so delicately framed over-excited and
disarranged! Indeed, being vivacious, active, and hard-working, as he
was, he lived on his capital. The fire of youth overcame much, not,
however, without a dangerous waste of strength, the lamentable results
of which we shall see before we have gone much farther. This statement
of the case we find, I think, confirmed by Chopin's correspondence--the
letter written at Reinerz is in this respect noteworthy.

CHAPTER V.

MUSIC AND MUSICIANS IN POLAND BEFORE AND IN CHOPIN'S TIME.

THE golden age of Polish music, which coincides with that of Polish
literature, is the sixteenth century, the century of the Sigismonds. The
most remarkable musician of that time, and probably the greatest that
Poland produced previous to the present century, was Nicolas Gomolka,
who studied music in Italy, perhaps under Palestrina, in whose style
he wrote. Born in or about the beginning of the second half of the
sixteenth century, he died on March 5, 1609. During the reigns of the
kings of the house of Saxony (1697-1763) instrumental music is said
to have made much progress. Be this as it may, there was no lack of
opportunities to study good examples. Augustus the Strong (I. of
Saxony and II of Poland) established a special Polish band, called,
in contradistinction to the Grosse Kammermusik (Great Chamber-band) in
Dresden, Kleine Kammermusik (Little Chamber-band), whose business it was
to be in attendance when his majesty went to Poland. These visits took
place usually once a year, and lasted from, August to December, but
sometimes were more frequent, and shorter or longer, just as occasion
might call for. Among the members of the Polish band--which consisted
of a leader (Premier), four violins, one oboe, two French horns, three
bassoons, and one double bass--we meet with such well-known men as
Johann Joachim Quanz and Franz Benda. Their conductor was Alberto
Ristori, who at the same time held the post of composer to the Italian
actors, a company that, besides plays, performed also little operas,
serenades, intermezzi, &c. The usual retinue of the King on his visits
to Poland included also a part of the French ballet and comedy. These
travels of the artistic forces must have been rich in tragic, comic, and
tragi-comic incidents, and would furnish splendid material for the pen
of a novelist. But such a journey from the Saxon capital to Warsaw,
which took about eight days, and cost on an average