nharmonic change from E-flat to D-sharp. This first part, remarkable
for its passionate, headlong impetuosity, should dispel any idea that
Chopin was a weak sentimentalist. Although of a delicate constitution
he certainly had a fiery soul. The second part, sotto voce--note the
feminine endings--reminds us of the muffled music of a military band
as it passes by.

[Footnote 225: For an account of its origin see the chapter in
Huneker's book and the article on the Polonaise in Grove's
Dictionary.]

BARCAROLLE IN F-SHARP MAJOR, OP. 60.

This composition, in many ways the most wonderful single piece we have
from Chopin, is the quintessence of his genius. It seems, in fact, to
contain everything: appealing melodies, wealth of harmony, bold
dissonances (note in particular the 6th and 7th measures of the Coda),
brilliant embellishments; and withal, it is written in a pianistic
style which, for richness and warmth of color, is quite unsurpassed.
It is also most sincerely conceived, intensifying the suggestiveness
of the descriptive title. Would that objective program music were
always so true to life and to the real nature of music! It is in free
three-part form, the first part of a calm nature in which we are
rocked on gently undulating waves; a more rhythmic second part where,
as Kullak says, the bass seems to suggest the monotonous steadiness of
oar-strokes; an interlude, marked "dolce sfogato," introduced by some
delightful modulations, as if in a quiet nook the poet were dreaming
of the beauties of love and nature; an impassioned return to the chief
subject, together with a partial presentation of the middle portion;
and finally a long and brilliant coda. The composition is unique in
romantic literature for its power to arouse the imagination, or, as
Schumann so well says, "to set people romancing for themselves."

SCHERZO IN C-SHARP MINOR, OP. 39.

The four Scherzos, for passion and eloquence, rank among Chopin's most
characteristic works, though it seems impossible to trace a logical
correspondence between the former classic meaning of the term
"Scherzo" and the contents revealed to us in these poems; save that
they are all in triple rhythm, hence on a dance-form basis. As Niecks
well says, "There is in them neither frolicsomeness nor humor"--such,
for example, as we find in Beethoven's Scherzos--and he suggests that
"Capriccio" might be a less misleading designation. But, however
inexplicable the title which Hu