I say anything on the extraordinary charge made against me--namely, that
in some cases I have preferred the testimony of less famous men to
that of Liszt? Are genius, greatness, and fame the measures of
trustworthiness?

As to Chopin, the composer of songs, the case is very simple. His
pianoforte pieces are original tone-poems of exquisite beauty; his
songs, though always acceptable, and sometimes charming, are not. We
should know nothing of them and the composer, if of his works they alone
had been published. In not publishing them himself, Chopin gave us his
own opinion, an opinion confirmed by the singers in rarely performing
them and by the public in little caring for them. In short, Chopin's
songs add nothing to his fame. To mention them in one breath with those
of Schubert and Schumann, or even with those of Robert Franz and
Adolf Jensen, is the act of an hero-worshipping enthusiast, not of a
discriminating critic.

On two points, often commented upon by critics, I feel regret, although
not repentance--namely, on any "anecdotic iconoclasm" where fact
refuted fancy, and on my abstention from pronouncing judgments where the
evidence was inconclusive. But how can a conscientious biographer help
this ungraciousness and inaccommodativeness? Is it not his duty to tell
the truth, and nothing but the truth, in order that his subject may
stand out unobstructed and shine forth unclouded?

In conclusion, two instances of careless reading. One critic, after
attributing a remark of Chopin's to me, exclaims: "The author is fond
of such violent jumps to conclusions." And an author, most benevolently
inclined towards me, enjoyed the humour of my first "literally ratting"
George Sand, and then saying that I "abstained from pronouncing judgment
because the complete evidence did not warrant my doing so." The former
(in vol. i.) had to do with George Sand's character; the latter (in vol.
ii.) with the moral aspect of her connection with Chopin.

An enumeration of the more notable books dealing with Chopin, published
after the issue of the earlier editions of the present book will form an
appropriate coda to this preface--"Frederic Francois Chopin," by Charles
Willeby; "Chopin, and Other Musical Essays," by Henry T. Finck; "Studies
in Modern Music" (containing an essay on Chopin), by W. H. Hadow;
"Chopin's Greater Works," by Jean Kleczynski, translated by Natalie
Janotha; and "Chopin: the Man and his Music," by James Huneker.