We may suppose that Chopin, after his return to Warsaw and during the following winter, and the spring and summer of 1828, continued his studies with undiminished and, had this been possible, with redoubled ardour.  Some of his compositions that came into existence at this time were published after his death by his friend Julius Fontana, who was a daily visitor at his parents’ house.  We have a Polonaise (D minor) and a Nocturne (E minor) of 1827, and another Polonaise (B flat) and the Rondo for two pianos of 1828.  The Sonata, Op. 4, and La ci darem la mano, varie for pianoforte, with orchestral accompaniments, belong also to this time.  The Trio (Op. 8), although not finished till 1829, was begun and considerably advanced in 1828.  Several of the above compositions are referred to in a letter written by him on September 9, 1828, to one of his most intimate friends, Titus Woyciechowski.  The Rondo in C had originally a different form and was recast by him for two pianos at Strzyzewo, where he passed the whole summer of 1828.  He tried it with Ernemann, a musician living in Warsaw, at the warehouse of the pianoforte-manufacturer Buchholtz, and was pretty well pleased with his work.

We intend to play it some day at the Ressource.  As to my new compositions, I have nothing to show except the as yet unfinished Trio (G minor), which I began after your departure.  The first Allegro I have already tried with accompaniment.  It appears to me that this trio will have the same fate as my sonata and the variations.  Both works are now in Vienna; the first I have, as a pupil of Elsner’s, dedicated to him, and on the second I have placed (perhaps too boldly) your name.  I followed in this the impulse of my heart and you will not take it unkindly.

The opportunities which Warsaw offered being considered insufficient for the completion of his artistic education, ways and means were discussed as to how his wants could be best provided for.  The upshot of the discussions was the project of excursions to Berlin and Vienna.  As, however, this plan was not realised till the autumn of 1828, and no noteworthy incidents or interesting particulars concerning the intervening period of his life have become known, I shall utilise this break in the narrative by trying my hand at a slight sketch of that terra incognita, the history of music in Poland, more particularly the history of the musical life in Warsaw, shortly before and in Chopin’s time.  I am induced to undertake this task by the consideration that a knowledge of the means of culture within the reach of Chopin during his residence in the Polish capital is indispensable if we wish to form a clear and complete idea of the artist’s development, and that such a knowledge will at the same time help us to understand better the contents of some of the subsequent portions of this work.  Before, however, I begin a new chapter and with it the above-mentioned sketch, I should like to advert to a few other matters.