something pleonastic in the
title "Fantaisie-Impromptu?" Whether the reader may think so or not, he
will agree with me that the fourth impromptu (in C sharp minor), Op. 66,
is the most valuable of the compositions published by Fontana; indeed,
it has become one of the favourites of the pianoforte-playing world.
Spontaneity of emotional expression and effective treatment of the
pianoforte distinguish the Fantaisie-Impromptu. In the first section
we have the restless, surging, gushing semiquavers, carrying along with
them a passionate, urging melody, and the simultaneous waving
triplet accompaniment; in the second section, where the motion of
the accompaniment is on the whole preserved, the sonorous, expressive
cantilena in D flat major; the third section repeats the first, which
it supplements with a coda containing a reminiscence of the cantilena
of the second section, which calms the agitation of the semiquavers.
According to Fontana, Chopin composed this piece about 1834. Why did he
keep it in his portfolio? I suspect he missed in it, more especially in
the middle section, that degree of distinction and perfection of detail
which alone satisfied his fastidious taste.

Among Chopin's nocturnes some of his most popular works are to be found.
Nay, the most widely-prevailing idea of his character as a man and
musician seems to have been derived from them. But the idea thus formed
is an erroneous one; these dulcet, effeminate compositions illustrate
only one side of the master's character, and by no means the best
or most interesting. Notwithstanding such precious pearls as the two
Nocturnes, Op. 37, and a few others, Chopin shows himself greater both
as a man and a musician in every other class of pieces he has originated
and cultivated, more especially in his polonaises, ballades, and
studies. That, however, there is much to be admired in the class now
under consideration will be seen from the following brief comments on
the eighteen nocturnes (leaving out of account the one of the year
1828 published by Fontana as Op. 72, No. 1, and already discussed in an
earlier chapter) which Chopin gave to the world--Op. 9, Trois Nocturnes,
in January, 1833; Op. 15, Trois Nocturnes, in January, 1834; Op. 27,
Deux Nocturnes, in May, 1836; Op. 32, Deux Nocturnes, December, 1837;
Op. 37, Deux Nocturnes, in May, 1840; Op. 48, Deux Nocturnes, in
November, 1841; Op. 55, Deux Nocturnes, in August, 1844; and Op. 62,
Deux Nocturnes, in Sept