The reader will remember what the Viennese critic said about Chopin’s “aim”; that it was not to dazzle by the superficial means of the virtuoso, but to impress by the more legitimate ones of the genuine musician.  This is true if we compare the Chopin of that day with his fellow-virtuosos Kalkbrenner, Herz, &c.; but if we compare him with his later self, or with Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, &c., the case is different.  Indeed, there can be no doubt but that in this and the other pieces of this group, Chopin’s aim was that of the virtuoso, only his nature was too rich, too noble, to sink into the inanity of an insipid, conventional brilliancy.  Moreover, whilst maintaining that in the works specified language outruns in youthful exuberance thought and emotion, I hasten to add that there are premonitory signs—­ for instance, in the Op. 2 under discussion, more especially in the introduction, the fifth variation, and the Finale—­of what as yet lies latent in the master’s undeveloped creative power.

The Grande Fantaisie sur des airs polonais (A major) for the pianoforte and orchestra, Op. 13, dedicated to J. P. Pixis, and published in April, 1834, and the Krakowiak, Grand Rondeau de Concert (F major) for the pianoforte and orchestra, Op. 14, dedicated to the Princesse Adam Czartoryska, and published in June, 1834, are the most overtly Polish works of Chopin.  Of the composition of the former, which, according to Karasowski, was sketched in 1828, the composer’s letters give no information; but they contain some remarks concerning the latter.  We learn that the score of the Krakowiak was finished by December 27, 1828, and find the introduction described as having “as funny an appearance as himself in his pilot-cloth overcoat.”  In the Fantasia the composer introduces and variates a Polish popular song (Juz miesiac zaszedl), and an air by the Polish composer Kurpinski, and concludes with a Kujawiak, a dance of the mazurka species, in 3-4 time, which derives its name from the district called Kujawia.  In connection with this composition I must not omit to mention that the first variation on the Polish popular song contains the germ of the charming Berceuse (Op. 57).  The Rondo, Op. 14, has the character of a Krakowiak, a dance in 2-4 time which originated in Cracovia.  In no other compositions of the master do the national elements show themselves in the same degree of crudity; indeed, after this he never incorporates national airs and imitates so closely national dances.  Chopin remains a true Pole to the end of his days, and his love of and attachment to everything Polish increase with the time of absence from his native country.  But as the composer grows in maturity, he subjects the raw material to a more and more thorough process of refinement and development before he considers it fit for artistic purposes; the popular dances are spiritualised, the national characteristics and their corresponding musical idioms are subtilised and individualised.  I do not agree