wo concertos, and a very small number of
concerted pieces of chamber music, almost all his works are written for
the pianoforte solo; the symphony, the oratorio, the opera, he never
attempted.

Chopin's works group themselves firstly into the period from Op. 1 to
22, which includes nearly all his attempts at large or classical
forms, e.g. the works with orchestra, Op. 2 (variations on _La ci
darem_), Opp. 11 and 14 (concertos), Op. 13 (Polish fantasia), Op. 14
(_Krakowiak_, a concerto-rondo in mazurka-rhythm), and Op. 22 (Andante
spianato and Polonaise), besides the solo rondos Opp. 1, 5, 16, and
the variations Op. 12 and the essays in chamber music Opp. 3, 8, 65.
Meanwhile, however, the mature lyric style of his second period
already began with Op. 6 (4 mazurkas), and though it is not confined
to small forms, the larger mature works (beginning with the ballade
Op. 23 and excepting only the sonata Op. 58 and the Allegro de Concert
Op. 46) are as independent of tradition as the smallest. It is well to
sift the posthumous works from those published under Chopin's
direction, for the last three mazurkas are the only things he did not
keep back as misrepresenting him. On these principles his mature works
are summed up in the 42 mazurkas (Opp. 6, 7, 17, 24, 30, 33, 41, 50,
56, 59, 63, and the beautiful contribution to the collection _Notre
temps_); 7 polonaises (Opp. 26, 40, 53, 61); 24 preludes (in all the
major and minor keys) Op. 28, and the single larger prelude Op. 45; 27
etudes (12 in Op. 10, 12 in Op. 25, and 3 written for the _Methode des
methodes_); 18 nocturnes (Opp. 9, 15, 27, 32, 37, 48, 55, 62); 4
ballades, in forms of Chopin's own invention (Opp. 23, 38, 47, 52); 4
scherzos (Opp. 20, 31, 39, 54); 8 waltzes (Opp. 18, 34, 42, 64); and
several pieces of various description, notably the great fantasia Op.
49 and the impromptus Opp. 29, 36, 51.

The posthumous works number 35 pieces, besides a small volume of songs
a few of which are of great interest.

Franz Liszt wrote a charming sketch of Chopin's life and art (_F.
Chopin_, par F. Liszt, Paris, 1851), and a very appreciative though
somewhat eccentric analysis of his work appeared anonymously in 1842
(_An Essay on the Works of Frederic Chopin_, London). The standard
biography is the English work of Professor F. Niecks (Novello, 1888).
See also W.H. Hadow, _Studies in Modern Music_, second series (1