Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician

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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.