and Op. 18, "Grande Valse brillante,"
dedicated to Mdlle. Laura Horsford; and in October, Op. 19, "Bolero" (in
C major), dedicated to Mdme. la Comtesse E. de Flahault. [FOOTNOTE: The
dates given are those when the pieces, as far as I could ascertain, were
first heard of as published. For further information see "List of Works"
at the end of the second volume, where my sources of information are
mentioned, and the divergences of the different original editions, as
regards time of publication, are indicated.]

The "Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung" notices several of Chopin's
compositions with great praise in the course of 1833; in the year after
the notices became more frequent. But the critic who follows Chopin's
publications with the greatest attention and discusses them most fully
is Rellstab, the editor of the Iris. Unfortunately, he is not at all
favourably inclined towards the composer. He occasionally doles out a
little praise, but usually shows himself a spendthrift in censure and
abuse. His most frequent complaints are that Chopin strives too much
after originality, and that his music is unnecessarily difficult for the
hands. A few specimens of Rellstab's criticism may not be out of place
here. Of the "Mazurkas," Op. 7, he says:--

In the dances before us the author satisfies the passion [of
writing affectedly and unnaturally] to a loathsome excess. He
is indefatigable, and I might say inexhaustible [sic], in his
search for ear-splitting discords, forced transitions, harsh
modulations, ugly distortions of melody and rhythm.
Everything it is possible to think of is raked up to produce
the effect of odd originality, but especially strange keys,
the most unnatural positions of chords, the most perverse
combinations with regard to fingering.

After some more discussion of the same nature, he concludes thus:-- If
Mr. Chopin had shown this composition to a master, the latter would,
it is to be hoped, have torn it and thrown it at his feet, which we
hereby do symbolically.

In his review of the "Trois Nocturnes," Op. 9, occurs the following
pretty passage:--

Where Field smiles, Chopin makes a grinning grimace: where
Field sighs, Chopin groans; where Field shrugs his shoulders,
Chopin twists his whole body; where Field puts some seasoning
into the food, Chopin empties a handful of Cayenne
pepper...In short, if one holds Field's charming romances
before a distorting co