erious attention. Chopin
was a life-long student of Bach; and much of his music, in its
closeness of texture, shows unmistakably the influence of that master.
Together with Schumann, he broke away from the strict formality of the
old classic forms and instituted the reign of freely conceived
tone-poems for the pianoforte: the form being conditioned by the
poetic feelings of the composer. As far as fundamental principles of
architecture are concerned, his pieces are generally simple, modeled
as they are on the two and three-part form and that of the rondo. When
he attempted works of large scope, where varied material had to be
held together, he was lamentably deficient, _e.g._, in his Sonatas. In
fact, even in such pieces as the Etudes and Scherzos, in the
presentation of the material we find occasional blemishes. But there
are so many other wonderful qualities that this weakness may be
overlooked. In spite of a certain deficiency in form, Chopin is
indisputably a great genius. Far too much stress has been laid on the
delicacy of his style to the exclusion of the intensity and bold
dramatic power that characterize much of his music to a marked
degree. Though of frail physique,[212] and though living in an
environment which tended to overdevelop his fastidious nature, Chopin
had a fiery soul, which would assert itself with unmistakable force.
His music by no means consists solely of melting moods or languorous
sighs; he had a keen instinct for the dissonant element (witness
passages in the G minor Ballade); he was a daring harmonic innovator;
and much of his music is surcharged with tragic significance. A born
stylist, he nevertheless did not avoid incessant labor to secure the
acme of finish. So perfect in his works is the balance between
substance and treatment, that they make a direct appeal to
music-lovers of every nation. In listening to Chopin we are never
conscious of turgidity, of diffuseness, of labored treatment of
material. All is direct, pellucid; poetic thoughts are presented in a
convincingly beautiful manner. He was a great colorist as well, and in
his work we must recognize the fact that color in music is as distinct
an achievement of the imagination as profound thought or beauty of
line. Chopin's position in regard to program music is an interesting
subject for speculation. Few of his works bear specifically
descriptive titles; and it is well known that he had little sympathy
with the extreme tendencies o