at 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 r