hem decidedly commonplace--Nos.
1, 5, 8, and also 4 and 12 may be instanced; several, and these
belong to the better ones, exceedingly simple and in the style of
folk-songs--No. 2 consists of a phrase of four bars (accompanied by a
pedal bass and the tonic and dominant harmonies) repeated alternately in
G minor and B flat major; and a few more developed in form and of a more
artistic character. In the symphonies (the preludes, interludes, &c.) of
the songs, we meet now and then with reminiscences from his instrumental
pieces. In one or two cases one notices also pretty tone-painting--for
instance, No. 10, "Horseman before the Battle," and No. 15, "The return
Home" (storm). Among the most noteworthy are: the already-described No.
2; the sweetly-melancholy No. 3; the artistically more dignified No. 9;
the popular No. 13; the weird No. 15; and the impressive, but, by
its terrible monotony, also oppressive No. 17 ("Poland's Dirge"). The
mazurka movement and the augmented fourth degree of the scale (Nos. 2
and 4) present themselves, apart from the emotional contents, as the
most strikingly-national features of these songs. Karasowski states that
many songs sung by the people in Poland are attributed to Chopin, chief
among them one entitled "The third of May."

I must not conclude this chapter without saying something about the
editions of Chopin's works. The original French, German, and English
editions all leave much to be desired in the way of correctness. To
begin with, the composer's manuscripts were very negligently prepared,
and of the German and the English, and even of the French edition, he
did not always see the proofs; and, whether he did or not, he was not
likely to be a good proof-reader, which presupposes a special talent,
or rather disposition. Indeed, that much in the preparation of the
manuscripts for the press and the correction of the proofs was left to
his friends and pupils may be gathered both from his letters and from
other sources. "The first comprehension of the piece," says Schumann,
in speaking of the German edition of the Tarantella, "is, unfortunately,
rendered very difficult by the misprints with which it is really
swarming." Those who assisted Chopin in the work incident to
publication--more especially by copying his autographs--were Fontana,
Wolff, Gutmann, and in later years Mikuli and Tellefsen.

Here I may fitly insert a letter written by Chopin to Maurice
Schlesinger on July 22, 1843 (not