ssume that Chopin's labours on the Preludes
in Majorca were confined to selecting, [FOOTNOTE: Internal evidence
suggests that the Preludes consist (to a great extent at least) of
pickings from the composer's portfolios, of pieces, sketches, and
memoranda written at various times and kept to be utilised when occasion
might offer.] filing, and polishing. My opinion--which not only has
probability but also the low opus number (28) and the letters in its
favour--is that most of the Preludes, if not all, were finished or
sketched before Chopin went to the south, and that a few, if any, were
composed and the whole revised at Palma and Valdemosa. Chopin cannot
have composed many in Majorca, because a few days after his arrival
there he wrote: from Palma (Nov. 15, 1838) to Fontana that he would send
the Preludes soon; and it was only his illness that prevented him from
doing so. There is one statement in George Sand's above-quoted narrative
which it is difficult to reconcile with other statements in "Un Hiver
a Majorque" and in her and Chopin's letters. In the just-mentioned book
(p. 177) she says that the journey in question was made for the purpose
of rescuing the piano from the hands of the custom-house officers; and
in a letter of January 15, 1839, to her friend Madame Marliani (quoted
on p. 31), which does not contain a word about adventures on a stormy
night, [They are first mentioned in the letter of January 20, 1839,
quoted on p. 32.] she writes that the piano is still in the clutches of
the custom-house officers. From this, I think, we may conclude that it
must have taken place after January 15. But, then, how could Chopin have
composed on that occasion a Prelude included in a work the manuscript
of which he sent away on the lath? Still, this does not quite settle the
question. Is it not possible that Chopin may have afterwards substituted
the new Prelude for one of those already forwarded to France? To this
our answer must be that it is possible, but that the letters do not give
any support to such an assumption. Another and stronger objection would
be the uncertainty as to the correctness of the date of the letter.
Seeing that so many of Chopin's letters have been published with wrong
dates, why not also that of January 12? Unfortunately, we cannot in
this case prove or disprove the point by internal evidence. There is,
however, one factor we must be especially careful not to forget in our
calculations--namely, George