uous stream of tone by
the strict legato and fine and constant use of the damper-pedal, formed
an harmonious substructure for a wonderfully poetic cantabile. His
delicate pianissimo, the ever-changing modifications of tone and time
(tempo rubato) were of indescribable effect. Even in energetic passages
he scarcely ever exceeded an ordinary mezzoforte. His playing as a whole
was unique in its kind, and no traditions of it can remain, for there is
no school of Chopin the pianist, for the obvious reason that he could
never be regarded as a public player, and his best pupils were nearly all
amateurs."

In looking through the list of his compositions, teeming with mazurkas,
valses, polonaises, and other forms of national dance music, one could
hardly suppose that here one of the most melancholy natures has revealed
itself. This seeming paradox is solved by the type of Chopin's
nationality, of which it has justly been said that its very dances are
sadness intensified. But notwithstanding this strongly pronounced
national type of his compositions, his music is always expressive of his
individual feelings and sufferings to a degree rarely met with in the
annals of the art. He is indeed the lyrical composer _par excellence_ of
the modern school, and the intensity of his expression finds its equal
in literature only in the songs of Heinrich Heine, to whom Chopin has
been justly compared. A sensation of such high-strung passion cannot be
prolonged. Hence we see that the shorter forms of music, the etude, the
nocturne, besides the national dances already alluded to, are chosen by
Chopin in preference. Even when he treats the larger forms of the
concerto or the sonata this concentrated, not to say pointed, character
of Chopin's style becomes obvious. The more extended dimensions seem to
encumber the freedom of his movements. The concerto for pianoforte with
accompaniment of the orchestra in E may be instanced. Here the adagio
takes the form of a romance, and in the final rondo the rhythm of a
Polish dance becomes recognizable while the instrumentation throughout
is meagre and wanting in colour. Chopin is out of his element, and even
the beauty of his melodies and harmonies cannot wholly banish the
impression of incongruity. Fortunately he himself knew the limits of his
power, and with very few exceptions his works belong to that class of
minor compositions of which he was an unrivalled master. Barring a
collection of Polish songs, t