility that his Miss Stirling was a different +person from Chopin's friend. His mistakes were these: he called +Mrs. Erskine, who was with Miss Stirling in Paris, her aunt +instead of her sister; and thought that Miss Stirling was about +eighteen years old when he taught her. The information I shall +give farther on seems to show that she was older rather than +younger than Chopin; indeed, Mr Hipkins is of opinion that she +was in 1848 nearer fifty than forty.] + +To her the composer dedicated his Deux Nocturnes, Op. 55, which +he published in August, 1844. It was thought that she was in love +with Chopin, and there were rumours of their going to be married. +Gutmann informed me that Chopin said to him one day when he was +ill: "They have married me to Miss Stirling; she might as well +marry death." Of Miss Jane Stirling's elder sister Katherine, +who, in 1811, married her cousin James Erskine, and lost her +husband already in 1816, Thomas Erskine says: "She was an +admirable woman, faithful and diligent in all duties, and +unwearied in her efforts to help those who needed her help." Lord +Torphichen, at whose residence (Calder House, twelve miles from +Edinburgh) Chopin passed much of his time in Scotland, was, as we +learn from the composer's letters, a brother-in-law of Miss +Stirling and Mrs. Erskine. Johnstone Castle (twelve miles from +Glasgow), where Chopin was also received as a guest, belonged to +the Houston family, friends of the Erskines and Stirlings, but, I +think, no relations. The death of Ludovic Houston, Esq., in 1862, +is alluded to in one of Thomas Erskine's letters. + +But Chopin, while in Scotland, was not always staying in manors +and castles, now and then he was housed less aristocratically, +though perhaps not less, nay, probably more, comfortably. Such +humbler quarters he found at the house (10, Warriston Crescent) +of Dr. Lyschinski, a Pole by birth, and a refugee, who after +studying medicine in Edinburgh practised it there until a few +years ago when he removed to London. For the information which I +am now going to give I am indebted to Mrs. Lyschinski. Among +those who received Chopin at the Edinburgh railway station was +Dr. Lyschinski who addressed him in Polish. The composer put up +at an hotel (perhaps the London Hotel, in St. Andrew's Square). +Next day--Miss Paterson, a neighbour, having placed her carriage +at Chopin's disposal--Mrs. Lyschinski took him out for a drive. +He soon got tired of the hotel, in fact, felt it quite +unbearable, and told the doctor, to whom he had at once taken a +fancy, that he could not do without him. Whereupon the latter +said: "Well, then you must come to my house; and as it is rather +small, you must be satisfied with the nursery." So the children +were sent to a friend's house, and the nursery was made into a +bedroom for the illustrious guest, an adjoining bedroom being +prepared for his servant Daniel, an Irish-Frenchman. Unless the +above refers to Chopin's return to Scotland in September, after +his visit to Manchester, Mrs. Lyschinski confuses her +reminiscences a little, for, as the last-quoted letter proves, he +tarried, on his first arrival, only one day in Edinburgh. But the +facts, even if not exactly grouped, are, no doubt, otherwise +correctly remembered. Chopin rose very late in the day, and in +the morning had soup in his room. His hair was curled daily by +the servant, and his shirts, boots, and other things were of the +neatest--in fact, he was a petit-maitre, more vain in dress than +any woman. The maid-servants found themselves strictly excluded +from his room, however indispensable their presence might seem to +them in the interests of neatness and cleanliness. Chopin was so +weak that Dr. Lyschinski had always to carry him upstairs. After +dinner he sat before the fire, often shivering with cold. Then +all on a sudden he would cross the room, seat himself at the +piano, and play himself warm. He could bear neither dictation nor +contradiction: if you told him to go to the fire, he would go to +the other end of the room where the piano stood. Indeed, he was +imperious. He once asked Mrs. Lyschinski to sing. She declined. +At this he was astonished and quite angry. "Doctor, would you +take it amiss if I were to force your wife to do it?" The idea of +a woman refusing him anything seemed to him preposterous. Mrs. +Lyschinski says that Chopin was gallant to all ladies alike, but +thinks that he had no heart. She used to tease him about women, +saying, for instance, that Miss Stirling was a particular friend +of his. He replied that he had no particular friends among the +ladies, that he gave to all an equal share of his attention. "Not +even George Sand then," she asked, "is a particular friend?" "Not +even George Sand," was the reply. Had Mrs. Lyschinski known the +real state of matters between Chopin and George Sand, she +certainly would not have asked that question. He, however, by no +means always avoided the mention of his faithless love. Speaking +one day of his thinness he remarked that she used to call him mon +cher cadavre. Miss Stirling was much about Chopin. I may mention +by the way that Mrs. Lyschinski told me that Miss Stirling was +much older than Chopin, and her love for him, although +passionate, purely Platonic. Princess Czartoryska arrived some +time after Chopin, and accompanied him, my informant says, +wherever he went. But, as we see from one of his letters, her +stay in Scotland was short. The composer was always on the move. +Indeed, Dr. Lyschinski's was hardly more than a pied-a-terre for +him: he never stayed long, and generally came unexpectedly. A +number of places where Chopin was a guest are mentioned in his +letters. Mrs. Lyschinski thinks that he also visited the Duke of +Hamilton. + +At the end of August and at the end of September and beginning of +October, this idling was interrupted by serious work, and a kind +of work which, at no time to his liking, was particularly irksome +in the then state of his health. + +The Manchester Guardian of August 19, 1848, contained the +following advertisement:-- + + Concert Hall.--The Directors beg to announce to the + Subscribers that a Dress Concert has been fixed for Monday, + the 28th of August next, for which the following performers + have already been engaged: Signora Alboni, Signora Corbari, + Signer Salvi, and Mons. Chopin. + +From an account of the concert in the same paper (August 30), the +writer of which declares the concert to have been the most +brilliant of the season, we learn that the orchestra, led by Mr. +Seymour, played three overtures--Weber's Ruler of the Spirits, +Beethoven's Prometheus, and Rossini's Barbiere di Siviglia; and +that Chopin performed an Andante and Scherzo, and a Nocturne, +Etudes, and the Berceuse of his own composition. With regard to +Chopin we read in this critique:-- + + With the more instrumental portion of the audience, Mons. + Chopin was perhaps an equal feature of interest with Alboni, + as he was preceded by a high musical reputation. Chopin + appears to be about thirty years of age. [FOOTNOTE: Chopin, + says Mr. Hipkins, had a young look, although much wasted.] He + is very spare in frame, and there is an almost painful air of + feebleness in his appearance and gait. This vanishes when he + seats himself at the instrument, in which he seems for the + time perfectly absorbed. Chopin's music and style of + performance partake of the same leading characteristics-- + refinement rather than vigour--subtle elaboration rather than + simple comprehensiveness in composition--an elegant rapid + touch, rather than a firm, nervous grasp of the instrument. + Both his compositions and playing appear to be the perfection + of chamber music--fit to be associated with the most refined + instrumental quartet and quartet playing--but wanting breadth + and obviousness of design, and executive power, to be + effective in a large hall. These are our impressions from + hearing Mons. Chopin for the first time on Monday evening. He + was warmly applauded by many of the most accomplished amateurs + in the town, and he received an encore in his last piece, a + compliment thus accorded to each of the four London artists + who appeared at the concert. + +From the criticism of the Manchester Courier and Lancashire +General Advertiser (August 30, 1848), I cull the following +remarks:-- + + We can, with great sincerity, say that he delighted us. Though + we did not discover in him the vigour of Thalberg, yet there + was a chasteness and purity of style, a correctness of + manipulation combined with a brilliance of touch, and delicate + sensibility of expression which we never heard excelled. He + played in the second act [part]...and elicited a rapturous + encore. He did not, however, repeat any part, but treated the + audience with what appeared to be a fragment of great beauty. + +Mr. Osborne, in a paper on Chopin read before the London Musical +Association, says:-- + + On a tour which I made with Alboni, I met Chopin at + Manchester, where he was announced to play at a grand concert + without orchestra. He begged I should not be present. "You, my + dear Osborne," said he, "who have heard me so often in Paris, + remain with those impressions. My playing will be lost in such + a large room, and my compositions will be ineffective. Your + presence at the concert will be painful both to you and me." + +Mr. Osborne told his audience further that notwithstanding this +appeal he was present in a remote corner of the room. I may add +that although he could absent himself from the hall for the time +Chopin was playing, he could not absent himself from the concert, +for, as the papers tell us, he acted as accompanist. The +impression which Chopin's performance on this occasion left upon +his friend's mind is described in the following few sad words: +"His playing was too delicate to create enthusiasm, and I felt +truly sorry for him." + +Soon after the concert Chopin returned to Scotland. How many days +(between August 23 and September 7?) he remained in Manchester, I +do not know, but it is well known that while staying there he was +the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Salis Schwabe. To Mrs. Salis Schwabe, a +lady noted for her benevolence, Thomas Erskine addressed the +letter concerning Miss Jane Stirling a part of which I quoted on +one of the foregoing pages of this chapter. The reader remembers, +of course, Chopin's prospective allusions to the Manchester +concert in his letters to Franchomme (August 6, 1848) and +Grzymala (July 18, 1848). + +About a month after the concert at which he played in Manchester, +Chopin gave one of his own in Glasgow. Here is what may be read +in the Courier of September 28 and previous days:-- + + Monsieur Chopin has the honour to announce that his Matinee + musicals will take place on Wednesday, the 27th September, in + the Merchant Hall, Glasgow. To commence at half-past two + o'clock. Tickets, limited in number, half-a-guinea each, and + full particulars to be had from Mr. Muir Wood, 42, Buchanan + Street. + +The net profits of this concert are said to have been 60 pounds. +Mr. Muir Wood relates:-- + + I was then a comparative stranger in Glasgow, but I was told + that so many private carriages had never been seen at any + concert in the town. In fact, it was the county people who + turned out, with a few of the elite of Glasgow society. Being + a morning concert, the citizens were busy otherwise, and half- + a-guinea was considered too high a sum for their wives and + daughters. + +No doubt Chopin's playing and compositions must have been to the +good Glasgow citizens of that day what caviare is to the general. +In fact, Scotland, as regards music, had at that period not yet +emerged from its state of primitive savagery. But if we may +believe the learned critic in the Glasgow Courier, Chopin's +matinee was numerously attended, and the audience, which +consisted of "the beauty and fashion, indeed of the very elite of +the West-end," thoroughly enjoyed the playing of the concert- +giver and the singing of Madame Adelasio de Margueritte who +assisted him. I think the reader will be interested by the +following specimen of criticism for more than one reason:-- + + The performance was certainly of the highest order in point of + musical attainment and artistic skill, and was completely + successful in interesting and delighting everyone present for + an hour and a half. Visited as we now are by the highest + musical talent, by this great player and the other eminent + composer, it must be difficult for each successive candidate + for our patronage and applause to produce in sufficient + quantity that essential element to success--novelty; but M. + Chopin has proved satisfactorily that it is not easy to + estimate the capabilities of the instrument he handles with so + much grace and ingenuity, or limit the skill and power whose + magic touch makes it pour forth its sublime strains to + electrify and delight anew the astonished listener. M. + Chopin's treatment of the pianoforte is peculiar to himself, + and his style blends in beautiful harmony and perfection the + elegant, the picturesque, and the humorous. We cannot at + present descend to practical illustrations in proof of these + observations, but feel persuaded we only express the feelings + of all who attended yesterday when we say that the pianist + produces, without extraordinary effort, not only pleasing, but + new musical delights. Madame Adelasio has a beautiful voice, + which she manages with great ease and occasional brilliancy. + She sang several airs with much taste and great acceptance. We + may mention that all the pieces were rapturously applauded, + and the audience separated with expressions of the highest + gratification. + +Clearly this critic was not without judgment, although his +literary taste and skill leave much to be desired. That there +were real Chopin enthusiasts in Glasgow is proved by an effusion, +full of praise and admiration, which the editor received from a +correspondent and inserted on September 30, two days after the +above criticism. But, without indulging our curiosity further, we +will now take our leave of Glasgow and Glasgow critics. + +On October 4, Chopin gave an evening concert in Edinburgh. Here +is the programme:-- + + + HOPETOUN ROOMS, QUEEN STREET. + MONSIEUR CHOPIN'S SOIREE MUSICALE. + + Programme. + + 1. Andante et Impromptu. + 2. Etudes. + 3. Nocturne et Berceuse. + 4. Grande Valse Brillante. + 5. Andante precede d'un Largo. + 6. Preludes, Ballade, Mazurkas et Valses. + + To commence at half-past eight o'clock. Tickets, + limited to number, half-a-guinea each. To be had, &c. + + +Mrs. Lyschinski told me that this concert was chiefly attended by +the nobility. Half-a-guinea had never been charged for admission +to a concert (which is probably overstating the case), and Chopin +was little known. Miss Stirling, who was afraid the hall might +not be filled, bought fifty pounds' worth of tickets. The piano +on which Chopin played (one sent by Broadwood, and used in +Glasgow as well as in Edinburgh) was afterwards sold for 30 +pounds above the price. Thus, at any rate, runs the legend. + +In the Edinburgh Courant, which contained on September 30 and on +other days an advertisement similar to the Glasgow one (with the +addition of a programme, consisting, however, only of the 1st, +2nd, 3rd, and 6th items of the one above given), there appeared +on October 7, 1848, a notice of the concert, a part of which may +find a place here:-- + + This talented pianist gratified his admirers by a performance + on Wednesday evening in the Hopetoun Rooms, where a select and + highly fashionable audience assembled to welcome him on his + first appearance in Edinburgh...Chopin's compositions have + been too long before the musical portion of Europe, and have + been too highly appreciated to require any comment, further + than that they are among the best specimens of classical + excellence in pianoforte music. Of his execution we need say + nothing further than that it is the most finished we have ever + heard. He has neither the ponderosity nor the digital power of + a Mendelssohn, a Thalberg, or Liszt; consequently his + execution would appear less effective in a large room; but as + a chamber pianist he stands unrivalled. Notwithstanding the + amount of musical entertainment already afforded the Edinburgh + public this season, the rooms were filled with an audience + who, by their judicious and well-timed applause, testified + their appreciation of the high talent of Monsieur Chopin. + +An Edinburgh correspondent of the Musical World, who signs +himself "M.," confirms (October 14, 1848) the statements of the +critic of the Courant. From this communication we learn that one +of the etudes played was in F minor (probably No. 2 of Op. 25, +although there are two others in the same key--No. 9 of Op. 10 +and No. 1 of Trois Etudes without opus number). The problematical +Andante precede d'un Largo was, no doubt, a juxtaposition of two +of his shorter compositions, this title being chosen to vary the +programme. From Mr. Hipkins I learned that at this Chopin played +frequently the slow movement from his Op. 22, Grande Polonaise +preceded d'un Andante Spianato. + +And now we will let Chopin again speak for himself. + +Chopin to Grzymala; Keir, Perthshire, Sunday, October 1, 1848:-- + + No post, no railway, also no carriage (not even for taking the + air), no boat, not a dog to be seen--all desolate, desolate! + My dearest friend,--Just at the moment when I had already + begun to write to you on another sheet, your and my sister's + letters were brought to me. Heaven be thanked that cholera has + hitherto spared them. But why do you not write a word about + yourself? and yet to you corresponding is much easier than to + me; for I have been writing to you daily for a whole week + already--namely, since my return from northern Scotland + (Strachur [FOOTNOTE: A small town, eight miles south of + Inveraray, in Argyleshire.])--without getting done. I know, + indeed, that you have an invalid in Versailles; for Rozaria + [FOOTNOTE: Mdlle. de Rozieres.] wrote to me that you had paid + her a visit, and then in great haste had gone to an invalid in + Versailles. I hope it is not your grandfather or grandchild, + or one of your dear neighbours, the Rochanskis. Here one hears + as yet nothing of cholera, but in London it appears already + here and there. + + With your letter, which I received at Johnstone Castle, and in + which you informed me that you had been with Soli [FOOTNOTE: I + suppose Solange, Madame Clesinger, George Sand's daughter.] at + the Gymnase Theatre, there came at the same time one from + Edinburgh, from Prince Alexander Czartoryski, with the news + that he and his wife had arrived, and that he would be very + glad to see me. Although tired, I at once took the train and + found them still in Edinburgh. Princess Marcelline was as kind + as she always is to me. The intercourse with them reanimated + me, and gave me strength to play in Glasgow, where the whole + haute volee had gathered for my concert. The weather was + magnificent, and the princely family had even come from + Edinburgh with little Marcel, who is growing nicely, and sings + already my compositions, yes, and even corrects when he hears + someone making mistakes. It was on Wednesday afternoon, at 3 + o'clock, and the princely couple did me the kindness to accept + along with me an invitation to a dinner at Johnstone Castle + (by the way, twelve English miles from Glasgow) after the + concert; in this way, then, I passed the whole day with them. + Lord and Lady Murray and the old Lord Torphichen (who had come + a distance of a hundred miles) drove also thither with us, and + the next day all were quite charmed with the amiability of + Princess Marcelline. The princely pair returned to Glasgow, + whence, after a visit to Loch Tamen, [FOOTNOTE: There is no + such loch. Could it possibly be Loch Lomond? Loch Leven seems + to me less likely.] they wished to go back at once to London, + and thence to the Continent. The Prince spoke of you with + sincere kindness. I can very well imagine what your noble soul + must suffer when you see what is now going on in Paris. You + cannot think how I revived, how lively I became that day in + the society of such dear countrymen; but to-day I am again + very depressed. O, this mist! Although, from the window at + which I write, I have before me the most beautiful view of + Stirling Castle--it is the same, as you will remember, which + delighted Robert Bruce--and mountains, lochs, a charming park, + in one word, the view most celebrated for its beauty in + Scotland; I see nothing, except now and then, when the mist + gives way to the sun. The owner of this mansion, whose name is + Stirling, is the uncle of our Scotch ladies, and the head of + the family. I made his acquaintance in London; he is a rich + bachelor, and has a very beautiful picture-gallery, which is + especially distinguished by works of Murillo and other Spanish + masters. He has lately even published a very interesting book + on the Spanish school; he has travelled much (visited also the + East), and is a very intelligent man. All Englishmen of note + who come to Scotland go to him; he has always an open house, + so that there are daily on an average about thirty people at + dinner with him. In this way one has opportunities of seeing + the most different English beauties; lately there was, for + instance, for some days a Mrs. Boston here, but she is already + gone. As to dukes, earls, and lords, one now sees here more of + them than ever, because the Queen has sojourned in Scotland. + Yesterday she passed close by us by rail, as she had to be at + a certain time in London, and there was such a fog on the sea + that she preferred to return from Aberdeen to London by land, + and not (as she had come) by boat--to the great regret of the + navy, which had prepared various festivities for her. It is + said that her consort, Prince Albert, was very much pleased at + this, as he becomes always sea-sick on board, while the Queen, + like a true ruler of the sea, is not inconvenienced by a + voyage. I shall soon have forgotten Polish, speak French like + an Englishman, and English like a Scotchman--in short, like + Jawurek, jumble together five languages. If I do not write to + you a Jeremiad, it is not because you cannot comfort me, but + because you are the only one who knows everything; and if I + once begin to complain, there will be no end to it, and it + will always be in the same key. But it is incorrect when I + say: "always in the same key," for things are getting worse + with me every day. I feel weaker; I cannot compose, not for + want of inclination, but for physical reasons, and because I + am every week in a different place. But what shall I do? At + least, I shall save something for the winter. Invitations I + have in plenty, and cannot even go where I should like, for + instance, to the Duchess of Argyll and Lady Belhaven, as the + season is already too far advanced and too dangerous for my + enfeebled health. I am all the morning unable to do anything, + and when I have dressed myself I feel again so fatigued that I + must rest. After dinner I must sit two hours with the + gentlemen, hear what they say, and see how much they drink. + Meanwhile I feel bored to death. I think of something totally + different, and then go to the drawing-room, where I require + all my strength to revive, for all are anxious to hear me. + Afterwards my good Daniel carries me upstairs to my bedroom, + undresses me, puts me to bed, leaves the candle burning, and + then I am again at liberty to sigh and to dream until morning, + to pass the next day just like the preceding one. When I have + settled down in some measure, I must continue my travels, for + my Scotch ladies do not allow me--to be sure with the best + intentions in the world--any rest. They fetch me to introduce + me to all their relations; they will at last kill me with + their kindness, and I must bear it all out of pure amiability.-- + + Your + + FREDERICK. + + +Chopin to Gutmann; Calder House, October 16, 1848 (twelve miles +from Edinburgh):-- + + Very dear friend,--What are you doing? How are your people, + your country, your art? you are unjustly severe upon me, for + you know my infirmity in the matter of letter-writing. I have + thought of you much, and on reading the other day that there + was a disturbance at Heidelberg, I tried some thirty rough + draughts [brouillons] in order to send you a line, the end of + them all being to be thrown into the fire. This page will + perhaps reach you and find you happy with your good mother. + Since I had news from you, I have been in Scotland, in this + beautiful country of Walter Scott, with so many memories of + Mary Stuart, the two Charleses, &c. I drag myself from one + lord to another, from one duke to another. I find everywhere, + besides extreme kindness and hospitality without limit, + excellent pianos, beautiful pictures, choice libraries; there + are also hunts, horses, dogs, interminable dinners, and + cellars of which I avail myself less. It is impossible to form + an idea of all the elaborate comfort which reigns in the + English mansions. The Queen having passed this year some weeks + in Scotland, all England followed her, partly out of courtesy, + partly because of the impossibility of going to the disturbed + Continent. Everything here has become doubly splendid, except + the sun, which has done nothing more than usual; moreover, the + winter advances, and I do not know yet what will become of me. + I am writing to you from Lord Torphichen's. In this mansion, + above my apartment, John Knox, the Scotch reformer, dispensed + for the first time the Sacrament. Everything here furnishes + matter for the imagination--a park with hundred-year-old + trees, precipices, walls of the castle in ruins, endless + passages with numberless old ancestors--there is even a + certain Red-cowl which walks there at midnight. I walk there + my incertitude. [II y a meme un certain bonnet rouge, qui s'y + promene a minuit. J'y promene mon incertitude.] + + Cholera is coming; there is fog and spleen in London, and no + president in Paris. It does not matter where I go to cough and + suffocate, I shall always love you. Present my respects to + your mother, and all my wishes for the happiness of you all. + Write me a line to the address: Dr. Lishinsky, [FOOTNOTE: The + letter I shall next place before the reader is addressed by + Chopin to "Dr. Lishinski." In an Edinburgh medical directory + the name appeared as Lyszynski.] 10, Warriston Crescent, + Edinburgh, Scotland.--Yours, with all my heart, + + + CHOPIN. + + P.S.--I have played in Edinburgh; the nobility of the + neighbourhood came to hear me; people say the thing went off + well--a little success and money. There were this year in + Scotland Lind, Grisi, Alboni, Mario, Salvi--everybody. + +From Chopin's letters may be gathered that he arrived once more +in London at the end of October or beginning of November. + + +Chopin to Dr. Lyschinski; London, November 3, 1848:-- + + I received yesterday your kind words with the letter from + Heidelberg. I am as perplexed here as when I was with you, and + have the same love in my heart for you as when I was with you. + My respects to your wife and your neighbours. May God bless + you! + + I embrace you cordially. I have seen the Princess + [Czartoryska]; they were inquiring about you most kindly. + + My present abode is 4, St. James's Place. If anything should + come for me, please send it to that address. + + 3rd November, 1848. + + Pray send the enclosed note to Miss Stirling, who, no doubt, + is still at Barnton. + + [FOOTNOTE: In this case, as when writing to Woyciechowski, + Matuszynski, Fontana, Franchomme and Gutmann, Chopin uses in + addressing his correspondent, the pronoun of the second person + singular. Here I may also mention the curious monogram on his + seal: three C's in the form of horns (with mouthpieces and + bells) intertwined.] + +The following letter shows in what state of mind and body Chopin +was at the time. + +Chopin to Grzymala; London, October [should be November] 17-18, +1848:-- + + My dearest friend,--For the last eighteen days, that is, since + my arrival in London, I have been ill, and had such a severe + cold in my head (with headache, difficult breathing, and all + my bad symptoms) that I did not get out of doors at all. The + physician visits me daily (a homoeopathist of the name of + Mallan, the same whom my Scotch ladies have and who has here a + great reputation, and is married to a niece of Lady + Gainsborough). He has succeeded in restoring me so far that + yesterday I was able to take part in the Polish Concert and + Ball; I went, however, at once home, after I had gone through + my task. The whole night I could not sleep, as I suffered, + besides cough and asthma, from very violent headache. As yet + the mist has not been very bad, so that, in order to breathe a + little fresh air, I can open the windows of my apartments + notwithstanding the keen cold. I live at No. 4, St. James's + Street, see almost every day the excellent Szulczewski, + Broadwood, Mrs. Erskine, who followed me hither with Mr. + Stirling, and especially Prince Alexander [Czartoryski] and + his wife. + + [FOOTNOTE: Charles Francis Szulczewski, son of Charles + Szulczewski, Receiver General for the District of Orlow, born + on January 18, 1814, was educated at the Military School at + Kalisz, served during the War of 1831 in the Corps of + Artillery under General Bem, obtained the Cross of Honour + (virtuti militari) for distinguishing himself at Ostrolenka, + passed the first years of his refugee life in France, and in + 1842 took up his residence in London, where, in 1845, he + became Secretary of the Literary Association of the Friends of + Poland. He was promoted for his services to the rank of Major + in the Polish Legion, which was formed in Turkey under the + command of Ladislas Zamoyski, and after the treaty of Paris + (1856) the English Government appointed him to a post in the + War Office. Major Szulczewski, who died on October 18, 1884, + was an ardent patriot, highly esteemed not only by his + countrymen, but also by all others who came in contact with + him, numbering among his friends the late Lord Dudley Stuart + and the late Earl of Harrowby.] + + Address your letters, please, to Szulczewski. I cannot yet + come to Paris, but I am always considering what is to be done + to return there. Here in these apartments, which for any + healthy man would be good, I cannot remain, although they are + beautifully situated and not dear (four and a half guineas a + week, inclusive of bed, coals, &c.); they are near Lord + Stuart's, [FOOTNOTE: Lord Dudley Cuotts Stuart, a staunch and + generous friend of the Poles.] who has just left me. This + worthy gentleman came to inquire how I felt after last night's + concert. Probably I shall take up my quarters with him, + because he has much larger rooms, in which I can breathe more + freely. En tout cas--inquire, please, whether there are not + somewhere on the Boulevard, in the neighbourhood of the Rue de + la Paix or Rue Royale, apartments to be had on the first etage + with windows towards the south; or, for aught I care, in the + Rue des Mathurin, but not in the Rue Godot or other gloomy, + narrow streets; at any rate, there must be included a room for + the servant. Perhaps Franck's old quarters, which were above + mine, at the excellent Madame Etienne's, in the Square No. 9 + (Cite d'Orleans), are unoccupied; for I know from experience + that I cannot keep on my old ones during the winter. If there + were only on the same story a room for the servant, I should + go again and live with Madame Etienne, but I should not like + to let my Daniel go away, as, should I at any time wish or be + able to return to England, he will be acquainted with + everything. + + Why I bother you with all this I don't know myself; but I must + think of myself, and, therefore, I beg of you, assist me in + this. I have never cursed anyone, but now I am so weary of + life that I am near cursing Lucrezia! [FOOTNOTE: George Sand. + This allusion after what has been said in a previous chapter + about her novel Lucrezia Floriani needs no further + explanation.] But she suffers too, and suffers more because + she grows daily older in wickedness. What a pity about Soli! + [FOOTNOTE: I suppose Solange, Madame Clesinger, George Sand's + daughter.] Alas! everything is going wrong in this world. + Think only that Arago with the eagle on his breast now + represents France!!! Louis Blanc attracts here nobody's + attention. The deputation of the national guard drove + Caussidier out of the Hotel de la Sablonniere (Leicester + Square) from the table d'hote with the exclamation: "Vous + n'etes pas francais!" + + Should you find apartments, let me know at once; but do not + give up the old ones till then.--Your + + +FREDERICK. + +The Polish Ball and Concert alluded to in the above letter +deserves our attention, for on that occasion Chopin was heard for +the last time in public, indeed, his performance there may be +truly called the swan's song. + +The following is an advertisement which appeared in the DAILY +NEWS of November 1, 1848:-- + + Grand Polish Ball and Concert at Guildhall, under Royal and + distinguished patronage, and on a scale of more than usual + magnificence, will take place on Thursday, the 16th of + November, by permission of the Lord Mayor and Corporation of + the City of London; particulars of which will be shortly + announced to the public. + + JAMES R. CARR, HONORARY SECRETARY. + +The information given in this advertisement is supplemented in +one of November 15:-- + + The magnificent decorations used on the Lord Mayor's day are, + by permission, preserved. The concert will comprise the most + eminent vocalists. Tickets (refreshments included), for a lady + and gentleman, 21/-; for a gentleman, 15/-; for a lady, 10/6; + to be had of, &c. + +On the 17th of November the TIMES had, of course, an account of +the festivity of the preceding night:-- + + The patrons and patronesses of this annual or rather perennial + demonstration in favour of foreign claims on domestic charity + assembled last night at Guildhall much in the same way as they + assembled last year and on previous occasions, though + certainly not in such numbers, nor in such quality as some + years ago. The great hall was illuminated and decorated as at + the Lord Mayor's banquet. The appearance was brilliant without + being particularly lively. + +Then the dancing, Mr. Adams' excellent band, the refreshment +rooms, a few noble Lords, the Lord Mayor, and some of the civic +authorities (who "diversified the plain misters and mistresses +who formed the majority"), the gay costumes of some Highlanders +and Spaniards, and Lord Dudley (the great lion of the evening)-- +all these are mentioned, but there is not a word about Chopin. Of +the concert we read only that it "was much the same as on former +anniversaries, and at its conclusion many of the company +departed." We learn, moreover, that the net profit was estimated +at less than on former occasions. + +The concert for which Chopin, prompted by his patriotism and +persuaded by his friends, lent his assistance, was evidently a +subordinate part of the proceedings in which few took any +interest. The newspapers either do not notice it at all or but +very briefly; in any case the, great pianist-composer is ignored. +Consequently, very little information is now to be obtained about +this matter. Mr. Lindsay Sloper remembered that Chopin played +among other things the "Etudes" in A flat and F minor (Op. 25, +Nos. 1 & 2). But the best account we have of the concert are some +remarks of one present at it which Mr. Hueffer quotes in his +essay on Chopin in "Musical Studies":-- + + The people, hot from dancing, who went into the room where he + played, were but little in the humour to pay attention, and + anxious to return to their amusement. He was in the last stage + of exhaustion, and the affair resulted in disappointment. His + playing at such a place was a well-intentioned mistake. + +What a sad conclusion to a noble artistic career! + +Although Chopin was longing for Paris in November, he was still +in London in the following January. + +Chopin to Grzymaia; London, Tuesday, January, 1849:-- + + My dearest friend,--To-day I am again lying almost the whole + day, but Thursday I shall leave the to me unbearable London. + The night from Thursday to Friday I shall remain at Boulogne, + and, I hope, go to bed on Friday night in the Place d'Orleans. + To other ailments is now added neuralgia. Please see that the + sheets and pillows are quite dry and cause fir-nuts to be + bought; Madame Etienne is not to spare anything, so that I may + warm myself when I arrive. I have written to Drozewski that he + is to provide carpets and curtains. I shall pay the paper- + hanger Perrichon at once after my arrival. Tell Pleyel to send + me a piano on Thursday; let it be closed and a nosegay of + violets be bought, so that there may be a nice fragrance in + the salon. I should like to find a little poesy in my rooms + and in my bedroom, where I in all probability shall lie down + for a long time. + + Friday evening, then, I expect to be in Paris; a day longer + here, and I shall go mad or die! My Scotch ladies are good, + but so tedious that--God have mercy on us! They have so + attached themselves to me that I cannot easily get rid of + them; only Princess Marcelline [Czartoryska] and her family, + and the excellent Szulczewski keep me alive. Have fires + lighted in all rooms and the dust removed--perhaps I may yet + recover.--Yours ever, + + FREDERICK. + +Mr. Niedzwiecki told me that he travelled with Chopin, who was +accompanied by his servant, from London to Paris. + +[FOOTNOTE: Leonard Niedzwiecki, born in the Kingdom of Poland in +1807, joined the National Army in 1830, distinguished himself on +several battlefields, came in 1832 as a refugee to England, made +there a livelihood by literary work and acted as honorary +librarian of the Literary Association of the friends of Poland, +left about 1845 London for Paris and became Private Secretary, +first to General Count Ladislas Zamoyski, and after the Count's +death to the widowed Countess. M. Niedzwiecki, who is also +librarian of the Polish Library at Paris, now devotes all his +time to historical and philological research.] + +The three had a compartment to themselves. During the journey the +invalid suffered greatly from frequent attacks of breathlessness. +Chopin was delighted when he saw Boulogne. How hateful England +and the English were to him is shown by the following anecdote. +When they had left Boulogne and Chopin had been for some time +looking at the landscape through which they were passing, he said +to Mr. Niedzwiecki: "Do you see the cattle in this meadow? Ca a +plus d'intelligence que les Anglais." Let us not be wroth at poor +Chopin: he was then irritated by his troubles, and always +anything but a cosmopolitan. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + + +DETERIORATION OF CHOPIN'S STATE OF HEALTH.--TWO LETTERS.--REMOVES +FROM THE SQUARE D'ORLEANS TO THE RUE CHAILLOT.--PECUNIARY +CIRCUMSTANCES.--A CURIOUS STORY.--REMINISCENCES AND LETTERS +CONNECTED WITH CHOPIN'S STAY IN THE RUE CHAILLOT.--REMOVES TO NO. +12, PLACE VENDOME.--LAST DAYS, AND DEATH.--FUNERAL.--LAST RESTING- +PLACE.--MONUMENT AND COMMEMORATION IN 1850. + + + +The physical condition in which we saw Chopin in the preceding +chapter was not the outcome of a newly-contracted disease, but +only an acuter phase of that old disease from which he had been +suffering more or less for at least twelve years, and which in +all probability he inherited from his father, who like himself +died of a chest and heart complaint. [FOOTNOTE: My authority for +this statement is Dr. Lyschinski, who must have got his +information either from Chopin himself or his mother. That +Chopin's youngest sister, Emilia, died of consumption in early +life cannot but be regarded as a significant fact.] Long before +Chopin went in search of health to Majorca, ominous symptoms +showed themselves; and when he returned from the south, he was +only partly restored, not cured. + + My attachment [writes George Sand in "Ma Vie"] could work this + miracle of making him a little calm and happy, only because + God had approved of it by preserving a little of his health. + He declined, however, visibly, and I knew no longer what + remedies to employ in order to combat the growing irritation + of his nerves. The death of his friend Dr. Matuszynski, then + that of his own father, [FOOTNOTE: Nicholas Chopin died on May + 3, 1844. About Matuszynski's death see page 158.] were to him + two terrible blows. The Catholic dogma throws on death + horrible terrors. Chopin, instead of dreaming for these pure + souls a better world, had only dreadful visions, and I was + obliged to pass very many nights in a room adjoining his, + always ready to rise a hundred times from my work in order to + drive away the spectres of his sleep and wakefulness. The idea + of his own death appeared to him accompanied with all the + superstitious imaginings of Slavonic poetry. As a Pole he + lived under the nightmare of legends. The phantoms called him, + clasped him, and, instead of seeing his father and his friend + smile at him in the ray of faith, he repelled their fleshless + faces from his own and struggled under the grasp of their icy + hands. + +But a far more terrible blow than the deaths of his friend and +his father was his desertion by George Sand, and we may be sure +that it aggravated his disease a hundredfold. To be convinced of +this we have only to remember his curse on Lucrezia (see the +letter to Grzymala of November 17-18, 1848). + +Jules Janin, in an obituary notice, says of Chopin that "he lived +ten years, ten miraculous years, with a breath ready to fly away" +(il a vecu dix ans, dix ans de miracle, d'un souffle pret a +s'envoler). Another writer remarks: "In seeing him [Chopin] so +puny, thin, and pale, one thought for a. long time that he was +dying, and then one got accustomed to the idea that he could live +always so." Stephen Heller in chatting to me about Chopin +expressed the same idea in different words: "Chopin was often +reported to have died, so often, indeed, that people would not +believe the news when he was really dead." There was in Chopin +for many years, especially since 1837, a constant flux and reflux +of life. To repeat another remark of Heller's: "Now he was ill, +and then again one saw him walking on the boulevards in a thin +coat." A married sister of Gutmann's remembers that Chopin had +already, in 1843-4, to be carried upstairs, when he visited her +mother, who in that year was staying with her children in Paris; +to walk upstairs, even with assistance, would have been +impossible to him. + + For a long time [writes M. Charles Gavard] Chopin had been, + moving about with difficulty, and only went out to have + himself carried to a few faithful friends. He visited them by + no means in order that they might share his misery, on the + contrary, he seemed even to forget his troubles, and at sight + of the family life, and in the midst of the demonstrations of + love which he called forth from everyone, he found new impulse + and new strength to live. + + [FOOTNOTE: In a manuscript now before me, containing + reminiscences of the last months of Chopin's life. Karasowski, + at whose disposal the author placed his manuscript, copies + LITERALY, in the twelfth chapter of his Chopin biography, page + after page, without the customary quotation marks.] + +Edouard Wolff told me that, in the latter part of Chopin's life, +he did not leave the carriage when he had any business at +Schlesinger's music-shop; a shopman came out to the composer, who +kept himself closely wrapped in his blue mantle. The following +reminiscence is, like some of the preceding ones, somewhat vague +with regard to time. Stephen Heller met Chopin shortly before the +latter fell ill. On being asked where he was going, Chopin +replied that he was on his way to buy a new carpet, his old one +having got worn, and then he complained of his legs beginning to +swell. And Stephen Heller saw indeed that there were lumps of +swelling. M. Mathias, describing to me his master as he saw him +in 1847, wrote: "It was a painful spectacle to see Chopin at that +time; he was the picture of exhaustion--the back bent, the head +bowed forward--but always amiable and full of distinction." That +Chopin was no longer in a condition to compose (he published +nothing after October, 1847), and that playing in public was +torture to him and an effort beyond his strength, we have already +seen. But this was not all the misery; he was also unable to +teach. Thus all his sources of income were cut off. From Chopin's +pupil Madame Rubio (nee Vera de Kologrivof) I learned that +latterly when her master was ill and could not give many lessons, +he sent to her several of his pupils, among whom was also Miss +Stirling, who then came to him only once a week instead of +oftener. But after his return from England Chopin was no longer +able to teach at all. [FOOTNOTE: "When languor [son mal de +langueur] took hold of him," relates Henri Blaze de Bury in +"Etudes et Souvenirs," "Chopin gave his lessons, stretched on a +sofa, having within reach a piano of which he made use for +demonstration."] This is what Franchomme told me, and he, in the +last years especially, was intimately acquainted with Chopin, and +knew all about his financial affairs, of which we shall hear more +presently. + +As we saw from the letter quoted at the end of the last chapter, +Chopin took up his quarters in the Square d'Orleans, No. 9. He, +however, did not find there the recovery of his health, of which +he spoke in the concluding sentences. Indeed, Chopin knew +perfectly by that time that the game was lost. Hope showed +herself to him now and then, but very dimly and doubtfully. +Nothing proves the gravity of his illness and his utter +prostration so much as the following letters in which he informs +his Titus, the dearest friend of his youth, that he cannot go and +meet him in Belgium. + +Chopin to Titus Woyciechowski; Paris, August 20, 1849:-- + + Square d'Orleans, Rue St. Lazare, No 9. + + My dearest friend,--Nothing but my being so ill as I really am + could prevent me from leaving Paris and hastening to meet you + at Ostend; but I hope that God will permit you to come to me. + The doctors do not permit me to travel. I drink Pyrenean + waters in my own room. But your presence would do me more good + than any kind of medicine.--Yours unto death, + + FREDERICK. + + + Paris, September 12, 1849. + + My dear Titus,--I had too little time to see about the permit + for your coming here; [FOOTNOTE: As a Russian subject, + Woyciechowski required a special permission from the Rusian + authorities to visit Paris, which was not readily granted to + Poles.] I cannot go after it myself, for the half of my time I + lie in bed. But I have asked one of my friends, who has very + great influence, to undertake this for me; I shall not hear + anything certain, about it till Saturday. I should have liked + to go by rail to the frontier, as far as Valenciennes, to see + you again; but the doctors do not permit me to leave Paris, + because a few days ago I could not get as far as Ville + d'Avraye, near Versailles, where I have a goddaughter. For the + same reason they do not send me this winter to a warmer + climate. It is, then, illness that retains me; were I only + tolerably well I should certainly have visited you in Belgium. + + Perhaps you may manage to come here. I am not egotistic enough + to ask you to come only on my account; for, as I am ill, you + would have with me weary hours and disappointments, but, + perhaps, also hours of comfort, and of beautiful reminiscences + of our youth, and I wish only that our time together may be a + time of happiness.--Yours ever, + + FREDERICK. + + +When Chopin wrote the second of the above letters he was staying +in a part of Paris more suitable for summer quarters than the +Square d'Orleans--namely, in the Rue Chaillot, whither he had +removed in the end of August. + + The Rue Chaillot [writes M. Charles Gavard] was then a very + quiet street, where one thought one's self rather in the + province than in the capital. A large court-yard led to + Chopin's apartments on the second story and with a view of + Paris, which can be seen from the height of Chaillot. + +The friends who found these apartments for the invalid composer +made him believe that the rent was only 200 francs. But in +reality it was 400 francs, and a Russian lady, Countess +Obreskoff, [FOOTNOTE: Madame Rubio, differing in this one +particular from Franchomme, said that Chopin paid 100 francs and +Countess Obreskoff 200.] paid one half of it. When Chopin +expressed surprise at the lowness of the rent, he was told that +lodgings were cheap in summer. + +This last story prompts me to say a few words about Chopin's +pecuniary circumstances, and naturally leads me to another story, +one more like romance than reality. Chopin was a bad manager, or +rather he was no manager at all. He spent inconsiderately, and +neglecting to adapt his expenditure to his income, he was again +and again under the necessity of adapting his income to his +expenditure. Hence those borrowings of money from friends, those +higglings with and dunnings of publishers, in short, all those +meannesses which were unworthy of so distinguished an artist, and +irreconcilable with his character of grand seigneur. Chopin's +income was more than sufficient to provide him with all +reasonable comforts; but he spent money like a giddy-headed, +capricious woman, and unfortunately for him had not a fond father +or husband to pay the debts thus incurred. Knowing in what an +unsatisfactory state his financial affairs were when he was +earning money by teaching and publishing, we can have no +difficulty in imagining into what straits he must have been +driven by the absolute cessation of work and the consequent +cessation of income. The little he had saved in England and +Scotland was soon gone, gone unawares; indeed, the discovery of +the fact came to him as a surprise. What was to be done? +Franchomme, his right hand, and his head too, in business and +money matters--and now, of course, more than ever--was at his +wits' end. He discussed the disquieting, threatening problem with +some friends of Chopin, and through one of them the composer's +destitution came to the knowledge of Miss Stirling. She cut the +Gordian knot by sending her master 25,000 francs. [FOOTNOTE: M. +Charles Gavard says 20,000 francs.] This noble gift, however; did +not at once reach the hands of Chopin. When Franchomme, who knew +what had been done, visited Chopin a few days afterwards, the +invalid lamented as on previous occasions his impecuniosity, and +in answer to the questions of his astonished friend stated that +he had received nothing. The enquiries which were forthwith set +on foot led to the envelope with the precious enclosure being +found untouched in the clock of the portiere, who intentionally +or unintentionally had omitted to deliver it. The story is told +in various ways, the above is the skeleton of apparently solid +facts. I will now make the reader acquainted with the hitherto +unpublished account of Madame Rubio, who declared solemnly that +her version was correct in every detail. Franchomme's version, as +given in Madame Audley's book on Chopin, differs in several +points from that of Madame Rubio; I shall, therefore, reproduce +it for comparison in a foot-note. + +One day in 1849 Franchomme came to Madame Rubio, and said that +something must be done to get money for Chopin. Madame Rubio +thereupon went to Miss Stirling to acquaint her with the state of +matters. When Miss Stirling heard of Chopin's want of money, she +was amazed, and told her visitor that some time before she had, +without the knowledge of anyone, sent Chopin 25,000 francs in a +packet which, in order to conceal the sender, she got addressed +and sealed in a shop. The ladies made enquiries as to the +whereabouts of the money, but without result. A Scotch gentleman, +a novelist (Madame Rubio had forgotten the name at the time she +told the story, but was sure she would recall it, and no doubt +would have done so, had not her sudden death soon after +[FOOTNOTE: In the summer of 1880] intervened), proposed to +consult the clairvoyant Alexandre. [FOOTNOTE: Madame Rubio always +called the clairvoyant thus. See another name farther on.] The +latter on being applied to told them that the packet along with a +letter had been delivered to the portiere who had it then in her +possession, but that he could not say more until he got some of +her hair. One evening when the portiere was bathing Chopin's +feet, he--who had in the meantime been communicated with--talked +to her about her hair and asked her to let him cut off one lock. +She allowed him to do so, and thus Alexandre was enabled to say +that the money was in the clock in the portiere's room. Having +got this information, they went to the woman and asked her for +the packet. She turned pale, and, drawing it out of the clock, +said that at the time she forgot to give it to Chopin, and when +she remembered it afterwards was afraid to do so. The packet of +notes was unopened. Madame Rubio supposed that the portiere +thought Chopin would soon die and that then she might keep the +contents of the parcel. + +[FOOTNOTE: After relating that an intimate friend of Chopin's +told Miss Stirling of the latter's straitened circumstances, +received from her bank-notes to the amount of 25,000 francs, and +handed them enclosed in an envelope to the master's portiere with +the request to deliver the packet immediately to its address, +Madame Audley proceeds with her story (which Franchomme's death +prevented me from verifying) thus: "Here, then, was a gleam of +light in this darkened sky, and the reassured friends breathed +more freely." "But what was my surprise," said M. Franchomme, from +whom I have the story, "when some time after I heard Chopin renew +his complaints and speak of his distress in the most poignant +terms. Becoming impatient, and being quite at a loss as to what +was going on, I said at last to him: "But, my dear friend, you +have no cause to torment yourself, you can wait for the return of +your health, you have money now!"--"I, money!" exclaimed Chopin; +"I have nothing."--"How! and these 25,000 francs which were sent +you lately?"--"25,000 francs? Where are they? Who sent them to +me? I have not received a sou!"--"Ah! really, that is too bad!" +Great commotion among the friends. It was evident that the money +given to the portiere had not arrived at its destination; but how +to be assured of this? and what had become of it? Here was a +curious enough fact, as if a little of the marvellous must always +be mingled with Chopin's affairs. Paris at that time possessed a +much run-after clairvoyant, the celebrated Alexis; they thought +of going to consult him. But to get some information it was +necessary to put him en rapport, directly or indirectly, with the +person suspected. Now this person was, naturally, the portiere. +By ruse or by address they got hold of a little scarf that she +wore round her neck and placed it in the hands of the +clairvoyant. The latter unhesitatingly declared that the 25,000 +francs were behind the looking-glass in the loge. The friend who +had brought them immediately presented himself to claim them; and +our careful portiere, fearing, no doubt, the consequences of a +too prolonged sequestration, drew the packet from behind the +clock and held it out to him, saying: 'Eh bien, la v'la, vot' +lettre!'"] + +Chopin, however, refused to accept the whole of the 25,000 +francs. According to Madame Rubio, he kept only 1,000 francs, +returning the rest to Miss Stirling, whilst Franchomme, on the +other hand, said that his friend kept 12,000 francs. + +During Chopin's short stay in the Rue Chaillot, M. Charles +Gavard, then a very young man, in fact, a youth, spent much of +his time with the suffering composer:-- + + The invalid [he writes] avoided everything that could make me + sad, and, to shorten the hours which we passed together, + generally begged me to take a book out of his library and to + read to him. For the most part he chose some pages out of + Voltaire's Dictionnaire Philosophique. He valued very highly + the finished form of that clear and concise language, and that + so sure judgment on questions of taste. Thus, for instance, I + remember that the article on taste was one of the last I read + to him. + +What M. Gavard says of how slowly, in pain, and often in +loneliness, the hours passed for Chopin in the spacious, rooms of +his lodgings in the Rue Chaillot, reminds me of a passage in +Hector Berlioz's admirable article on his friend in the Journal +des Debats (October 27, 1849):-- + + His weakness and his sufferings had become so great that he + could no longer either play the piano or compose; even the + slightest conversation fatigued him in an alarming manner. He + endeavoured generally to make himself understood as far as + possible by signs. Hence the kind of isolation in which he + wished to pass the last months of his life, an isolation which + many people wrongly interpreted--some attributing it to a + scornful pride, others to a melancholic temper, the one as + well as the other equally foreign to the character of this, + charming artist. + +During his stay in the Rue Chaillot Chopin wrote the following +note and letter to Franchomme:-- + + Dear friend,--Send me a little of your Bordeaux. I must take a + little wine to-day, and have none. How distrustful I am! Wrap + up the bottle, and put your seal on it. For these porters! And + I do not know who will take charge of this commission. + + Yours, with all my heart. + + + Sunday after your departure, September 17, 1849. + + Dear friend,--I am very sorry that you were not well at Le + Mans. Now, however, you are in Touraine, whose sky will have + been more favourable to you. I am less well rather than + better. MM. Cruveille, Louis, and Blache have had a + consultation, and have come to the conclusion that I ought not + to travel, but only to take lodgings in the south and remain + at Paris. After much seeking, very dear apartments, combining + all the desired conditions, have been found in the Place + Vendome, No. 12. Albrecht has now his offices there. Meara + [FOOTNOTE: This is a very common French equivalent for + O'Meara.] has been of great help to me in the search for the + apartments. In short, I shall see you all next winter--well + housed; my sister remains with me, unless she is urgently + required in her own country. I love you, and that is all I can + tell you, for I am overcome with sleep and weakness. My sister + rejoices at the idea of seeing Madame Franchomme again, and I + also do so most sincerely. This shall be as God wills. Kindest + regards to M. and Madame Forest. How much I should like to be + some days with you! Is Madame de Lauvergeat also at the sea- + side? Do not forget to remember me to her, as well as to M. de + Lauvergeat. Embrace your little ones. Write me a line. Yours + ever. My sister embraces Madame Franchomme. + +After a stay of less than six weeks Chopin removed from the Rue +Chaillot to the apartments in No. 12, Place Vendome, which M. +Albrecht and Dr. O'Meara had succeeded in finding for him. About +this time Moscheles came to Paris. Of course he did not fail to +inquire after his brother-artist and call at his house. What +Moscheles heard and thought may be gathered from the following +entry in his diary:-"Unfortunately, we heard of Chopin's critical +condition, made ourselves inquiries, and found all the sad news +confirmed. Since he has been laid up thus, his sister has been +with him. Now the days of the poor fellow are numbered, his +sufferings great. Sad lot!" Yes, Chopin's condition had become so +hopeless that his relations had been communicated with, and his +sister, Louisa Jedrzejewicz, [FOOTNOTE: The same sister who +visited him in 1844, passed on that occasion also some time at +Nohant, and subsequently is mentioned in a letter of Chopin's to +Franchomme.] accompanied by her husband and daughter, had lost no +time in coming from Poland to Paris. For the comfort of her +presence he was, no doubt, thankful. But he missed and deplored +very much during his last illness the absence of his old, trusted +physician, Dr. Molin, who had died shortly after the composer's +return from England. + +The accounts of Chopin's last days--even if we confine ourselves +to those given by eye-witnesses--are a mesh of contradictions +which it is impossible to wholly disentangle. I shall do my best, +but perhaps the most I can hope for is to avoid making confusion +worse confounded. + +In the first days of October Chopin was already in such a +condition that unsupported he could not sit upright. His sister +and Gutmann did not leave him for a minute, Chopin holding a hand +of the latter almost constantly in one of his. By the 15th of +October the voice of the patient had lost its sonority. It was on +this day that took place the episode which has so often and +variously been described. The Countess Delphine Potocka, between +whom and Chopin existed a warm friendship, and who then happened +to be at Nice, was no sooner informed of her friend's fatal +illness than she hastened to Paris. + + When the coming of this dear friend was announced to Chopin + [relates M. Gavard], he exclaimed: "Therefore, then, has God + delayed so long to call me to Him; He wished to vouchsafe me + yet the pleasure of seeing you." Scarcely had she stepped up + to him when he expressed the wish that she should let him hear + once more the voice which he loved so much. When the priest + who prayed beside the bed had granted the request of the dying + man, the piano was moved from the adjoining room, and the + unhappy Countess, mastering her sorrow and suppressing tier + sobs, had to force herself to sing beside the bed where her + friend was exhaling his life. I, for my part, heard nothing; I + do not know what she sang. This scene, this contrast, this + excess of grief had over-powered my-sensibility; I remember + only the moment when the death-rattle of the departing one + interrupted the Countess in the middle of the second piece. + The instrument was quickly removed, and beside the bed + remained only the priest who said the prayers for the dying, + and the kneeling friends around him. + +However, the end was not yet come, indeed, was not to come till +two days after. M. Gavard, in saying that he did not hear what +the Countess Potocka sang, acts wisely, for those who pretended +to have heard it contradict each other outright. Liszt and +Karasowski, who follows him, say that the Countess sang the Hymn +to the Virgin by Stradella, and a Psalm by Marcello; on the other +hand, Gutmann most positively asserted that she sang a Psalm by +Marcello and an air by Pergolesi; whereas Franchomme insisted on +her having sung an air from Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda, and that +only once, and nothing else. As Liszt was not himself present, +and does not give the authority for his statement, we may set it, +and with it Karasowski's, aside; but the two other statements, +made as they were by two musicians who were ear witnesses, leave +us in distressing perplexity with regard to what really took +place, for between them we cannot choose. Chopin, says M. Gavard, +looked forward to his death with serenity. + + Some days after his removal to the Place Vendome, Chopin, + sitting upright and leaning on the arm of a friend, remained + silent for a long time and seemed lost in deep meditation. + Suddenly he broke the silence with the words: "Now my death- + struggle begins" [Maintenant j'entre en agonie]. The + physician, who was feeling his pulse, wished to comfort him + with some commonplace words of hope. But Chopin rejoined with + a superiority which admitted of no reply: "God shows man a + rare favour when He reveals to him the moment of the approach + of death; this grace He shows me. Do not disturb me." + +M. Gavard relates also that on the 16th October Chopin twice +called his friends that were gathered in his apartments around +him. "For everyone he had a touching word; I, for my part, shall +never forget the tender words he spoke to me." Calling to his +side the Princess Czartoryska and Mdlle. Gavard, [FOOTNOTE: A +sister of M. Charles Gavard, the pupil to whom Chopin dedicated +his Berceuse.] he said to them: "You will play together, you will +think of me, and I shall listen to you." And calling to his side +Franchomme, he said to the Princess: "I recommend Franchomme to +you, you will play Mozart together, and I shall listen to you." +[FOOTNOTE: The words are usually reported to have been "Vous +jouerez du Mozart en memoire de moi."] "And," added Franchomme +when he told me this, "the Princess has always been a good friend +to me." + +And George Sand? Chopin, as I have already mentioned, said two +days before his death to Franchomme: "She had said to me that I +would die in no arms but hers" [Elle n'avait dit que je ne +mourrais que dans ses bras]. Well, did she not come and fulfil +her promise, or, at least, take leave of her friend of many +years? Here, again, all is contradiction. M. Gavard writes:-- + + Among the persons who called and were not admitted was a + certain Madame M., who came in the name of George Sand--who + was then much occupied with the impending representation of + one of her dramas--to inquire after Chopin's state of health. + None of us thought it proper to disturb the last moments of + the master by the announcement of this somewhat late + remembrance. + +Gutmann, on the other hand, related that George Sand came to the +landing of the staircase and asked him if she might see Chopin; +but that he advised her strongly against it, as it was likely to +excite the patient too much. Gutmann, however, seems to have been +by no means sure about this part of his recollections, for on two +occasions he told me that it was Madame Clesinger (George Sand's +daughter, Solange) who asked if it was advisable for her mother +to come. Madame Clesinger, I may say in passing, was one of those +in loving attendance on Chopin, and, as Franchomme told me, +present, like himself, when the pianist-composer breathed his +last. From the above we gather, at least, that it is very +uncertain whether Chopin's desire to see George Sand was +frustrated by her heartlessness or the well-meaning interference +of his friends. + +During this illness of Chopin a great many of his friends and +acquaintances, in fact, too many, pressed forward, ready to be of +use, anxious to learn what was passing. Happily for the dying +man's comfort, most of them were not allowed to enter the room in +which he lay. + + In the back room [writes M. Gavard] lay the poor sufferer, + tormented by fits of breathlessness, and only sitting in bed + resting in the arms of a friend could he procure air for his + oppressed lungs. It was Gutmann, the strongest among us, who + knew best how to manage the patient, and who mostly thus + supported him. At the head of his bed sat the Princess + Marcelline Czartoryska: she never left him, guessing his most + secret wishes, nursing him like a sister of mercy with a + serene countenance, which did not betray her deep sorrow. + Other friends gave a helping hand or relieved her, everyone + according to his power; but most of them stayed in the two + adjoining rooms. Everyone had assumed a part; everyone helped + as much as he could: one ran to the doctors, to the + apothecary; another introduced the persons asked for; a third + shut the door on the intruders. To be sure, many who had + anything but free entrance came, and called to take leave of + him just as if he were about to start on a journey. This + anteroom of the dying man, where every one of us hopelessly + waited and watched, was like a guard-house or a camp. + +M. Gavard probably exaggerates the services of the Princess +Czartoryska, but certainly forgets those of the composer's +sister. Liszt, no doubt, comes nearer the truth when he says that +among those who assembled in the salon adjoining Chopin's +bedroom, and in turn came to him and watched his gestures and +looks when he had lost his speech, the Princess Marcelline +Czartoryska was the most assiduous. + + She passed every day a couple of hours with the dying man. She + left him at the last only after having prayed for a long time + beside him who had just then fled from this world of illusions + and sorrows.... + +After a bad night Chopin felt somewhat better on the morning of +the 16th. By several authorities we are informed that on this +day, the day after the Potocka episode, the artist received the +sacrament which a Polish priest gave him in the presence of many +friends. Chopin got worse again in the evening. While the priest +was reading the prayers for the dying, he rested silently and +with his eyes closed upon Gutmann's shoulder; but at the end of +the prayers he opened his eyes wide and said with a loud voice: +"Amen." + +The Polish priest above mentioned was the Abbe Alexander +Jelowicki. Liszt relates that in the absence of the Polish priest +who was formerly Chopin's confessor, the Abbe called on his +countryman when he heard of his condition, although they had not +been on good terms for years. Three times he was sent away by +those about Chopin without seeing him. But when he had succeeded +in informing Chopin of his wish to see him, the artist received +him without delay. After that the Abbe became a daily visitor. +One day Chopin told him that he had not confessed for many years, +he would do so now. When the confession was over and the last +word of the absolution spoken, Chopin embraced his confessor with +both arms a la polonaise, and exclaimed: "Thanks! Thanks! Thanks +to you I shall not die like a pig." That is what Liszt tells us +he had from Abbe Jelowicki's own lips. In the account which the +latter has himself given of how Chopin was induced by him to +receive the sacrament, induced only after much hesitation, he +writes:-- + + Then I experienced an inexpressible joy mixed with an + indescribable anguish. How should I receive this precious soul + so as to give it to God? I fell on my knees, and cried to God + with all the energy of my faith: "You alone receive it, O my + God!" And I held out to Chopin the image of the crucified + Saviour, pressing it firmly in his two hands without saying a + word. Then fell from his eyes big tears. "Do you believe?" I + asked him.--"I believe."--"Do you believe as your mother + taught you?"--"As my mother taught me." And, his eyes fixed on + the image of his Saviour, he confessed while shedding torrents + of tears. Then he received the viaticum and the extreme + unction which he asked for himself. After a moment he desired + that the sacristan should be given twenty times more than was + usually given to him. When I told him that this would be far + too much, he replied: "No, no, this is not too much, for what + I have received is priceless." From this moment, by God's + grace, or rather under the hand of God Himself, he became + quite another, and one might almost say he became a saint. On + the same day began the death-struggle, which lasted four days + and four nights. His patience and resignation to the will of + God did not abandon him up to the last minute.... + +When Chopin's last moments approached he took "nervous cramps" +(this was Gutmann's expression in speaking of the matter), and +the only thing which seemed to soothe him was Gutmann's clasping +his wrists and ankles firmly. Quite near the end Chopin was +induced to drink some wine or water by Gutmann, who supported him +in his arms while holding the glass to his lips. Chopin drank, +and, sinking back, said "Cher ami!" and died. Gutmann preserved +the glass with the marks of Chopin's lips on it till the end of +his life. + +[FOOTNOTE: In B. Stavenow's sketch already more than once alluded +to by me, we read that Chopin, after having wetted his lips with +the water brought him by Gutmann, raised the latter's hand, +kissed it, and with the words "Cher ami!" breathed his last in +the arms of his pupil, whose sorrow was so great that Count +Gryzmala was obliged to lead him out of the room. Liszt's account +is slightly different. "Who is near me?" asked Chopin, with a +scarcely audible voice. He bent his head to kiss the hand of +Gutmann who supported him, giving up his soul in this last proof +of friendship and gratitude. He died as he had lived, loving.] + +M. Gavard describes the closing hours of Chopin's life as +follows:-- + + The whole evening of the 16th passed in litanies; we gave the + responses, but Chopin remained silent. Only from his difficult + breathing could one perceive that he was still alive. That + evening two doctors examined him. One of them, Dr. Cruveille, + took a candle, and, holding it before Chopin's face, which had + become quite black from suffocation, remarked to us that the + senses had already ceased to act. But when he asked Chopin + whether he suffered, we heard, still quite distinctly, the + answer "No longer" [Plus]. This was the last word I heard from + his lips. He died painlessly between three and four in the + morning [of October 17, 1849]. When I saw him some hours + afterwards, the calm of death had given again to his + countenance the grand character which we find in the mould + taken the same day [by Clesinger], and still more in the + simple pencil sketch which was drawn by the hand of a friend, + M. Kwiatkowski. This picture of Chopin is the one I like best. + +Liszt, too, reports that Chopin's face resumed an unwonted youth, +purity, and calm; that his youthful beauty so long eclipsed by +suffering reappeared. Common as the phenomenon is, there can be +nothing more significant, more impressive, more awful, than this +throwing-off in death of the marks of care, hardship, vice, and +disease--the corruption of earthly life; than this return to the +innocence, serenity, and loveliness of a first and better nature; +than this foreshadowing of a higher and more perfect existence. +Chopin's love of flowers was not forgotten by those who had +cherished and admired him now when his soul and body were parted. +"The bed on which he lay," relates Liszt, "the whole room, +disappeared under their varied colours; he seemed to repose in a +garden." It was a Polish custom, which is not quite obsolete even +now, for the dying to choose for themselves the garments in which +they wished to be dressed before being laid in the coffin +(indeed, some people had their last habiliments prepared long +before the approach of their end); and the pious, more especially +of the female sex, affected conventual vestments, men generally +preferring their official attire. That Chopin chose for his grave- +clothes his dress-suit, his official attire, in which he +presented himself to his audiences in concert-hall and salon, +cannot but be regarded as characteristic of the man, and is +perhaps more significant than appears at first sight. But I ought +to have said, it would be if it were true that Chopin really +expressed the wish. M. Kwiatkowski informed me that this was not +so. + +For some weeks after, from the 18th October onwards, the French +press occupied itself a good deal with the deceased musician. +There was not, I think, a single Paris paper of note which did +not bring one or more long articles or short notes regretting the +loss, describing the end, and estimating the man and artist. But +the phenomenal ignorance, exuberance of imagination, and audacity +of statement, manifested by almost every one of the writers of +these articles and notes are sufficient to destroy one's faith in +journalism completely and for ever. Among the offenders were men +of great celebrity, chief among them Theophile Gautier +(Feuilleton de la Presse, November 5, 1849) and Jules Janin +(Feuilleton du Journal des Debuts, October 22, 1849), the +latter's performance being absolutely appalling. Indeed, if we +must adjudge to French journalists the palm for gracefulness and +sprightliness, we cannot withhold it from them for +unconscientiousness. Some of the inventions of journalism, I +suspect, were subsequently accepted as facts, in some cases +perhaps even assimilated as items of their experience, by the +friends of the deceased, and finally found their way into +AUTHENTIC biography. One of these myths is that Chopin expressed +the wish that Mozart's Requiem should be performed at his +funeral. Berlioz, one of the many journalists who wrote at the +time to this effect, adds (Feuilleton du Journal des Debuts, +October 27, 1849) that "His [Chopin's] worthy pupil received this +wish with his last sigh." Unfortunately for Berlioz and this +pretty story, Gutmann told me that Chopin did not express such a +wish; and Franchomme made to me the same statement. must, [I +must, however, not omit to mention here that M. Charles Gavard +says that Chopin drew up the programme of his funeral, and asked +that on that occasion Mozart's Requiem should be performed.] Also +the story about Chopin's wish to be buried beside Bellini is, +according to the latter authority, a baseless invention. This is +also the place to dispose of the question: What was done with +Chopin's MSS.? The reader may know that the composer is said to +have caused all his MSS. to be burnt. Now, this is not true. From +Franchomme I learned that what actually took place was this. +Pleyel asked Chopin what was to be done with the MSS. Chopin +replied that they were to be distributed among his friends, that +none were to be published, and that fragments were to be +destroyed. Of the pianoforte school which Chopin is said to have +had the intention to write, nothing but scraps, if anything, can +have been found. + +M. Gavard pere made the arrangements for the funeral, which, +owing to the extensiveness of the preparations, did not take +place till the 3Oth of October. Ready assistance was given by M. +Daguerry, the curate of the Madeleine, where the funeral service +was to be held; and thanks to him permission was received for the +introduction of female singers into the church, without whom the +performance of Mozart's Requiem would have been an impossibility. + + Numerous equipages [says Eugene Guinot in the Feuilleton du + Siecle of November 4] encumbered last Tuesday the large + avenues of the Madeleine church, and the crowd besieged the + doors of the Temple where one was admitted only on presenting + a letter of invitation. Mourning draperies announced a funeral + ceremony, and in seeing this external pomp, this concourse of + carriages and liveried servants, and this privilege which + permitted only the elect to enter the church, the curious + congregated on the square asked: "Who is the great lord [grand + seigneur] whom they are burying?" As if there were still + grands seigneurs! Within, the gathering was brilliant; the + elite of Parisian society, all the strangers of distinction + which Paris possesses at this moment, were to be found + there... + +Many writers complain of the exclusiveness which seems to have +presided at the sending out of invitations. M. Guinot remarks in +reference to this point: + + His testamentary executors [executrices] organised this + solemnity magnificently. But, be it from premeditation or from + forgetfulness, they completely neglected to invite to the + ceremony most of the representatives of the musical world. + Members of the Institute, celebrated artists, notable writers, + tried in vain to elude the watch-word [consigne] and penetrate + into the church, where the women were in a very great + majority. Some had come from London, Vienna, and Berlin. + +In continuation of my account of the funeral service I shall +quote from a report in the Daily News of November 2, 1849:-- + + The coffin was under a catafalque which stood in the middle of + the area. The semicircular space behind the steps of the altar + was screened by a drapery of black cloth, which being + festooned towards the middle, gave a partial view of the vocal + and instrumental orchestra, disposed not in the usual form of + a gradual ascent from the front to the back, but only on the + level of the floor.... + + The doors of the church were opened at eleven o'clock, and at + noon (the time fixed for the commencement of the funeral + service) the vast area was filled by an assembly of nearly + three thousand persons, all of whom had received special + invitations, as being entitled from rank, from station in the + world of art and literature, or from friendship for the + lamented deceased, to be present on so solemn and melancholy + an occasion. + +A trustworthy account of the whole ceremony, and especially a +clear and full report of the musical part of the service, we find +in a letter from the Paris correspondent of The Musical World +(November 10, 1849). I shall quote some portions of this letter, +accompanying them with elucidatory and supplementary notes:-- + + The ceremony, which took place on Tuesday (the 30th ult.), at + noon, in the church of the Madeleine, was one of the most + imposing we ever remember to have witnessed. The great door of + the church was hung with black curtains, with the initials of + the deceased, "F. C.," emblazoned in silver. On our entry we + found the vast area of the modern Parthenon entirely crowded. + Nave, aisles, galleries, &c., were alive with human beings who + had come to see the last of Frederick Chopin. Many, perhaps, + had never heard of him before....In the space that separates + the nave from the choir, a lofty mausoleum had been erected, + hung with black and silver drapery, with the initials "F.C." + emblazoned on the pall. At noon the service began. The + orchestra and chorus (both from the Conservatoire, with M. + Girard as conductor and the principal singers (Madame Viardot- + Garcia, Madame Castellan, Signor Lablache, and M. Alexis + Dupont)) were placed at the extreme end of the church, a black + drapery concealing them from view. + + [FOOTNOTE: This statement is confirmed by one in the Gazette + musicals, where we read that the members of the Societe des + Concerts "have made themselves the testamentary executors of + this wish"--namely, to have Mozart's Requiem performed. Madame + Audley, misled, I think, by a dubious phrase of Karasowski's, + that has its origin in a by no means dubious phrase of + Liszt's, says that Meyerbeer conducted (dirigeait l'ensemble). + Liszt speaks of the conducting of the funeral procession.] + + When the service commenced the drapery was partially withdrawn + and exposed the male executants to view, concealing the women, + whose presence, being uncanonical, was being felt, not seen. A + solemn march was then struck up by the band, during the + performance of which the coffin containing the body of the + deceased was slowly carried up the middle of the nave...As + soon as the coffin was placed in the mausoleum, Mozart's + Requiem was begun...The march that accompanied the body to the + mausoleum was Chopin's own composition from his first + pianoforte sonata, instrumented for the orchestra by M. Henri + Reber. + + [FOOTNOTE: Op. 35, the first of those then published, but in + reality his second, Op. 4 being the first. Meyerbeer + afterwards expressed to M. Charles Gavard his surprise that he + had not been asked to do the deceased the homage of scoring + the march.] + + During the ceremony M. Lefebure-Wely, organist of the + Madeleine, performed two of Chopin's preludes [FOOTNOTE: Nos. + 4 and 6, in E and B minor] upon the organ...After the service + M. Wely played a voluntary, introducing themes from Chopin's + compositions, while the crowd dispersed with decorous gravity. + The coffin was then carried from the church, all along the + Boulevards, to the cemetery of Pere-Lachaise-a distance of + three miles at least--Meyerbeer and the other chief mourners, + who held the cords, walking on foot, bareheaded. + + [FOOTNOTE: Liszt writes that Meyerbeer and Prince Adam + Czartoryski conducted the funeral procession, and that Prince + Alexander Czartoryski, Delacroix, Franchomme, and Gutmann were + the pall-bearers. Karasowski mentions the same gentlemen as + pall-bearers; Madame Audley, on the other hand, names + Meyerbeer instead of Gutmann. Lastly, Theophile Gautier + reported in the Feuilleton de la Presse of November 5, 1849, + that MM. Meyerbeer, Eugene Delacroix, Franchomme, and Pleyel + held the cords of the pall. The Gazette musicale mentions + Franchomme, Delacroix, Meyerbeer, and Czartoryski.] + + A vast number of carriages followed... + + [FOOTNOTE: "Un grand nombre de voitures de deuil et de + voitures particulieres," we read in the Gazette musicals, "ont + suivi jusqu'au cimetiere de l'Est, dit du Pere-Lachaise, le + pompeux corbillard qui portait le corps du defunt. L'elite des + artistes de Paris lui a servi de cortege. Plusieurs dames, ses + eleves, en grand deuil, ont suivi le convoi, a pied, jusqu'au + champ de repos, ou l'artiste eminent, convaincu, a eu pour + oraisons funebres des regrets muets, profondement sentis, qui + valent mieux que des discours dans lesquels perce toujours une + vanite d'auteur ou d'orateur"] + + At Pere-Lachaise, in one of the most secluded spots, near the + tombs of Habeneck and Marie Milanollo, the coffin was + deposited in a newly-made grave. The friends and admirers took + a last look, ladies in deep mourning threw garlands and + flowers upon the coffin, and then the gravedigger resumed his + work...The ceremony was performed in silence. + +One affecting circumstance escaped the attention of our otherwise +so acute observer--namely, the sprinkling on the coffin, when the +latter had been lowered into the grave, of the Polish earth +which, enclosed in a finely-wrought silver cup, loving friends +had nearly nineteen years before, in the village of Wola, near +Warsaw, given to the departing young and hopeful musician who was +never to see his country again. + +Chopin's surroundings at Pere-Lachaise are most congenial. +Indeed, the neighbourhood forms quite a galaxy of musical talent- +-close by lie Cherubini, Bellini, Gretry, Boieldieu, Bocquillon- +Wilhem, Louis Duport, and several of the Erard family; farther +away, Ignace Pleyel, Rodolphe Kreutzer, Pierre Galin, Auguste +Panseron, Mehul, and Paer. Some of these, however, had not yet at +that time taken possession of their resting-places there, and +Bellini has since then (September 15, 1876) been removed by his +compatriots, to his birthplace, Catania, in Sicily. + +Not the whole of Chopin's body, however, was buried at Pere- +Lachaise; his heart was conveyed to his native country and is +preserved in the Holy Cross Church at Warsaw, where at the end of +1879 or beginning of 1880 a monument was erected, consisting of a +marble bust of the composer in a marble niche. Soon after +Chopin's death voluntary contributions were collected, and a +committee under Delacroix's presidence was formed, for the +erection of a monument, the execution of which was entrusted to +Clesinger, the husband of Madame Sand's daughter, Solange. +Although the sculptor's general idea is good--a pedestal bearing +on its front a medallion, and surmounted by a mourning muse with +a neglected lyre in her hand--the realisation leaves much to be +desired. This monument was unveiled in October, 1850, on the +anniversary of Chopin's death. + +[FOOTNOTE: On the pedestal of the monument are to be read besides +the words "A. Frederic Chopin" above the medallion, "Ses amis" +under the medallion, and the name of the sculptor and the year of +its production (J. Clesinger, 1850), the following incorrect +biographical data: "Frederic Chopin, ne en Pologne a Zelazowa +Wola pres de Varsovie: Fils d'un emigre francais, marie a Mile. +Krzyzanowska, fille d'un gentilhomme Polonais.] + +The friends of the composer, as we learn from an account in John +Bull (October 26, 1850), assembled in the little chapel of Pere- +Lachaise, and after a religious service proceeded with the +officiating priest at their head to Chopin's grave. The monument +was then unveiled, flowers and garlands were scattered over and +around it, prayers were said, and M. Wolowski, the deputy, +[FOOTNOTE: Louis Francois Michel Raymond Wolowski, political +economist, member of the Academie des Sciences Morales, and +member of the Constituante. A Pole by birth, he became a +naturalised French subject in 1834.] endeavoured to make a +speech, but was so much moved that he could only say a few words. + +[FOOTNOTE: In the Gazette muticale of October 20, 1850, we read: +"Une messe commemorative a ete dite jeudi dernier [i.e., on the +17th] dans la chapelle du cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise a la memoire +de Frederic Chopin et pour l'inauguration de son monument +funebre."] + +The Menestrel of November 3, 1850, informed its readers that in +the course of the week (it was on the 3Oth October at eleven +o'clock) an anniversary mass had been celebrated at the Madeleine +in honour of Chopin, at which from two to three hundred of his +friends were present, and that Franchomme on the violoncello and +Lefebure-Wely on the organ had played some of the departed +master's preludes, or, to quote our authority literally, "ont +redit aux assistants emus les preludes si pleins de melancolie de +I'illustre defunt." + + + +EPILOGUE. + + + +We have followed Chopin from his birthplace, Zelazowa Wola, to +Warsaw, where he passed his childhood and youth, and received his +musical as well as his general education; we have followed him in +his holiday sojourns in the country, and on his more distant +journeys to Reinerz, Berlin, and Vienna; we have followed him +when he left his native country and, for further improvement, +settled for a time in the Austrian capital; we have followed him +subsequently to Paris, which thenceforth became his home; and we +have followed him to his various lodgings there and on the +journeys and in the sojourns elsewhere--to 27, Boulevard +Poissonniere, to 5 and 38, Chaussee d'Antin, to Aix-la-Chapelle, +Carlsbad, Leipzig, Heidelberg, Marienbad, and London, to Majorca, +to Nohant, to 5, Rue Tronchet, 16, Rue Pigalle, and 9, Square +d'Orleans, to England and Scotland, to 9, Square d'Orleans once +more, Rue Chaillot, and 12, Place Vendome; and, lastly, to the +Pere-Lachaise cemetery. We have considered him as a pupil at the +Warsaw Lyceum and as a student of music under the tuition of +Zywny and Elsner; we have considered him as a son and as a +brother, as a lover and as a friend, as a man of the world and as +a man of business; and we have considered him as a virtuoso, as a +teacher, and as a composer. Having done all this, there remains +only one thing for me to do--namely, to summarise the thousands +of details of the foregoing account, and to point out what this +artist was to his and is to our time. But before doing this I +ought perhaps to answer a question which the reader may have +asked himself. Why have I not expressed an opinion on the moral +aspect of Chopin's connection with George Sand? My explanation +shall be brief. I abstained from pronouncing judgment because the +incomplete evidence did not seem to me to warrant my doing so. A +full knowledge of all the conditions and circumstances. I hold to +be indispensable if justice is to be done; the rash and ruthless +application of precepts drawn from the social conventions of the +day are not likely to attain that end. Having done my duty in +placing before the reader the ascertainable evidence, I leave him +at liberty to decide on it according to his wisdom and charity. + +Henri Blaze de Bury describes (in Etudes et Souvenirs) the +portrait which Ary Scheffer painted of Chopin in these words:-- + + It represents him about this epoch [when "neither physical nor + moral consumption of any kind prevented him from attending + freely to his labours as well as to his pleasures"], slender, + and in a nonchalant attitude, gentlemanlike in the highest + degree: the forehead superb, the hands of a rare distinction, + the eyes small, the nose prominent, but the mouth of an + exquisite fineness and gently closed, as if to keep back a + melody that wishes to escape. + +M. Marmontel, with, "his [Chopin's] admirable portrait" by +Delacroix before him, penned the following description:-- + + This is the Chopin of the last years, ailing, broken by + suffering; the physiognomy already marked by the last seal [le + sceau supreme], the look dreamy, melancholy, floating between + heaven and earth, in the limbos of dream and agony. The + attenuated and lengthened features are strongly accentuated: + the relief stands out boldly, but the lines of the countenance + remain beautiful; the oval of the face, the aquiline nose and + its harmonious curve, give to this sickly physiognomy the + stamp of poetic distinction peculiar to Chopin. + +Poetic distinction, exquisite refinement, and a noble bearing are +the characteristics which strike one in all portraits of Chopin, +[FOOTNOTE: See Appendix IV.] and which struck the beholder still +more strongly in the real Chopin, where they were reinforced by +the gracefulness of his movements, and by manners that made +people involuntarily treat him as a prince...[FOOTNOTE: See my +description of Chopin, based on the most reliable information, in +Chapter XX.] And pervading and tincturing every part of the +harmonious whole of Chopin's presence there was delicacy, which +was indeed the cardinal factor in the shaping not only of his +outward conformation, but also of his character, life, and art- +practice. Physical delicacy brought with it psychical delicacy, +inducing a delicacy of tastes, habits, and manners, which early +and continued intercourse with the highest aristocracy confirmed +and developed. Many of the charming qualities of the man and +artist derive from this delicacy. But it is likewise the source +of some of the deficiencies and weaknesses in the man and artist. +His exclusiveness, for instance, is, no doubt, chargeable to the +superlative sensitiveness which shrank from everything that +failed to satisfy his fastidious, exacting nature, and became +more and more morbid as delicacy, of which it was a concomitant, +degenerated into disease. Yet, notwithstanding the lack of +robustness and all it entails, Chopin might have been moderately +happy, perhaps even have continued to enjoy moderately good +health, if body and soul had been well matched. This, however, +was not the case. His thoughts were too big, his passions too +violent, for the frail frame that held them; and the former grew +bigger and more violent as the latter grew frailer and frailer. +He could not realise his aspirations, could not compass his +desires, in short, could not fully assert himself. Here, indeed, +we have lit upon the tragic motive of Chopin's life-drama, and +the key to much that otherwise would be enigmatical, certainly +not explicable by delicacy and disease alone. His salon +acquaintances, who saw only the polished outside of the man, knew +nothing of this disparity and discrepancy; and even the select +few of his most intimate friends, from whom he was not always +able to conceal the irritation that gnawed at his heart, hardly +more than guessed the true state of matters. In fact, had not +Chopin been an artist, the tale of his life would have for ever +remained a tale untold. But in his art, as an executant and a +composer, he revealed all his strength and weakness, all his +excellences and insufficiencies, all his aspirations and +failures, all his successes and disappointments, all his dreams +and realities. + + Chopin [wrote Anton Schindler in 1841 [FOOTNOTE: Beethoven in + Paris, p. 71] is the prince of all pianists, poesy itself at + the piano...His playing does not impress by powerfulness of + touch, by fiery brilliancy, for Chopin's physical condition + forbids him every bodily exertion, and spirit and body are + constantly at variance and in reciprocal excitement. The + cardinal virtue of this great master in pianoforte-playing + lies in the perfect truth of the expression of every feeling + within his reach [dessen er sich bemeistern darf], which is + altogether inimitable and might lead to caricature were + imitatior attempted. + +Chopin was not a virtuoso in the ordinary sense of the word. His +sphere was the reunion intime, not the mixed crowd of concert +audiences. If, however, human testimony is worth anything, we may +take it as proven that there never was a pianist whose playing +exercised a charm equal to that of Chopin. But, as Liszt has +said, it is impossible to make those who have not heard him +understand this subtle, penetrating charm of an ineffable poesy. +If words could give an idea of Chopin's playing, it would be +given by such expressions as "legerete impalpable," "palais +aeriens de la Fata Morgana," "wundersam und marchenhaft," and +other similar ones used with regard to it by men who may safely +be accepted as authorities. + +As a pianist Chopin was sorely restricted by lack of physical +vigour, which obliged him often to merely suggest, and even to +leave not a little wholly unexpressed. His range as a composer +was much wider, as its limits were those of his spirit. Still, +Chopin does not number among those masterminds who gather up and +grasp with a strong hand all the acquisitions of the past and +present, and mould them into a new and glorious synthesis-the +highest achievement possible in art, and not to be accomplished +without a liberal share of originality in addition to the +comprehensive power. Chopin, then, is not a compeer of Bach, +Handel, Mozart, and Beethoven. But if he does not stand on their +level, he stands on a level not far below them. And if the +inferiority of his intellectual stamina prevented him from +achieving what they achieved, his delicate sensibility and +romantic imagination enabled him to achieve what they were +disqualified from achieving. Of universality there was not a +trace in him, but his individuality is one of the most +interesting. The artistico-historical importance of Chopin lies +in his having added new elements to music, originated means of +expression for the communication and discrimination of moods and +emotions, and shades of moods and emotions, that up to his time +had belonged to the realm of the unuttered and unutterable. +Notwithstanding the high estimation in which Chopin is held, it +seems to me that his importance for the development of the art is +not rated at its full value. His influence on composers for the +pianoforte, both as regards style and subject-matter, is +generally understood; but the same cannot be said of his less +obvious wider influence. Indeed, nothing is more common than to +overlook his connection with the main current of musical history +altogether, to regard him as a mere hors d'oeuvre in the musical +MENU of the universe. My opinion, on the contrary, is that among +the notable composers who have lived since the days of Chopin +there is not to be found one who has not profited more or less, +consciously or unconsciously, directly or indirectly, by this +truly creative genius. To trace his influence we must transport +ourselves back fifty or sixty years, and see what the state of +music then was, what composers expressed and what means of +expression they had at their disposal. Much that is now familiar, +nay, even commonplace, was then a startling novelty. The +appearance of Chopin was so wonderful a phenomenon that it +produced quite an electrical effect upon Schumann. "Come," said +Berlioz to Legouve in the first years of the fourth decade of +this century, "I am going to let you see something which you have +never seen, and someone whom you will never forget." This +something and someone was Chopin. Mendelssohn being questioned +about his enthusiasm for one of this master's preludes replied: +"I love it, I cannot tell you how much, or why; except, perhaps, +that it is something which I could never have written at all." Of +course, Chopin's originality was not universally welcomed and +appreciated. Mendelssohn, for instance, was rather repelled than +attracted by it; at any rate, in his letters there are to be +found frequent expressions of antipathy to Chopin's music, which +seemed to him" mannered "(see letter to Moscheles of February 7, +1835). But even the heartless and brainless critic of the Musical +World whose nonsense I quoted in Chapter XXXI. admits that Chopin +was generally esteemed by the "professed classical musicians," +and that the name of the admirers of the master's compositions +was legion. To the early popularity of Chopin's music testify +also the many arrangements for other instruments (the guitar not +excepted) and even for voices (for instance, OEuvres celebres de +Chopin, transcrites a une ou deux voix egales par Luigi Bordese) +to which his compositions were subjected. This popularity was, +however, necessarily limited, limited in extent or intensity. +Indeed, popular, in the comprehensive sense of the word, Chopin's +compositions can never become. To understand them fully we must +have something of the author's nature, something of his delicate +sensibility and romantic imagination. To understand him we must, +moreover, know something of his life and country. For, as Balzac +truly remarked, Chopin was less a musician than une ame qui se +rend sensible. In short, his compositions are the "celestial echo +of what he had felt, loved, and suffered"; they are his memoirs, +his autobiography, which, like that of every poet, assumes the +form of "Truth and Poetry." + + + +APPENDICES. + + + +APPENDIX I. + +THE GOLDEN AGE OP POLISH MUSIC. + +(VOL. I., p. 66.) + + + +As yet it is difficult to speak with any degree of certainty of +the early musical history of Poland. Our general histories of +music have little or nothing to say on the matter, and a special +history exists neither in the Polish nor in any other language. +The Abbe Joseph Surzynski, who by his labours is endeavouring to +remove the reproach of indifference and ignorance now lying on +his countrymen in this respect, says: [FOOTNOTE: In the preface +to the Monumenta Musices sacra, selected works of the best +composers of classical religious music in Poland, published by +him. The first two parts of this publication, respectively issued +in 1885 and 1887, contain compositions by Thomas Szadek, Nicolas +Zielenski, G. G. Gorczycki, Venceslas, Szamotulski, and Sebastian +of Felsztyn.] "The compositions of our old masters are buried in +the archives and libraries--no one cares to make them known to +the public; many Polish musicians, not even supposing that these +compositions exist, are very far from believing that the authors +of these pieces deserve to be ranked with the best composers of +the Roman Catholic Church. Now, in studying these works, we find +in the century of Palestrina and Vittoria among our artists: +Marcin ze Lwowa (Martin Leopolita), Christopher Borek, Thomas +Szadek, Venceslas Szamotulski, and especially Zielenski and +Gomolka--distinguished masters who deserve to be known by the +friends of the musical art, either on account of their altogether +national genius, or on account of their inspiration and the +perfection of the forms which manifest themselves in their +compositions." One of the first illustrious names in the history +of music in Poland is the German Henry Finck, the chapel-master +of the Polish Kings, John Albert (1492-1501) and Alexander (1501- +1506). From the fact that this excellent master got his musical +education in Poland we may safely conclude--and it is not the +only fact which justifies our doing so--that in that country +already in the fifteenth century good contrapuntists were to be +found. The Abbe Surzynski regards Zielenski as the best of the +early composers, having been impressed both by the profound +religious inspiration and the classical form of his works. Of +Gomolka, who has been called the Polish Palestrina as Sebastian +of Felsztyn the Polish Goudimel, the Abbe remarks: "Among the +magnificent musical works of Martin Leopolita, Szadek, and +Zielenski, the compositions of Gomolka present themselves like +miniature water-colours, in which, nevertheless, every line, +every colour, betrays the painter of genius. His was a talent +thoroughly indigenous--his compositions are of great simplicity; +no too complicated combinations of parts, one might even say that +they are homophonous; nevertheless what wealth of thought, what +beauty of harmony, what profoundness of sentiment do we find +there! These simple melodies clothed in pure and truly holy +harmonies, written, as Gomolka said himself, not for the +Italians, but for the Poles, who are happy in their own country, +are the best specimens of the national style. "In speaking of the +early Polish church music I must not forget to mention the famous +College of the Roratists, [FOOTNOTE: The duties of these singers +were to sing Rorate masses and Requiem masses for the royal +family. Their name was derived from the opening word of the +Introit, "Rorate coeli."] the Polish Sistine Chapel, attached to +the Cracow Cathedral. It was founded in 1543 and subsisted till +1760. With the fifteenth of seventeen conductors of the college, +Gregor Gorczycki, who died in 1734, passed away the last of the +classical school of Polish church music. Music was diligently +cultivated in the seventeenth century, especially under the +reigns of Sigismund III. (1587-1632), and Wladislaw IV. (1632- +1648); but no purpose would be served by crowding these pages +with unknown names of musicians about whom only scanty +information is available; I may, however, mention the familiar +names of three of many Italian composers who, in the seventeenth +century, like many more of their countrymen, passed a great part +of their lives in Poland--namely, Luca Marenzio, Asprilio +Pacelii, and Marco Scacchi. + + + +APPENDIX II. + +EARLY PERFORMANCES OF CHOPIN'S WORKS IN GERMANY. + +(VOL. I., p. 268.) + + + +The first performance of a composition by Chopin at the Leipzig +Gewandhaus took place on October 27, 1831. It was his Op. 1, the +variations on La ci darem la mano, which Julius Knorr played at a +concert for the benefit of the Pension-fund of the orchestra, but +not so as to give the audience pleasure--at least, this was the +opinion of Schumann, as may be seen from his letter to Frederick +Wieck of January 4, 1832. Chopin relates already on June 5, 1830, +that Emilie Belleville knew his variations by heart and had +played them in Vienna. Clara Wieck was one of the first who +performed Chopin's compositions in public. On September 29, 1833, +she played at a Leipzig Gewandhaus concert the last movement of +the E minor Concerto, and on May 5, 1834, in the same hall at an +extra concert, the whole work and two Etudes. Further information +about the introduction and repetitions of Chopin's compositions +at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, is to be found in the statistical part +(p. 13) of Alfred Dorffel's Die Gewandhausconcerte. + + + +APPENDIX III. + +MADAME SCHUMANN ON CHOPIN'S VISIT TO LEIPZIG. + +(VOL. I., p. 290.) + + + +Through a kind communication from Madame Schumann I have learned +that Wenzel's account does not quite agree with her diary. There +she finds written that her father, Friedrich Wieck, felt offended +because Chopin, for whose recognition in Germany he had done so +much, had not called upon him immediately after his arrival. +Chopin made his appearance only two hours before his departure, +but then did not find Wieck at home, for he, to avoid Chopin, had +gone out and had also taken his daughter Clara with him. When +Wieck returned an hour later, he found unexpectedly Chopin still +there. Clara had now to play to the visitor. She let him hear +Schumann's F sharp minor Sonata, two Etudes by Chopin, and a +movement of a Concerto by herself. After this Chopin played his E +flat major Nocturne. By degrees Wieck's wrath subsided, and +finally he accompanied Chopin to the post-house, and parted from +him in the most friendly mood. + + + +APPENDIX IV. + +REBECCA DIRICHLET ON CHOPIN AT MARIENBAD. + +(VOL. I., p. 309.) + + + +When Rebecca Dirichlet came with her husband to Marienbad, she +learnt that Chopin did not show himself, and that his physician +and a Polish countess, who completely monopolised him, did not +allow him to play. Having, however, heard so much of his playing +from her brothers, she was, in order to satisfy her curiosity, +even ready to commit the bassesse of presenting herself as the +soeur de Messieurs Paul et Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. As she +humorously wrote a few days later: "The bassesse towards Chopin +has been committed and has completely failed. Dirichlet went to +him, and said that a soeur, &c.--only a mazurka--impossible, mal +aux nerfs, mauvais piano--et comment se porte cette chere Madame +Hensel, el Paul est marie? heureux couple, &c.--allez vous +promener--the first and the last time that we do such a thing." + + + +APPENDIX V. + +PALMA AND VALDEMOSA. + +(VOL. II., pp. 22-48.) + + + +The Argosy of 1888 contains a series of Letters from Majorca by +Charles W. Wood, illustrated by views of Palma, Valdemosa, and +other parts of the island. The illustrations in the April number +comprise a general view of the monastery of Valdemosa, and views +of one of its courts and of the cloister in which is situated the +cell occupied by George Sand and Chopin in the winter of 1838- +1839. The cloister has a groined vault, on one side the cell +doors, and on the other side, opening on the court, doors and +rectangular windows with separate circular windows above them. +The letters have been republished in book form (London: Bentley +and Sons). + + + +APPENDIX VI. + +On Tempo Rubato. + +(VOL. II., p. 101.) + + + +An earlier practiser of the tempo rubato than the lady mentioned +by Quanz (see Vol. II., p. 101 of this work) was Girolamo +Frescobaldi, who speaks of this manner of musical rendering in +the preface to Il primo libra di Capricci fatti sopra diversi +sogetti et Arie in partitura (1624). An extract from this preface +is to be found in A. G. Ritter's Zur Geschichte des Orgelspiels, +Vol. I., p. 34. F. X. Haberl remarks in the preface to his +collection of pieces by Frescobaldi (Leipzig: Breitkopf and +Hartel): "A chief trait of Frescobaldi's genius is the so-called +tempo rubato, an absolute freedom in the employment of a quicker +and slower tempo." + + + +APPENDIX VII. + +CAROLINE HARTMANN. + +(VOL. II., p. I7I.) + + + +On page 175 of this volume I made an allusion to Spohr in +connection with Chopin's pupil Caroline Hartmann. To save the +curious reader trouble, I had better point out that the +information is to be found in Spohr's autobiography under date +Munster, near Colmar, March 26, 1816 (German edition, pp. 245- +250; English edition, pp. 229-232). Jacques Hartmann, the father +of Caroline, was a cotton manufacturer and an enthusiastic lover +of music. He had an orchestra consisting of his family and +employes. Spohr calls the father a bassoon-virtuoso; what he says +of the daughter will be seen in the following sentences: "His +sister and his daughter play the pianoforte. The latter, a child +eight years old, is the star of the amateur orchestra. She plays +with a dexterity and exactness that are worthy of admiration. I +was still more astonished at her fine ear, with which (away from +the piano) she recognises the intervals of the most intricate and +full dissonant chords which one strikes, and names the notes of +which they consist in their sequence. If the child is well +guided, she is sure to become one day an excellent artist." + + + +APPENDIX VIII. + +MADAME PERUZZI. + +(VOL. II., p. 177.) + + + +The reader will be as grateful as I am for the following +interesting communications of Madame Peruzzi (nee Elise +Eustaphieve, whose father was Russian Consul-General to the +United States of America) about her intercourse with Chopin. + +"I first met Chopin at the house of the American banker, Samuel +Welles, in Paris, where I, like every one present, was enchanted +listening to his mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, &c., which he +played on a wretched square piano. I lived as dame en chambre (a +very convenient custom for ladies alone), at a pension, or rather +a regular boarding-school, with rooms to let for ladies. The lady +of the house was acquainted with many of the musical people, and +I had a splendid American grand piano which was placed in the +large drawing-room of the establishment, so that I felt quite at +home, and there received Chopin, Liszt, and Herz (Miss Herz, his +sister, gave lessons in the school), and often played four-hand +pieces with them. + +"My intimacy with Chopin began after my marriage. He often dined +with us, was very fond of my husband, and after dinner we were +not at home if any one else came, but remained at our two pianos +(Erard had sent me one), playing together, and I used to amuse +him by picking out of his music little bits that seemed like +questions for him to answer on the other piano. He lived very +near us, so we very often passed mornings at his house, where he +asked me to play with him all Weber's duets. This was delightful +to me, the more so, as he complimented me on my reading and +entering at first sight into the spirit of the music. He made me +acquainted with the beautiful duet of Moscheles, and was the +first with whom I played Hummel's splendid duet. He was a great +admirer of Weber. We frequently had morning concerts with double +quartet, and Chopin would very kindly turn the leaves for me. He +was particularly fond of doing so when I played Hummel's Septet, +and was so encouraging. Even when playing to him his own music, +he would approve some little thing not indicated and say, 'What a +good idea of yours that is!' My husband begged him to give me +lessons; but he always refused, and did give them; for I studied +so many things with him, among others his two concertos. The one +in E minor I once played accompanied by himself on a second +piano. We passed many pleasant evenings at Mr. and Madame Leo's +house, a very musical one. Madame Moscheles was a niece of +theirs. Chopin was fond of going there, where he was quite a pet. +He always appeared to best advantage among his most intimate +friends. I was one who helped to christen the Berceuse. You ask +me in what years I knew Chopin, 1838 is the date of the +manuscript in my collection which he gave me after I was married, +and the last notes of that little jewel he wrote on the desk of +the piano in our presence. He said it would not be published +because they would play it....Then he would show how they would +play it, which was very funny. It came out after his death, it is +a kind of waltz-mazurka [the Valse, Op. 69, No. I], Chopin's +intimate friend, Camille Pleyel, called it the story of a D flat, +because that note comes in constantly. One morning we took +Paganini to hear Chopin, and he was enchanted; they seemed to +understand each other so well. When I knew him he was a sufferer +and would only occasionally play in public, and then place his +piano in the middle of Pleyel's room whilst his admirers were +around the piano. His speciality was extreme delicacy, and his +pianissimo extraordinary. Every little note was like a bell, so +clear. His fingers seemed to be without any bones; but he would +bring out certain effects by great elasticity. He got very angry +at being accused of not keeping time; calling his left hand his +maitre de chapelle and allowing his right to wander about ad +libitum." + + + +APPENDIX IX. + +MADAME STREICHER'S (nee FRIEDERIKE MULLER) RECOLLECTIONS OF +CHOPIN, BASED ON EXTRACTS FROM HER CAREFULLY-KEPT DIARY OF THE +YEARS 1839, 1840, AND 1841. (VOL. II., p. I77.) + + + +In March, 1839, I went to Paris, accompanied by a kind aunt, who +was a highly-cultured musical connoisseur, animated by the wish +to get if possible lessons from Chopin, whose compositions +inspired me with enthusiasm. But he was from home and very ill; +indeed, it was feared he would not return to Paris even in the +winter. However, at last, at last, in October, 1839, he came. I +had employed this long time in making myself acquainted with the +musical world in Paris, but the more I heard, nay, even admired, +the more was my intention to wait till Chopin's return confirmed. +And I was quite right. + +On the 30th of October, 1839, we, my kind aunt and I, went to +him. At that time he lived in Rue Tronchet, No. 5. Anxiously I +handed him my letters of introduction from Vienna, and begged him +to take me as a pupil. He said very politely, but very formally: +"You have played with applause at a matinee at the house of +Countess Appony, the wife of the Austrian ambassador, and will +hardly require my instruction." I became afraid, for I was wise +enough to understand he had not the least inclination to accept +me as a pupil. I quickly protested that I knew very well I had +still very, very much to learn. And, I added timidly, I should +like to be able to play his wondrously-beautiful compositions +well. "Oh!" he exclaimed, "it would be sad if people were not in +a position to play them well without my instruction." "I +certainly am not able to do so," I replied anxiously. "Well, play +me something," he said. And in a moment his reserve had vanished. +Kindly and indulgently he helped me to overcome my timidity, +moved the piano, inquired whether I were comfortably seated, let +me play till I had become calm, then gently found fault with my +stiff wrist, praised my correct comprehension, and accepted me as +a pupil. He arranged for two lessons a week, then turned in the +most amiable way to my aunt, excusing himself beforehand if he +should often be obliged to change the day and hour of the lesson +on account of his delicate health. His servant would always +inform us of this. + +Alas! he suffered greatly. Feeble, pale, coughing much, he often +took opium drops on sugar and gum-water, rubbed his forehead with +eau de Cologne, and nevertheless he taught with a patience, +perseverance, and zeal which were admirable. His lessons always +lasted a full hour, generally he was so kind as to make them +longer. Mikuli says: "A holy artistic zeal burnt in him then, +every word from his lips was incentive and inspiring. Single +lessons often lasted literally for hours at a stretch, till +exhaustion overcame master and pupil." There were for me also +such blessed lessons. Many a Sunday I began at one o'clock to +play at Chopin's, and only at four or five o'clock in the +afternoon did he dismiss us. Then he also played, and how +splendidly but not only his own compositions, also those of other +masters, in order to teach the pupil how they should be +performed. One morning he played from memory fourteen Preludes +and Fugues of Bach's, and when I expressed my joyful admiration +at this unparalleled performance, he replied: "Cela ne s'oublie +jamais," and smiling sadly he continued: "Depuis un an je n'ai +pas etudie un quart d'heure de sante, je n'ai pas de force, pas +d'energie, j'attends toujours un peu de sante pour reprendre tout +cela, mais...j'attends encore." We always spoke French together, +in spite of his great fondness for the German language and +poetry. It is for this reason that I give his sayings in the +French language, as I heard them from him. In Paris people had +made me afraid, and told me how Chopin caused Clementi, Hummel, +Cramer, Moscheles, Beethoven, and Bach to be studied, but not his +own compositions. This was not the case. To be sure, I had to +study with him the works of the above-mentioned masters, but he +also required me to play to him the new and newest compositions +of Hiller, Thalberg, and Liszt, &c. And already in the first +lesson he placed before me his wondrously--beautiful Preludes and +Studies. Indeed, he made me acquainted with many a composition +before it had appeared in print. + +I heard him often preluding in a wonderfully-beautiful manner. On +one occasion when he was entirely absorbed in his playing, +completely detached from the world, his servant entered softly +and laid a letter on the music-desk. With a cry Chopin left off +playing, his hair stood on end--what I had hitherto regarded as +impossible I now saw with my own eyes. But this lasted only for a +moment. + +His playing was always noble and beautiful, his tones always +sang, whether in full forte, or in the softest piano. He took +infinite pains to teach the pupil this legato, cantabile way of +playing. "Il [ou elle] ne sait pas lier deux notes" was his +severest censure. He also required adherence to the strictest +rhythm, hated all lingering and dragging, misplaced rubatos, as +well as exaggerated ritardandos. "Je vous prie de vous asseoir," +he said on such an occasion with gentle mockery. And it is just +in this respect that people make such terrible mistakes in the +execution of his works. In the use of the pedal he had likewise +attained the greatest mastery, was uncommonly strict regarding +the misuse of it, and said repeatedly to the pupil: "The correct +employment of it remains a study for life." + +When I played with him the study in C major, the first of those +he dedicated to Liszt, he bade me practise it in the mornings +very slowly. "Cette etude vous fera du bien," he said. "Si vous +l'etudiez comme je l'entends, cela elargit la main, et cela vous +donne des gammes d'accords, comme les coups d'archet. Mais +souvent malheureusement au lieu d'apprendre tout cela, elle fait +desapprendre." I am quite aware that it is a generally-prevalent +error, even in our day, that one can only play this study well +when one possesses a very large hand. But this is not the case, +only a supple hand is required. + +Chopin related that in May, 1834, he had taken a trip to Aix-la- +Chapelle with Hiller and Mendelssohn. "Welcomed there in a very +friendly manner, people asked me when I was introduced: 'You are, +I suppose, a brother of the pianist?' I answered in the +affirmative, for it amused me, and described my brother the +pianist. 'He is tall, strong, has black hair, a black moustache, +and a very large hand.'" To those who have seen the slightly- +built Chopin and his delicate hand, the joke must have been +exceedingly amusing. + +On the 20th of April, 1840, Liszt, who had come back to Paris +after extended artistic tours, gave a matinee to an invited +audience in Erard's saloon. He played, as he did always, very +brilliantly, and the next morning I had to give a minute account +to Chopin of what and how he had played. He himself was too +unwell to be present. When I spoke of Liszt's artistic self- +control and calmness in overcoming the greatest technical +difficulties, he exclaimed: "Ainsi il parait que mon avis est +juste. La derniere chose c'est la simplicite. Apres avoir epuise +toutes les difficultes, apres avoir joue une immense quantite de +notes, et de notes, c'est la simplicite qui sort avec tout son +charme, comme le dernier sceau de l'art. Quiconque veut arriver +de suite a cela n'y parviendra jamais, on ne peut commencer par +la fin. II faut avoir etudie beaucoup, meme immensement pour +atteindre ce but, ce n'est pas une chose facile. II m'etait +impossible," he continued, "d'assister a sa matinee. Avec ma +sante ou ne peut rien faire. Je suis toujours embrouille avec mes +affaires, de maniere que je n'ai pas un moment libre. Que j'envie +les gens forts qui sont d'une sante robuste et qui n'ont rien a +faire! Je suis bien fache, je n'ai pas le temps d'etre malade." + +When I studied his Trio he drew my attention to some passages +which now displeased him, he would now write them differently. At +the end of the Trio he said: "How vividly do the days when I +composed it rise up in my memory! It was at Posen, in the castle +surrounded by vast forests of Prince Radziwill. A small but very +select company was gathered together there. In the mornings there +was hunting, in the evenings music. Ah! and now," he added sadly, +"the Prince, his wife, his son, all, all are dead." + +At a soiree (Dec. 20, 1840) he made me play the Sonata with the +Funeral March before a large assemblage. On the morning of the +same day I had once more to play over to him the Sonata, but was +very nervous. "Why do you play less well to-day?" he asked. I +replied that I was afraid. "Why? I consider you play it well," he +rejoined very gravely, indeed, severely. "But if you wish to play +this evening as nobody played before you, and nobody will play +after you, well then!"...These words restored my composure. The +thought that I played to his satisfaction possessed me also in +the evening; I had the happiness of gaining Chopin's approval and +the applause of the audience. Then he played with me the Andante +of his F minor Concerto, which he accompanied magnificently on +the second piano. The entire assemblage assailed him with the +request to perform some more of his compositions, which he then +did to the delight of all. + +For eighteen months (he did not leave Paris this summer) I was +allowed to enjoy his instruction. How willingly would I have +continued my studies with him longer! But he himself was of +opinion that I should now return to my fatherland, pursue my +studies unaided, and play much in public. On parting he presented +me with the two manuscripts of his C sharp major and E major +studies (dedicated to Liszt), and promised to write during his +stay in the country a concert-piece and dedicate it to me. + +In the end of the year 1844 I went again to Paris, and found +Chopin looking somewhat stronger. At that time his friends hoped +for the restoration of, or at least for a considerable +improvement in, his health. + +The promised concert-piece, Op. 46, had to my inexpressible +delight been published. I played it to him, and he was satisfied +with my playing of it; rejoiced at my successes in Vienna, of +which he had been told, exerted himself with the amiability +peculiar to him to make me still better known to the musical +world of Paris. Thus I learned to know Auber, Halevy, Franchomme, +Alkan, and others. But in February, 1845,1 was obliged to return +to Vienna; I had pupils there who were waiting for me. On parting +he spoke of the possibility of coming there for a short time, and +I had quite made up my mind to return for another visit to Paris +in eighteen months, in order again to enjoy his valuable +instruction and advice. But this, to my deepest regret, was not +to be. + +I saw Madame Sand in the year 1841 and again in the year 1845 in +a box in a theatre, and had an opportunity of admiring her +beauty. I never spoke to her. + + + +APPENDIX X. + +PORTRAITS OF CHOPIN. + + + +A biography is incomplete without some account of the portraits +of the hero or heroine who is the subject of it. M. Mathias +regards as the best portrait of Chopin a lithograph by Engelmann +after a drawing by Vigneron, of 1833, published by Maurice +Schlesinger, of Paris. In a letter to me he writes: "This +portrait is marvellous for the absolutely exact idea it gives of +Chopin: the graceful fall of the shoulders, the Polish look, the +charm of the mouth." Continuing, he says: "Another good likeness +of Chopin, but of a later date, between the youthful period and +that of his decay, is Bovy's medallion, which gives a very exact +idea of the outlines of his hair and nose. Beyond these there +exists nothing, all is frightful; for instance, the portrait in +Karasowski's book, which has a stupid look." The portrait here +alluded to is a lithographic reproduction of a drawing by A. +Duval. As a rule, the portraits of Chopin most highly prized by +his pupils and acquaintances are those by A. Bovy and T. +Kwiatkowski. Madame Dubois, who likes Bovy's medallion best, and +next to it the portraits by Kwiatkowski, does not care much for +Ary Scheffer's portrait of her master, in whose apartments she +had of course frequent opportunities to examine it. "It had the +appearance of a ghost [d'un ombre], and was more pale and worn +than Chopin himself." Of a bust by Clesinger Madame Dubois +remarks that it does not satisfy those who knew Chopin. M. +Marmontel writes in a letter to me that the portrait of Chopin by +Delacroix in his possession is a powerful sketch painted in oil, +"reproducing the great artist in the last period of his life, +when he was about to succumb to his chest disease. My dear friend +Felix Barrias has been inspired, or, to be more exact, has +reproduced this beautiful and poetic face in his picture of the +dying Chopin asking the Countess Potocka to sing to him." Gutmann +had in his possession two portraits of his master, both pencil +drawings; the one by Franz Winterhalter, dated May 2, 1847, the +other by Albert Graefle, dated October 19, 1849. The former of +these valuable portraits shows Chopin in his decline, the latter +on his death-bed. Both seem good likenesses, Graefle's drawing +having a strong resemblance with Bovy's medallion. + +[FOOTNOTE: The authorship alone is sufficient to make a drawing +by George Sand interesting. Madame Dubois says (in a letter +written to me) that the portrait, after a drawing of George Sand, +contained in the French edition of Chopin's posthumous works, +published by Fontana, is not at all a good likeness. Herr +Herrmann Scholtz in Dresden has in his possession a faithful copy +of a drawing by George Sand made by a nephew of the composer, a +painter living at Warsaw. Madame Barcinska, the sister of Chopin, +in whose possession the original is, spoke of it as a very good +likeness. This picture, however, is not identical with that +mentioned by Madame Dubois.] + +The portrait by A. Regulski in Szulc's book can only be regarded +as a libel on Chopin, and ought perhaps also to be regarded as a +libel on the artist. Various portraits in circulation are +curiosities rather than helps to a realisation of the outward +appearance of Chopin. Schlesinger, of Berlin, published a +lithograph after a drawing by Maurir; and Schuberth, of Hamburg, +an engraving on steel, and Hofmeister, of Leipzig, a lithograph, +after I don't know what original. Several other portraits need +not be mentioned, as they are not from life, but more or less +fancy portraits based on one or more of the authentic +delineations. Bovy's medallion graces Breitkopf and Hartel's +Gesammtausgabe and Thematic Catalogue of the master's published +works. The portrait by Ary Scheffer may be seen lithographically +reproduced by Waldow in the German edition of Chopin's posthumous +works, published by Fontana. A wood-cut after the drawing by +Graefle appeared in 1879 in the German journal Die Gartenlaube. +Prefixed to the first volume of the present biography the reader +will find one of the portraits by Kwiatkowski, an etching after a +charming pencil drawing in my possession, the reproduction of +which the artist has kindly permitted. M. Kwiatkowski has +portrayed Chopin frequently, and in many ways and under various +circumstances, alive and dead. Messrs. Novello, Ewer & Co. have +in their possession a clever water-colour drawing by Kwiatkowski +of Chopin on his death-bed. A more elaborate picture by the same +artist represents Chopin on his death-bed surrounded by his +sister, the Princess Marcellince Czartoryska, Grzymala, the Abbe +Jelowicki, and the portrayer. On page 321 of this volume will be +found M. Charles Gavard's opinion of two portrayals of Chopin, +respectively by Clesinger and Kwiatkowski. In conclusion, I +recall to the reader's attention what has been said of the +master's appearance and its pictorial and literary reproductions +on pp. 65 and 246 of Vol. I. and pp. 100, 135, and 329 of Vol. +II. + + + +REMARKS PRELIMINARY + +TO THE + +LIST OF CHOPIN'S WORKS. + + + +The original editions were three in number: the German, the +French, and the English (see p. 272). To avoid overcrowding, only +the names of the original German and French publishers will be +given in the following list, with two exceptions, however,--Op. 1 +and 5, which were published in Poland (by Brzezina & Co., of +Warsaw) long before they made their appearance elsewhere. +[FOOTNOTE: What is here said, however, does not apply to Section +IV.] Some notes on the publication of the works in England are +included in these preliminary remarks. + +In the list the publishers will be always placed in the same +order--the German first, and the French second (in the two +exceptional cases, Op. 1 and 5, they will be second and third). +The dates with an asterisk and in parentheses (*) are those at +which a copy of the respective works was deposited at the Paris +Bibliotheque du Conservatoire de Musique, the dates without an +asterisk in parentheses are derived from advertisements in French +musical journals; the square brackets [ ] enclose conjectural and +approximate dates and additional information; and lastly, the +dates without parentheses and without brackets were obtained by +me direct from the successors of the original German publishers, +and consequently are more exact and trustworthy than the others. +In a few cases where the copyright changed hands during the +composer's lifetime, and where unacquaintance with this change +might give rise to doubts and difficulties, I have indicated the +fact. + +The publishing firms mentioned in the list are the following:-- +Maurice Schlesinger, Brandus &Cie. (the successors of M. +Schlesinger), Eugene Troupenas & Cie., Joseph Meissonnier, Joseph +Meissonnier fils H. Lemoine, Ad. Catelin & Cie. (Editeurs des +Compositeurs reunis, Rue Grange Bateliere, No. 26), Pacini +(Antonio Francesco Gaetano), Prilipp & Cie. (Aquereurs d'une +partie du Fond d'lgn. Pleyel & Cie.), S. Richault (i.e., Charles +Simon Richault, to whom succeeded his son Guillaume Simon, who in +his turn was succeeded by his son Leon.--Present style: Richault +et Cie., Successeurs), and Schonenberger, all of Pans;-Breitkopf +& Hartel, Probst-Kistner (since 1836 Friedrich Kistner), +Friedrich Hofmeister, and C. F. Peters, of Leipzig;--Ad. M. +Schlesinger, Stern & Co.( from 1852 J. Friedlander; later on +annexed to Peters, of Leipzig), and Bote and Bock, of Berlin;-- +Tobias Haslinger, Carl Haslinger quondam Tobias, and Pietro +Mechetti (whose widow was succeeded by C. A. Spina), of Vienna;-- +Schuberth & Co., of Hamburg (now Julius Schuberth, of Leipzig);-- +B. Schott's Sohne, of Mainz;--Andr. Brzezina & Co. and Gebethner +& Wolff, of Warsaw;--J. Wildt and W. Chaberski, of Cracow;--and +J. Leitgeber, of Posen. + +From 1836 onward the course of the publication of Chopin's works +in England can be followed in the advertisement columns of the +Musical World. Almost all the master's works were published in +England by Wessel. On March 8, 1838, Messrs. Wessel advertised +Op. 1-32 with the exception of Op. 4, 11, and 29. This last +figure has, no doubt, to be read as 28, as the Preludes could +hardly be in print at that time, and the Impromptu, Op. 29, was +advertised on October 20, 1837, as OP. 28. With regard to Op. 12 +it has to be noted that it represents not the Variations +brillantes sur le Rondo favori "Je vends des Scapulaires," but +the Grand Duo concertant for piano and violoncello, everywhere +else published without opus number. The Studies, Op. 10, were +offered to the public "revised with additional fingering by his +pupil I. [sic] Fontana." On November 18, 1841, Wessel and +Stapleton (the latter having come in as a partner in 1839) +advertised Op. 33-43, and subsequently Op. 44-48. On February 22, +1844, they announced that they had "the sole copyright of the +COMPLETE and entire works" of Chopin. On May 15, 1845, were +advertised Op. 57 and 58; on January 17, 1846, Op. 59; on +September 26, 1846, Op. 60, 61, and 62. The partnership with +Stapleton having in 1845 been dissolved, the style of the firm +was now Wessel & Co. Thenceforth other English publishers came +forward with Chopin compositions. On June 3, 1848, Cramer, Beale +& Co. advertised Chopin's "New Valses and Mazurkas for the +pianoforte"; and on the title-pages of the French edition of Op. +63, 64, and 65 I found the words: "London, Jullien et Cie." But +also before this time Wessel seems to have had competitors; for +on the title-page of the French edition of Op. 22 may be read: +"London, Mori et Lavenu," and on September 20, 1838, Robert Cocks +advertised "Five Mazurkas and Three Nocturnes." On September 23, +1848, however, Wessel & Co. call themselves sole proprietors of +Chopin's works; and on November 24, 1849, they call themselves +Publishers of the Complete Works of Chopin. Information received +from Mr. Ashdown, the present proprietor of the business, one of +the two successors (Mr. Parry retired in 1882) of Christian +Rudolph Wessel, who retired in 1860 and died in 1885, throws some +further light on the publication of Chopin's works in England. We +have already seen in a former part of this book (p. 117) that +Wessel discontinued to deal with Chopin after Op. 62. "Cramer, +Beale & Co.," writes Mr. Ashdown, "published the Mazurkas, Op. +63, and two only of the Waltzes, Op. 64; these, being non- +copyright in England, Mr. Wessel added to his edition, together +with the third waltz of Op. 64. The name of Jullien on the French +edition was probably put on in consequence of negotiations for +the sale of English copyright having been entered upon, but +without result." With the exception of Op. 12 and 65, Wessel +published all the works with opus numbers of Chopin that were +printed during the composer's lifetime. Cramer, Addison & Beale +published the Variations, Op. 12; Chappell, the Trois Nouvelles +Etudes; R. Cocks, the posthumous Sonata, Op. 4, and the +Variations stir un air allemand without opus number; and Stanley +Lucas, Weber & Co., the Seventeen Polish Songs, Op. 74. The +present editions issued by the successor of Wessel are either +printed from the original plates or re-engraved (which is the +case in about half of the number) from the old Wessel copies, +with here and there a correction. + +Simultaneous publication was aimed at, as we see from Chopin's +letters, but the dates of the list show that it was rarely +attained. The appearance of the works in France seems to have in +most cases preceded that in Germany; in the case of the +Tarantelle, Op. 43, I found the English edition first advertised +(October 28, 1841). Generally there was approximation if not +simultaneity. + + + + I.--WORKS PUBLISHED WITH OPUS NUMBERS DURING + THE COMPOSER'S LIFETIME. + + + +DATES ORIGINAL +OF GERMAN & FRENCH +PUBLICATION TITLES WITH REFERENCES PUBLISHERS. + + + +1825. OP.1. Premier Rondeau [C minor] Brzezina. + pour le piano. Dedie a Mme. de A. M. Schlesinger. + Linde.--Vol. I, pp. 52, 53-54, M. Schlesinger + 55, 112;--Vol. II, p.87 + + +[1830, OP.2. La ci darem la mano [B flat T. Haslinger +about March] major] varie pour le piano, avec M. Schlesinger +(September accompagnement d'orchestre. Dedie +21, 1834.) a Mr. Woyciechowski.--Vol. I., pp. + 53, 62, 95, 96, 97, 99, 100, 101, + 105, 112, 116-118, 120, 163, 241; + Vol. II., p.87, 212 + + +[1833 in OP.3. Introduction et Polonaise Mechetti +print.] brillante [C major], pour piano S. Richault +June, 1835) et violincelle Dediee d Mr. Joseph + Merk.--Vol.I., pp. 129, 200-201; + --Vol. II., p. 87. + + + Op.4. As this work was published + posthumously, it had to be placed + in Section III. Nevertheless, it + differs from the works with which + it is classed in one important + respect--it was intended for + publication by the composer himself, + who sent it to Vienna in 1828. + + +[1827?] Op.5. Rondeau a la Mazur [F major] Brzezina. +May, 1836 pour le piano. Dediee a Mlle. la Hofmeister. + Comtesse Alexandrine de Moriolles. Schonenberger. + --Vol. I., pp. 54-55, 56, 112, 168; + --Vol. II., p.87 + + +Dec., 1832 Op.6. Quatre Mazurkas [F sharp minor Probst-Kistner. +(Nov. 23, C Sharp minor, E major, and E flat M. Schlesinger. +1834.) minor] pour le piano. Dediees a + Mlle. la Comtesse Pauline Plater. + --Vol. I., p. 268;--Vol. II, pp.231- + 232.234-239. + + +Dec.1832 Op.7. Cinq Mazurkas [B flat major, Probst-Kistner +(Nov. 23, A minor, F minor, A flat major, and M. Schlesinger. + 1834.) C major] pour le piano. Dediees a + Mr. Johns.--Vol. I., pp.250,268, + 276 (No. 1);--Vol. II, pp. 231-232 + 234-239. + + +March, 1833.) Op.8. Premier Trio [G minor] pour Probst-Kistner +(Nov. 23, piano, violon, et violoncelle. M. Schlesinger + 1834.) Dedie a Mr. le Prince Antonine + Radziwill--Vol. I., pp. 62, 88, + 112, 113-115, 268;--Vol. II., p. + 212,342 + + +Jan. 1833. Op.9. Trois Nocturnes (B flat Probst-Kistner +(Nov. 23, minor, E flamajor, and B major] M. Schlesinger + 1834.) pour le piano Dedies a Mme. + Camille Pleyel--Vol.l.,268; + --Vol. II., pp.87. 261-63 + + +August, 1833. Op.10.Douze Grandes Etudes [C major Probst-Kistner +(July 6,1833.) A minor, E major, C sharp minor M. Schlesinger + G flat major, E flat minor, C [who sold them + major, F major, F minor, A flat afterwards to + major, E flat major, and C minor] Lemoine]. + pour le piano. Dediees a Mr. Fr. + Liszt.--Vol. I., p.201,268; Vol. + II., p. 55 (No. 5), 251-254. + + + +Sept., 1833 Op.11.Grand Concerto [E minor] pour Probst-Kistner +(July 6, le piano avec orchestre. Dedie a M. Schlesinger +1833.) Mr. Fr. Kalkbrenner.--Vol. I., pp + 127, 146, 147, 150, 151, 152, 156, + 189, 195, 203-208, 210-212, 233, 240, + 241, 268, 281; Vol. II., pp. 16, 211 + + +Nov., 1833 Op.12.Variations brillantes [B flat Breitkopf & Hartel +(Jan.26, major] pour le piano sur le Rondeau M. Schlesinger +1834) favori de Ludovic de Herold: "Je + vends des Scapulaires." Dediees a + Mlle. Emma Horsford.--Vol.I.,p.268; + Vol. II., p.221. + + +May, 1834 Op.13.Grande Fantaisie [A major] sur Probst-Kistner +(April, des airs polonais, pour le piano M. Schlesinger +1834) avec orchestre. Dediee a Mr. J. + P. Pixis--Vol.I., pp. 112,116. + 118-120,132,152,197,268; Vol. + II., p.212. + + +July, 1834. Op.14 Krakowiak, Grand Rondeau de Probst-Kistner +(June, Concert [F major] pour le piano M. Schlesinger +1834.) avec orchestre. Deidie a Mme. la + Princesse Adam Czartoryska. + Vol.I.,pp.88,96,97,98,99,101, + 102.112,116,118-120,134,268; + Vol. II., 233. + + +Jan., 1834 OP. 15. Trois Nocturnes [F major, F Breitkopf & +[Copies sharp major, and G minor] pour le Hartel. +sent to piano. Dedies a Mr. Ferd. Hiller.-- M. Schlesinger. +composer Vol. II., pp. 87, 261, 263 +already in +Dec., +1833]. +(Jan. +12,1834.) + + +March, OP. 16. Rondeau [E flat major] pour Breitkopf & +1834. le piano. Dedie a Mlle. Caroline Hartel. + Hartmann.--Vol. I., p. 269; Vol. M. Schlesinger. + II., p. 221. + + +May, 1834. OP. 17. Quatre Mazurkas [B flat Breitkopf & + major, E minor, A flat major, and A Hartel. + minor] pour le piano, Dediees a Mme. M. Schlesinger. + Lina Freppa.--Vol. I., p. 268; Vol. + II., 231-232, 234-239. + + +July, 1834. OP. 18. Grande Valse [E fiat major] Breitkopf & +(June, pour le piano. Dediee a Mlle. Laura Hartel. +1834.*) Harsford [thus in all the editions, M. Schlesinger + but should probably be Horsford. See [who sold it + Op. 12.]--Vol. I., pp. 268, 273; afterwards to + Vol. II., 249. Lemoine]. + + +March, OP. 20. Premier Scherzo [B minor] Breitkopf & +1835. pour le piano. Dedie a Mr. Hartel. +(Feb., T.Albrecht.--Vol. I., p. 294; Vol. M. Schlesinger. +1835.*) II., pp. 27,87, 256-257. + + +April, OP. 21. Second Concerto [F minor] Breitkopf and +1836. pour le piano avec orchestre. Dedie Hartel. +(Aug., a Mme. la Comtesse Delphine Potocka. M. Schlesinger. +1836.) --Vol. I., pp. 128, 131-132, 134, + 156, 163, 200, 203-210, 212, 241, + 294; II., p. 211. + + +Aug., 1836. OP. 22. Grande Polonaise brillante Breitkopf & +(July, [E flat major], precedee d'un Hartel. +1836.*) Andante spianato, pour le piano avec M. Schlesinger. + orchestre. Dediee a Mme. la Baronne + d'Est.--Vol. I., pp. 201-202, 295; + Vol. II., pp. 239-243, 244. + + +June, 1836. OP. 23. Ballade [G minor] pour le Breitkopf & +(July, piano. Dediee a Mr. le Baron de Hartel. +1836.*) Stockhausen.--Vol. I., pp. 294, 295 M. Schlesinger. + Vol. II., pp. 87, 268-9. + + +Nov., 1835. Op. 24 Quatre Mazurkas [G minor, C Breitkopf & +(Jan., major, A flat major, and B flat Hartel. +1836.) minor]. Dediees a Mr. le Comte de M. Schlesinger. + Perthuis.-Vol. I., pp. 294, + 295; Vol. II., pp. 218 (No. 2), 231- + 2, 234 9. + + +Oct., 1837. Op. 25 Douze Etudes [A flat major, F Breitkopf & +(Oct.22, minor, F major, A minor, E minor, G Hartel. +1837.) sharp minor, C sharp minor, D flat M. Schlesinger + major G flat major, B minor, A minor, [who sold the + & C minor] pour le piano. Dediees & copyright + Mme. la Comtesse d'Agoult.--Vol. I., afterwards to + pp. 276, 295, 310; Vol. II., pp. 15, Lemoine]. + 251-4. + +July, 1836. Op. 26. Deux Polonaises [C sharp Breitkopf & +(July, minor and E flat minor] pour le Hartel. +1836.*) piano. Dediees a Mr. J. Dessauer.-- M. Schlesinger. + Vol. I., p. 295; Vol. II., pp. 239- + 244; 245-6. + + +May, 1836. Op. 27. Deux Nocturnes [C sharp Breitkopf & +(July, minor and D flat major] pour le Hartel. +1836.*) piano. Dediees a Mme. la Comtesse M. Schlesinger. + d'Appony.-Vol. I., pp. 294, 295; + Vol. II., pp. 87, 261, 263-4. + + +Sept., Op. 28. Vingt-quatre Preludes pour Breitkopf & +1839. le piano. Dediees a son ami Pleyel Hartel. +(Sept., [in the French and in the English Ad. Catelin et +1839.*) edition; a Mr. J. C. Kessler in the Cie. + German edition. The French edition + appeared in two books and without + opus number].--Vol. II., pp. 20, 24, + 27, 28, 29-30, 30-31, 42-45, 50, 51, + 71, 72, 76, 77, + 254-6. + + +Jan., 1838. Op. 29. Impromptu [A flat major] Breitkopf & +(Dec., pour le piano. Dedie a Mile, la Hartel. +1837.*) Comtesse de Lobau.--Vol. II., pp. M. Schlesinger. + 15, 259. + + +Jan., 1838. Op. 30. Quatre Mazurkas [C minor, B Breitkopf & +(Dec., minor, D flat major, and C sharp Hartel. +1837.*) minor] pour le piano. Dediees a Mme. M. Schlesinger. + la Princesse de Wurtemberg, nee + Princesse Czartoryska.--Vol. II., + pp. 15, 231-2, 234-9. + + +Feb., 1838. Op. 31. Deuxieme Scherzo [B flat Breitkopf & +(Dec., minor] pour le piano. Dedie a Mile, Hartel. +1837.*) la Comtesse Adele de Fursienslein. M. Schlesinger. + --Vol. II., pp. 15, 87, 256, 257. + + +(Dec., OP. 32. Deux Nocturnes [B major and A. M. +1837.*) A flat major] pour le Piano. Dedies Schlesinger. + a Mme. la Baronne de Billing.--Vol. M. Schlesinger. + II., pp. 15, 87, 264. + + +Nov., 1838. OP. 33. Quatre Mazurkas [G sharp Breitkopf & +(Nov., minor, D major, C major, and B Hartel. +1838.) minor] pour le piano. Dediees a M. Schlesinger. + Mlle. la Comtesse Mostowska.--Vol. + II., pp. 15, 231-2, 234-9. + + +Dec., 1838. OP. 34. Trois Valses brillantes [A Breitkopf & +(Jan., flat major, A minor, and F major] Hartel. +1839.*) pour le piano. Dediees [No. 1] a M. Schlesinger. + Mlle. deThun-Hohenstein; [No. 2] a + Mme. G. d'Ivri; [No. 3] d Mile. A. + d'Eichthal.--Vol. I., p. 200 (No. + I); Vol. II., pp. 15, 30; 248, 249. + + +May, 1840. OP. 35. Sonate [B flat minor] pour Breitkopf & +(May, le piano.--Vol. II., pp. 45, 62, 72, Hartel. +1840.*) 77, 94, 225-8. Troupenas et + Cie. + + +May, 1840. OP. 36. Deuxieme Impromptu [F sharp Breitkopf & +(May, minor] pour le piano.--Vol. II., pp. Hartel. +1840.*) 259-60. Troupenas et + Cie. + + +May, 1840. OP. 37. Deux Nocturnes [G minor and Breitkopf & +(June, G major] pour le piano.--Vol. II., Hartel. +1840.*) p. 45, 62, 87, 261, 264. Troupenas et + Cie. + + +Sept., OP. 38. Deuxieme Ballade [F major] Breitkopf & +1840. pour le piano. Dediee a Mr. R. Hartel. +(Sept., Schumann.--Vol. II., pp. 45, 50, 51, Troupenas et +1840.*) 52,54,77,268,269. Cie. + + +Oct., 1840. Op. 39. Troisieme Scherzo [C sharp Breitkopf & +(Dec., minor] pour le piano. Dedie a Mr. A. Hartel. +1840.*) Gutmann.--Vol. II., pp. 45, 53, 72, Troupenas et + 77, 256, 258. Cie. + + +Nov., 1840. Op. 40. Deux Polonaises [A major and Breitkopf & +(Dec., C minor] pour le piano. Dediees a Hartel. +1840.*) Mr. J. Fontana.--Vol. II., pp. 45, Troupenas et + 50, 51, 52, 54, 77, 87, 94, 213 (No. Cie. + 1), 239-244, 246, 247. + + +Dec., 1840. Op. 41. Quatre Mazurkas [C sharp Breitkopf & +(Dec., minor, E minor, B major, and A flat Hartel. +1840.*) major] pour le piano. Dediees a Mr. Troupenas et + E. Witwicki.--Vol. II., pp. 46 (No. Cie. + 1), 62, 77, 231-2, 234-9. + + +July, 1840. Op. 42. Valse [A flat major pour le Breitkopf & + piano,--Vol. II., pp. 77, 86, 248, Hartel. + 249. Pacini. + + +(1841. An Op. 43. Tarantella [A flat major] Schuberth & Co. +nounced in pour le piano.--Vol. II., pp. 77, Troupenas et Cie. +Monatsbe- 82-86, 222. +richte on Jan. +1,1842. Paid +for by the +publisher on +July 7, 1841.] +(Oct., 1841.*) + + +(Nov. 28, Op.44. Polonaise [F sharp minor] Merchetti. +1841.) pour le piano. Dediee a Mme. la M. Schlesinger. + Princesse Charles de Beauvau.--Vol. + II., pp. 77,80, 81,86,239-244,246. + + +(Nov. 28, Op.45. Prelude [C sharp minor] pour Merchetti. +1841.) piano. Dediee a Mlle. la Prin- M. Schlesinger. + cesse Elisabeth Czernicheff.--Vol. + II., pp. 77, 80, 81, 256 + + +Jan., 1842. Op.46. Allegro de Concert [A major] Breitkopf & Hartel. +(Nov. 28, pour le piano. Dedie a Mlle. F. M. Schlesinger. +1841) Muller--Vol. I., p. 202; Vol.II., + pp.77, 86, 87, 177, 223-5. + + +Jan. 1842 Op.47. Troisieme Ballade [A flat Breitkopf & Hartel. +(Nov. 28, major] pour le piano. Dediee a M. Schlesinger. + 1841) Mlle. P. de Noailles.--Vol.II., + pp.77,87, 92, 268, 269-70. + + +Jan., 1842 Op.48. Deux Nocturnes [C minor Breitkopf & Hartel. +(Nov. 28, and F sharp minor] pour le piano. M. Schlesinger. +1841) Dediees a Mlle. L. Duperre--Vol.II., + pp. 77, 87, 88, 262, 265 + + +Jan., 1842 Op.49. Fantaisie [F minor] pour Breitkopf & Hartel. +(Nov. 28, le piano Dediee a Mme. la Princesse M. Schlesinger. + 1841) C. de Souzzo.--Vol. II., pp. 77,87, + 230-1. + +[Sept.,1842. Op.50. Trois Mazurkas [G major, Mechetti. +Announced A flat major, and C charp minor] M. Schlesinger. +in Monats- pour le piano. Dediees a Mr. Leon +berichte.] Szmitkowski--Vol.II., p.77,231-2, +(Nov.28,1841 234-9. +[not again +advertised +till June 5, +1842, +although the +preceding +numbers +were.]) + + +Feb.,1843. Op. 51. Allegro Vivace. Troisieme Hofmeister. +(July 9, Impromptu [G flat major] pour le M. Schlesinger. +1843.) piano. Dedie a Mme. la Comtesse + Esterhazy.--Vol.II.,pp.121,260. + +Feb., 1843. Op. 52. Quatrieme Ballade [F minor] Breitkopf & +(Dec. 24, pour le piano. Dediee a Mme. la Hartel. +1843.) Baronne C. de Rothschild.--Vol. II., M. Schlesinger. + pp. 77, 121, 268, 270. + + +Dec., 1843. OP. 53. Huiticmc Polonaise [A flat Breitkopf & +(Dec. 24, major] pour le piano. Dediee a Mr. Hartel. +1843.) A. Leo.--Vol. II., pp. 77, 94, 97, M. Schlesinger. + 121, 213, 239-244, 247. + + +Dec., 1843. Op. 54. Scherzo No. 4 [E major] pour Breitkopf & +(Dec. 24, le piano. Dedie a Mlle. J. de Hartel. +1843.) Caraman.--Vol. II-, pp. 121, 256, M. Schlesinger. + 258-9. + + +Aug. 1844. Op. 55. Deux Nocturnes [F minor and Breitkopf & +(Sept. 22, E flat major] pour le piano. Dedies Hartel. +1844.) a Mlle. J. W. Stirling.--Vol. II., M. Schlesinger. + p. 118, 121,262, 265-6. + + +Aug., 1844. Op. 56. Trois Mazurkas [B major, C Breitkopf & +(Sept. 22, major, and C minor] pour le piano. Hartel. +1844.) Dediees a Mlle. C. Maberly.--Vol. M. Schlesinger. + II., pp. 118, 121-2, 231-2, 234-9. + + +May, 1845. Op. 57. Berceuse [D flat major] pour Breitkopf & +(June, le piano. Dediee & Mlle. Elise Hartel. +1845.*) Gavard.--Vol. I., p. 119; Vol. II., J. Meissonnier. + pp. 118, 122,267-8. + + +June, 1845. Op.58. Sonate [B minor] pour le Breitkopf & Hartel +(June, piano. Dediee a Mme.la Comtesse J. Meissonnier. +1845*) E. de Perthuis.--Vol. II., pp. + 118, 122, 228-9. + + +[Jan., 1846, Op. 59. Trois Mazurkas [A minor, Stern et Cie. +announced A flat major, and F sharp minor] Brandus et Cie. +in Monats- pour le piano.--Vol.II.,pp. 122, +berichte.] 231-2, 234-9. +(April, +1846.*) + + +Dec., 1846 Op.60 Barcarolle [F sharp major] Breitkopf & Hartel +(Sept., pour le piano. Dediee a Mme. la Brandus et Cie. +1846) Baronne de Stockhausen-Vol.II, + pp.77, 122 266-7. + + +Dec., 1846. Op.61 Polonaise-Fantaisie [A Breitkopf & Hartel +(Sept., flat major] pour le piano. Brandus et Cie. +1846.*) Dediee a Mme. A.Veyret.-- + Vol.II., pp. 122, 239-244, 248 + + +Dec., 1846. Op. 62. Deux Nocturnes [B major Breitkopf & Hartel. +(Sept., and E major] pour le piano. Dedies Brandus et Cie. +1846.*) a Mlle. R. de Konneritz.--Vol. II., + pp. 122, 262, 266. + + +Sept., OP. 63. Trois Mazurkas [B major, F Breitkopf & +1847. minor, and C sharp minor] pour le Hartel. +(Oct. 17, piano. Dediees a. Mme. la Comtesse Brandus et Cie. +1847) L. Czosnowska.--Vol. II., pp. 122, + 205, 231-2, 234-9. + + +Sept., OP. 64. Trois Valses [D flat major, Breitkopf & +1847. C sharp minor, and A flat major] Hartel. +(Oct. 17, pour le piano. Dediees [No 1] a Mme. Brandus et Cie. +1847) la Comtesse Potocka; [No. 2] a Mme. + la Baronne de Rothschild; + [No. 3] a Mme. la Baronne Bronicka.-- + Vol. II., pp. 95, 122, 142 (No. 1), + 205, 248, 250-1, 387. + + +Sept., OP. 65. Sonate [G minor] pour piano Breitkopf & +1847. et violoncelle. Dediee a Mr. A. Hartel. +(Oct. 17, Franchomme.--Vol. II., pp. 122, 205, Brandus et Cie. +1847) 206, 207, 211, 229. + + + + II.--WORKS PUBLISHED WITHOUT OPUS NUMBERS + DURING THE COMPOSER'S LIFETIME. + + + +[1833, in Grand Duo concertant [E major] pour M. Schlesinger. +print.] piano et violoncelle sur des themes A. M. +(July 6, de Robert le Diable, par F. Chopin Schlesinger. +1833.) et A. Franchomme.--Vol. II., p. 230. + + +Aug. or Trois Nouvelles Etudes [F. minor, A M. Schlesinger. +Sept., 1840 flat major, and D flat major]. Etudes A. M. +[this is de Schlesinger. Perfection de la +the date of Methode des Moscheles et Fetis.--Vol. +the II., p. 252. +appearance +of the +Methode.] + + +(July 25, Variation VI. [Largo, E major, C] T. Haslinger. + 1841.) from the Hexameron: Morceau de Troupenas et Cie. + Concert. Grandes Variations de + bravoure sur la Marche des + "Puritains" de Bellini, composees + pour le Concert de Mme. la Princesse + Belgiojoso au benefice des pauvres, + par MM. Liszt, Thalberg, Pixis, H. + Herz, Czerny, and Chopin.--Vol. II., + pp. 14, 15. + + +[Feb., 1842, Mazurka [A minor] pour piano, No.2 B. Schott's Sohne. +announced of "Notre Temps."--Vol.II.,p.237 +in Monats- +berichte. + + + + III.--WORKS PUBLISHED WITH OPUS NUMBERS AFTER + THE COMPOSER'S DEATH. + + + +[May, OP. 4. Sonate [C minor] pour le C. Haslinger. +1851.] piano. Dediee a Mr. Joseph Elsner. S. Richault. +(May, [This work was already in the hands +1851.*) of the German publisher, T. Haslinger, + in 1828.]--Vol. I., pp. 62,112,118; + Vol. II., p. 63. + + +1855. OP. 66-74 are the posthumous works A. M. + with opus numbers given to the world Schlesinger. + by Julius Fontana (publies sur fils. J. Meissonnier + manuscrits originaux avec + autorisation de sa famille).--Vol. + II., 270-1. + + OP. 66. Fantaisie-Impromptu [C + sharp minor]. Composed about 1834.-- + Vol. II.. p. 261, 271. + + OP. 67. Quatre Mazurkas [G major + (1835), G minor (1849), C major (1835), + and A minor (1846).]--Vol. II., + p. 271. + + OP. 68. Quatre Mazurkas [C major + (1830), A minor (1827), F major (1830), + and F minor (1849).]--Vol. I., pp. + 112, 122 (No. 2). + + OP. 69. Deux Valses [F minor + (1836), and B minor (1829).]-- + Vol. I., pp. 112, 122 (No. 2). + + OP. 70. Trois Valses [G flat major + (1835), F minor (1843), and D flat major + (1830).]--Vol. I., pp. 128, 200 + (No. 3). + + Op. 71. Trois Polonaises [D minor + (1827), B flat major (1828), and F minor + (1829).]--Vol. I., pp. 62 (Nos. 1 + and 2), 112, 121 (Nos. 1, 2, and 3), + 129 (No. 3). + + OP. 72. Nocturne [E minor (1827)]; + Marche funebre [C minor (1829)]; + et Trois Ecossaises [D major, G + major, and D flat major (1830)].-- + Vol. I., pp. 62, 112, 121 (No. 1); + 112, 123 (No. 2); 202 (No. 3). + + OP. 73. Rondeau [C major] pour deux + pianos (1828).--Vol. I., pp. 62, + 112, 116. + + OP. 74. Seventeen Polish Songs by + Witwicki, Mickiewicz, Zaleski, &c., + for voice with pianoforte + accompaniment. The German translation + by Ferd. Gumbert. [The + English translation of Stanley + Lucas, Weber & Co.'s English + edition is by the Rev. J. + Troutbeck.]--Vol. II., p. 271-272. + + + + IV.--WORKS PUBLISHED WITHOUT OPUS NUMBERS + AFTER THE COMPOSER'S DEATH. + + + +[May, Variations [E major] pour le piano C. Haslinger. +1851.] stir un air allemand. (1824?) S. Richault. + [although not published till 1851, + this composition was already in 1830 + in T. Haslinger's hands).--Vol. I.: + pp. 53, 55, 56. + + + Mazurka [G major]. (1825.)--Vol. I., J. Leitgeber. + p. 52; II., 236. Gebethner & + Wolff. + Mazurka [B flat major (1825)].--Vol. + I., p. 52; II., 236. + + Mazurka [D major (1829-30)].--Vol. + I., PP--202-203; II., 236. + + Mazurka [D major (1832.--A + remodelling of the preceding + Mazurka)].--Vol. I., pp. + 202-203; II., 236. + + + Mazurka [C major (1833)].--Vol. II., Gebethner & + p. 236. Wolff. + + + Mazurka [A minor. Dediee a son ami Bote & Bock. + Emile Gail'ard.--Vol. II, p. 236. + + +1858. Valse [E minor].--Vol. II., p. 251. B. Schott's + Sohne. + Gebethner & + Wolff. + + +1864. Polonaise [G sharp minor]. Dediee B. Schott's + a Mme. Dupont.--Vol. I., p. 52 (see Sohne. + also Corrections and Additions, Vol. Gebethner & + I., p. VIII. Wolff. + + + +1872. Polonaise [G flat major]. Nothing B. Schott's + but the composer's autograph could Sohne. + convince one of the genuineness of + this piece. There are here and there + passages which have the Chopin ring, + indeed, seem to be almost bodily + taken from some other of his works, + but there is also a great deal which + it is impossible to imagine to have + come at any time from his pen--the + very opening bars may be instanced. + + + Polonaise [B flat minor (1826)].-- Gebethner & + Vol. I., pp. 52-53. Wolff. + + + Valse [E major (1829)].-- Vol. I., Gebethner & + pp. 112, 122. Wolff. + W. Chaberski. + + Souvenir de Paganini [A major]. + This piece, which I do not know, is + mentioned in the list of the + master's works given by Karasowski + in the Polish edition of his life of + Chopin. It was published in the + supplement of the Warsaw Echo + Muzyczne, where also the two + preceding pieces first appeared. + + + About a Mazurka in F sharp major, + published under Chopin's name by J. + P. Gotthard, of Vienna, see Vol. + II., p. 237; and about Deux Valses + melancoliques (F minor and B minor) + ecrites sur l'Album de Mme. la + Comtesse P. 1844, see Vol. II., p. + 251. + + + La Reine des Songes, which appeared + in the Paris Journal de Musique, No. + 8, 1876, is No. 1 of the Seventeen + Polish Songs (transposed to B flat + major) with French words by George + Sand, beginning: + + "Quand la lune se leve + Dans un pale rayon + Elle vient comme un reve, + Comme une vision." + + Besides this song, the letter-press, + taken from George Sand's Histoire de + ma Vie, is accompanied by two + instrumental pieces, extracts from + the last movement of the E minor + Concerto and the Bolero, the latter + being called Chanson de Zingara. + + + + + END OF VOLUME II. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician +by Frederick Niecks + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREDERICK CHOPIN *** + +This file should be named fkchc10.txt or fkchc10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, fkchc11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, fkchc10a.txt + +Produced by John Mamoun <mamounjo@umdnj.edu>, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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