Bulow, Klindworth and
Kullak. But if this is a marked specimen of Riemann, examine his
reading of the phrase wherein Chopin's triple rhythm is supplanted by
duple. Thus Von Bulow--and who will dare cavil?

[Musical score excerpt]

Riemann:

[Musical score excerpt]

The difference is more imaginary than real, for the stems of the
accented notes give us the binary metre. But the illustration serves to
show how Dr. Riemann is disposed to refine upon the gold of Chopin.

Kullak dilates upon a peculiarity of Chopin: the dispersed position of
his underlying harmonies. This in a footnote to the eleventh study of
op. 10. Here one must let go the critical valve, else strangle in
pedagogics. So much has been written, so much that is false, perverted
sentimentalism and unmitigated cant about the nocturnes, that the
wonder is the real Chopin lover has not rebelled. There are pearls and
diamonds in the jewelled collection of nocturnes, many are dolorous,
few dramatic, and others are sweetly insane and songful. I yield to
none in my admiration for the first one of the two in G minor, for the
psychical despair in the C sharp minor nocturne, for that noble drama
called the C minor nocturne, for the B major, the Tuberose nocturne;
and for the E, D flat and G major nocturnes, it remains unabated. But
in the list there is no such picture painted, a Corot if ever there was
one, as this E flat study.

Its novel design, delicate arabesques--as if the guitar had been
dowered with a soul--and the richness and originality of its harmonic
scheme, gives us pause to ask if Chopin's invention is not almost
boundless. The melody itself is plaintive; a plaintive grace informs
the entire piece. The harmonization is far more wonderful, but to us
the chord of the tenth and more remote intervals, seem no longer
daring; modern composition has devilled the musical alphabet into the
very caverns of the grotesque, yet there are harmonies in the last page
of this study that still excite wonder. The fifteenth bar from the end
is one that Richard Wagner might have made. From that bar to the close,
every group is a masterpiece.

Remember, this study is a nocturne, and even the accepted metronomic
markings in most editions, 76 to the quarter, are not too slow; they
might even be slower. Allegretto and not a shade speedier! The color
scheme is celestial and the ending a sigh, not unmixed with happiness.
Chopin, sensitive poet, had his moments of peace, o