he following works for
comment: the first Prelude, the A-flat major Etude, the F-sharp minor
Mazurka, the E-flat minor Polonaise, the Barcarolle and the C-sharp
minor Scherzo.[224]

[Footnote 224: To save space, no one of these pieces except the
Barcarolle is given in the Supplement, since they are readily
accessible. The _Barcarolle_, however, is given in order to make it
better known; for although it is one of the most inspired and
beautifully expressed of all Chopin's works, it is heard comparatively
seldom. The best editions of the works are those of Kullak, Mikuli and
Klindworth.]

PRELUDE IN C MAJOR, OP. 28, NO. 1.

This Prelude, the first of the set of 24, is an excellent example of
the sonority Chopin gained from widely extended chords in the bass; by
the use--characteristically bold--of dissonances (measures 13-20), and
by the sensuous richness of the closing measures, in which a wonderful
wave of sound is produced through the damper pedal, in connection with
the blending of the tonic, dominant and subdominant chords. The
prelude is a kind of intensified Bach and may well be compared with
that prelude in the same key which begins the immortal well-tempered
Clavichord. All the Preludes, for their poetic import, finished style
and pianistic effect, are masterpieces of the first rank. Schumann
well says of them: "They are sketches, eagle's feathers, all strangely
intermingled. But in every piece we recognize the hand of Frederic
Chopin; he is the boldest, the proudest poet-soul of his time."

ETUDE IN A-FLAT MAJOR, OP. 25, NO. 1.

This etude, deservedly popular, may be considered the example _par
excellence_ of Chopin's style. The lyric beauty of the melody, the
fascinating modulations, the shades of color alike justify the
following rhapsodic comments of Schumann, "Imagine that an Aeolian
harp possessed all the musical scales, and that the hand of an artist
were to cause them to intermingle in all sorts of fantastic
embellishments, yet in such a way as to leave everywhere audible a
deep fundamental tone and a soft, continuously singing upper voice,
and you will get about the right idea. But it would be an error to
think that Chopin, in playing this etude, permitted every one of the
small notes to be distinctly heard. It was rather an undulation of the
A-flat major chord, here and there thrown aloft by the pedal.
Throughout the harmonies one always heard in great tones a wondrous
melody, while once only