Frederic Chopin, v. 1 (of 2)

TIC SCHOOL ON CHOPIN.

ears of travel. His first works were written in a period of apparent quietness and calm. After the battle of Waterloo, which had happened during the peaceful labours of the Vienna Congress, the nations once more breathed freely; the great conquero

foreign customs discarded. Despite the miseries the country had suffered, some enthusiasts dreamed that the golden age of the Jagellons was about to return. Men of science were astir in the field of discovery, and eagerly seeking to throw fresh light on established truths. Fo

oring culture, and encouraging literature and art. There was a general feeling that on the establishment of a new social and political order, literature-as in Germany and other countries-would find its subjects in the life and manners of the people.

mstances facilitated rather than retarded the spread of his opinions, which he propagated by his lectures at the University and by essays in the journals. These opinions were based on the principles of Kant and Schiller, on the historical study of Polish literature, and on the RISE OF THE ROMANTIC SCHOOL. poetical theories of the Romantic School. Casimir Brodzinski gathered around him a band of talented young men, and a contest began, which daily became more violent and bitter, between the Classists and Romanticists. On

ional poetry, which it not unjustly regarded as the basis of all poetry, he made research for national melodies, and sought by careful artistic treatment to enhance their value and give them an assured p

ional poetry. An eminent Polish historian says of it: "A peculiar importance belongs to Chopin?s music, because in it more than in any other our nation is

eholding, with gloomy thought, the ruins of the past. In the veins of these youths flowed the same warm blood which had flooded the whole world. Everyone raved about the snows of Moscow, and the sands of Egypt, every soul was full of dreams, swelling with lofty thoughts and panting with desires which were impossible, for wherever men turned their eyes all was emptiness and desolation. The more mature believed in nothing,

foster an inclination to melancholy. The more finely strung natures, who perhaps, maintain with difficulty the necessary equilibrium for ordinary affairs, are, of course m

ome aristocratic appearance, and that enthusiasm of nature, which was transfused into his music, distinguished him above his compeers. The fatal events which, at the beginning of the deca

imathe bietet

aterland das

ld have been extremely difficult. Like every great man, he was greatest when left to the inspirations of his genius. The fire and spirit of youth, indeed, glowed in h

was not at that time fully developed, and Hummel?s influence was unmistakable. It is no disparagement of his talents to say this, for every young pianist of that period made Hummel h

er, and the Trio (op. 8), which, although entitled "Premier Trio," has had no successor, the leaning towards Hummel is still evident; the motives

, R. Schumann wrote a long article in the Allgemeine Musikalische Ze

looks different to Mozart, just as Jean Paul?s words do not look like Goethe?s. But now it seemed to me as if quite strange eyes, flowers? eyes, basilisks? eyes, peacocks? eyes were gazing at me. Light dawned in places; I thought I saw Mozart?s 'La ci darem la mano? entwined in a hundred chords. Leoporello seemed to be looking steadily at me, and Don Juan glided past in his white mantle. 'Now play it,' said Florestan. Eusebius consented, and we sat squeezed in a window niche to listen. He played like one inspired and brought forth an innumerable host of the most life-like forms; as if the enthusiasm of the moment had raised his fingers beyond thei

, creative power, and technical perfection. One of the most noteworthy of the innumerable services rendered by Robert Schumann is, that in spite of the most adverse cr

ignity, of which no Polish musician had hitherto dreamed. I have already mentioned how carefully and perseveringly Chopin listened to and assimilated the national songs; he eliminated all vulgarity from the rhythm, and retained only its characteristic

onfidant, and for hours he would pour out his feelings in sweet melancholy strains: the tones-poems thus composed being among the finest which ever flowed from his pen. This mazurka form, peculiar to the Poles, seemed

ht, under the balcony of the beloved one. Chopin writes: "I have the cognoscenti and the poetic natures on my side." But the reviewers appear to have belonged to neither category, for the reception they gave

orski, on the other hand, well-known as one of the best and most conscientious of Polish critics, says: "On comparing Field?s nocturnes with those of Chopin, it must be candidly confessed that the former do not surpass the latter; although it is not to be denied that in spite of some striking Chopin traits, opus 9 somewhat

mposed before his last journey from Warsaw. The Fantasia and Rondo are almost unknown to the German public, although distinguished by an originality never wanting in Chopin?s works. The technical difficulties, and the specifically Polish character of the earlier works have, perhaps, hindered their popularity. But this is not the case with the

sure, but we can say of him, as we cannot of everyone, that he never courted distinctions or applause. This noble feature of his character was sometimes inimica

only because we jokingly suggested that the member of their staff who wrote about Chopin?s Don Juan Variations resembled a bad verse, with a couple of feet too much, which it was proposed to lop off at leisure. But why should I recall this to-day, when I have just come from Chopin?s F minor Concerto? Beware! Milk, cool blue milk versus po

freedom, but did violence to the promptings of his genius in order to conform to the old-fashioned rules of composition. Liszt says: "These works are distinguished by a style of rare excellence, and contain passages of great interest, phrases of astonishing grandeur. Take, for example, the Adagio in the second Concerto, for which he had a decided preference

r generation of musicians-and the pianists in particular-having, in a great measure, studied Chopin from their early youth, know how to appreciate him, for we can only truly estimate what we are thoroughly acquainted with, and which has, so to speak, become to us a second nature. The discussion as to Chopin?s status

riod when other composers are more or less dependant on models, with him everything is new. He is rightly called the creator of a new pianoforte music; for who before him wrote for the instrument as he did? in whom do we find such nobility of t

besides an unusual number of passages quite new of their kind and affording ample opportunity for the display of the pianist?s virtuosity. I would particularly mention the Larghetto, from the second Concerto, a piece full of poetic charm. In it all the attributes of a perfect work of art appear in the happiest union: noble melody, choice harmonies, agreeable figures, and the perfection of form, while the thoroughly original ideas are finely contrasted. One thing, indeed, is frequently lacking in Chopin?s

study (in C minor), with its heroic character, as the most beautiful in this collection. To Chopin is due the merit of having first used the broken chords in a spread-out form, which had formerly been written only in a close position. To this innovation we owe a host of interesting figures, as

plishes a charming return to the chief subject. We must point out a passage in the Etude in A flat, No. 10, op. 10, in which, by an enharmonic change of the ordinary chord of the seventh, the chief melody re-enters on the chord of the six-four, w

ts the chief thought in a new form, and by arabesques or f

t he daily gained fresh stores of knowledge and experience, we still maintain that, as regards real inspiration, he was never grander or more independent than in his first w