f her sisters. The
emotional key-note of the piece is longing sadness, and this key-note is
well preserved throughout; there are no long or distant excursions
from it. The variations of the principal subject are more emphatic
restatements of it: the first is more impressive than the original, the
second more eloquently beseeching than either of them. I resist, though
with difficulty, the temptation to point out in detail the interesting
course of the composer's thoughts, and proceed at once to the coda
which, palpitating and swelling with passion, concludes the fourth and,
alas! last ballade.

We have now passed in review not only all the compositions published
by Chopin himself, but also a number of those published without his
authorisation. The publications not brought about by the master himself
were without exception indiscretions; most of them, no doubt, well
meant, but nevertheless regrettable. Whatever Fontana says to the
contrary in the preface to his collection of Chopin's posthumous works,
[FOOTNOTE: The Chopin compositions published by Fontana (in 1855)
comprise the Op. 66-74; the reader will see them enumerated in detail
in the list of cur composer's works at the end of this volume.] the
composer unequivocally expressed the wish that his manuscripts should
not be published. Indeed, no one acquainted with the artistic character
of the master, and the nature of the works published by himself,
could for a moment imagine that the latter would at any time or in any
circumstances have given his consent to the publication of insignificant
and imperfect compositions such as most of those presented to the world
by his ill-advised friend are. Still, besides the "Fantaisie-Impromptu,"
which one would not like to have lost, and one or two mazurkas, which
cannot but be prized, though perhaps less for their artistic than their
human interest, Fontana's collection contains an item which, if it adds
little value to Chopin's musical legacy, attracts at least the attention
of the lover and student of his music-namely, Op. 74, Seventeen Polish
Songs, composed in the years 1824-1844, the only vocal compositions of
this pianist-composer that have got into print. The words of most of
these songs are by his friend Stephen Witwicki; others are by Adam
Mickiewicz, Bogdan Zaleski, and Sigismond Krasinski, poets with all of
whom he was personally acquainted. As to the musical settings, they are
very unequal: a considerable number of t