lassifications--and strict accuracy. The third item of my first group,
for instance, might more properly be said to stand somewhere between
this and the second group, partaking somewhat of the nature of both. The
Rondo, Op. 73, was not originally written for two pianos. Chopin wrote
on September 9, 1828, that he had thus rearranged it during a stay at
Strzyzewo in the summer of that year. At that time he was pretty well
pleased with the piece, and a month afterwards talked of playing it with
his friend Fontana at the Ressource. Subsequently he must have changed
his opinion, for the Rondo did not become known to the world at large
till it was published posthumously. Granting certain prettinesses, an
unusual dash and vigour, and some points of interest in the working-out,
there remains the fact that the stunted melodies signify little and the
too luxuriant passage-work signifies less, neither the former nor the
latter possessing much of the charm that distinguishes them in the
composer's later works. The original in this piece is confined to the
passage-work, and has not yet got out of the rudimentary stage. Hence,
although the Rondo may not be unworthy of finding occasionally a place
in a programme of a social gathering with musical accompaniments and
even of a non-classical concert, it will disappoint those who come to it
with their expectations raised by Chopin's chefs-d'oeuvre, where all is
poetry and exquisiteness of style.

The second group contains Chopin's concert-pieces, all of which have
orchestral accompaniments. They are: (1) "La ci darem la mano, varie
pour le piano," Op. 2; (2) "Grande Fantaisie sur des airs polonais," Op.
13; (3) "Krakowiak, Grande Rondeau de Concert," Op. 14. Of these three
the first, which is dedicated to Titus Woyciechowski, has become the
most famous, not, however, on account of its greater intrinsic value,
but partly because the orchestral accompaniments can be most easily
dispensed with, and more especially because Schumann has immortalised
it by--what shall I call it?--a poetic prose rhapsody. As previously
stated, the work had already in September, 1828, been for some time at
Vienna in the hands of Haslinger; it was probably commenced as far
back as 1827, but it did not appear in print till 1830. [FOOTNOTE: It
appeared in a serial publication entitled Odeon, which was described
on the title-page as: Ausgewahlte grosse Concertstucke fur verschiedene
Instrumente (Selected Grand Concert