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