s, as Hummel had done Mozart's, in brilliant,
flowing drapery; and also, that Chopin had instruction from the best,
from Beethoven, Schubert, and Field--that the first might be supposed to
have educated his mind to boldness, the second his heart to tenderness,
the third his fingers to dexterity. Although as a rule a wonderfully
acute observer, Schumann was not on this occasion very happy in the few
critical utterances which he vouchsafed in the course of the general
remarks of which his notice mainly consists. Without congeniality there
cannot be much influence, at least not in the case of so exclusive and
fastidious a nature as Chopin's. Now, what congeniality could there be
between the rugged German and the delicate Pole? All accounts agree
in that Chopin was far from being a thorough-going worshipper of
Beethoven--he objected to much in his matter and manner, and, moreover,
could not by any means boast an exhaustive acquaintance with his works.
That Chopin assimilated something of Beethoven is of course more likely
than not; but, if a fact, it is a latent one. As to Schubert, I think
Chopin knew too little of his music to be appreciably influenced by
him. At any rate, I fail to perceive how and where the influence reveals
itself. Of Field, on the other hand, traces are discoverable, and even
more distinct ones of Hummel. The idyllic serenity of the former and the
Mozartian sweetness of the latter were truly congenial to him; but no
less, if not more, so was Spohr's elegiac morbidezza. Chopin's affection
for Spohr is proved by several remarks in his letters: thus on one
occasion (October 3, 1829) he calls the master's Octet a wonderful work;
and on another occasion (September 18, 1830) he says that the Quintet
for pianoforte, flute, clarinet, bassoon, and horn (Op. 52) is a
wonderfully beautiful work, but not suitable for the pianoforte. How
the gliding cantilena in sixths and thirds of the minuet and
the serpentining chromatic passages in the last movement of the
last-mentioned work must have flattered his inmost soul! There can be no
doubt that Spohr was a composer who made a considerable impression
upon Chopin. In his music there is nothing to hurt the most fastidious
sensibility, and much to feed on for one who, like Jaques in "As you
like it", could "suck melancholy out of a song, as a weasel eggs."

Many other composers, notably the supremely-loved and
enthusiastically-admired Mozart and Bach, must have had a sha