composer had
a marked predilection for it, delighting in frequently playing it. And
Schumann exclaims: "What are ten editorial crowns compared to one
such Adagio as that in the second concerto!" The beautiful deep-toned,
love-laden cantilena, which is profusely and exquisitely ornamented
in Chopin's characteristic style, is interrupted by a very impressive
recitative of some length, after which the cantilena is heard again.
But criticism had better be silent, and listen here attentively. And how
shall I describe the last movement (Allegro vivace F minor, 3-4)--its
feminine softness and rounded contours, its graceful, gyrating,
dance-like motions, its sprightliness and frolicsomeness? Unless I quote
every part and particle, I feel I cannot do justice to it. The exquisite
ease and grace, the subtle spirit that breathes through this movement,
defy description, and, more, defy the attempts of most performers to
reproduce the original. He who ventures to interpret Chopin ought to
have a soul strung with chords which the gentlest breath of feeling sets
in vibration, and a body of such a delicate and supple organisation as
to echo with equal readiness the music of the soul. As to the listener,
he is carried away in this movement from one lovely picture to another,
and no time is left him to reflect and make objections with reference to
the whole.

The Concerto in E minor, Op. 11, dedicated to Mr. Fred Kalkbrenner,
shows more of volonte and less of inspiration than the one in F minor.
One can almost read in it the words of the composer, "If I have only
the Allegro and the Adagio completely finished, I shall be in no
anxiety about the Finale." The elongated form of the first movement--the
introductory tutti alone extends to 138 bars--compares disadvantageously
with the greater compactness of the corresponding movement in the F
minor Concerto, and makes still more sensible the monotony resulting
from the key-relation of the constituent parts, the tonic being the same
in both subjects. The scheme is this:--First subject in E minor, second
subject in E major, working-out section in C major, leading through
various keys to the return of the first subject in E minor and of the
second subject in G major, followed by a close in E minor. The tonic
is not relieved till the commencement of the working-out section.
The re-entrance of the second subject brings, at last, something of a
contrast. How little Chopin understood the importance or