this study well when one possesses a very large hand. But this
is not the case, only a supple hand is required.

Chopin related that in May, 1834, he had taken a trip to Aix-la-Chapelle
with Hiller and Mendelssohn. "Welcomed there in a very friendly manner,
people asked me when I was introduced: 'You are, I suppose, a brother
of the pianist?' I answered in the affirmative, for it amused me, and
described my brother the pianist. 'He is tall, strong, has black hair,
a black moustache, and a very large hand.'" To those who have seen the
slightly-built Chopin and his delicate hand, the joke must have been
exceedingly amusing.

On the 20th of April, 1840, Liszt, who had come back to Paris after
extended artistic tours, gave a matinee to an invited audience in
Erard's saloon. He played, as he did always, very brilliantly, and the
next morning I had to give a minute account to Chopin of what and how
he had played. He himself was too unwell to be present. When I spoke of
Liszt's artistic self-control and calmness in overcoming the greatest
technical difficulties, he exclaimed: "Ainsi il parait que mon avis est
juste. La derniere chose c'est la simplicite. Apres avoir epuise toutes
les difficultes, apres avoir joue une immense quantite de notes, et
de notes, c'est la simplicite qui sort avec tout son charme, comme
le dernier sceau de l'art. Quiconque veut arriver de suite a cela n'y
parviendra jamais, on ne peut commencer par la fin. II faut avoir etudie
beaucoup, meme immensement pour atteindre ce but, ce n'est pas une chose
facile. II m'etait impossible," he continued, "d'assister a sa matinee.
Avec ma sante ou ne peut rien faire. Je suis toujours embrouille avec
mes affaires, de maniere que je n'ai pas un moment libre. Que j'envie
les gens forts qui sont d'une sante robuste et qui n'ont rien a faire!
Je suis bien fache, je n'ai pas le temps d'etre malade."

When I studied his Trio he drew my attention to some passages which now
displeased him, he would now write them differently. At the end of the
Trio he said: "How vividly do the days when I composed it rise up in
my memory! It was at Posen, in the castle surrounded by vast forests of
Prince Radziwill. A small but very select company was gathered together
there. In the mornings there was hunting, in the evenings music. Ah!
and now," he added sadly, "the Prince, his wife, his son, all, all are
dead."

At a soiree (Dec. 20, 1840) he made me play the Sonata with the Funeral