iller did not like to
depart without his friend, and urged him to consider if he could not
contrive in one way or another to procure the requisite pecuniary
outfit. At last Chopin said he thought he could manage it, took the
manuscript of the Waltz in E flat (Op. 18), went with it to Pleyel, and
returned with 500 francs. [FOOTNOTE: I repeat Hiller's account without
vouching for its literal correctness, confining myself to the statement
that the work was in print on the 1st of June,1834, and published by
Schlesinger, of Paris, not by Pleyel.] Thus the barrier was removed, and
the friends set out for Aix-la-Chapelle. There Hiller was quartered in
the house of the burgomaster, and Chopin got a room close by. They
went without much delay to the rehearsal of "Deborah," where they met
Mendelssohn, who describes their meeting in a letter addressed to his
mother (Dusseldorf, May 23, 1834):--

On the first tier sat a man with a moustache reading the
score, and as he was coming downstairs after the rehearsal,
and I was going up, we met in the side-scenes, and Ferdinand
Hiller stumbled right into my arms, almost crushing me in his
joyful embrace. He had come from Paris to hear the oratorio,
and Chopin had left his pupils in the lurch and come with
him, and thus we met again. Now I had my full share of
pleasure in the musical festival, for we three now remained
together, got a box in the theatre (where the performances
are given) to ourselves, and as a matter of course betook
ourselves next morning to a piano, where I enjoyed myself
greatly. They have both still further developed their
execution, and Chopin is now one of the very first pianoforte-
players; he produces as novel effects as Paganini does on the
violin, and performs wonders which one would never have
imagined possible. Hiller, too, is an excellent player,
powerful and coquettish enough. Both are a little infected by
the Parisian mania for despondency and straining after
emotional vehemence [Verzweif-lungssucht und
Leidenschaftssucherei], and often lose sight of time and
repose and the really musical too much. I, on the other hand,
do so perhaps too little. Thus we made up for each other's
deficiencies, and all three, I think, learned something,
while I felt rather like a schoolmaster, and they like
mirliflores or incroyables.

After the festival the three musicians travelled together to Duss