ompositions 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 informa