, 1828,
and after five days' posting arrived in Berlin, where they put up at
the Kronprinz. Among the conveniences of this hotel our friend had the
pleasant surprise of finding a good grand piano. He played on it every
day, and was rewarded for his pains not only by the pleasure it gave
him, but also by the admiration of the landlord. Through his travelling
companion's friend and teacher, M. H. K. Lichtenstein, professor of
zoology and director of the Zoological Museum, who was a member of
the Singakademie and on good terms with Zelter, the conductor of that
society, he hoped to be made acquainted with the most distinguished
musicians of the Prussian capital, and looked to Prince Radziwill for
an introduction to the musical autocrat Spontini, with whom Lichtenstein
was not on a friendly footing. In these hopes, however, Chopin was
disappointed, and had to content himself with looking at the stars from
afar. Speaking of a performance of the Singakademie at which he was
present, he says:--

Spontini, Zelter, and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy were also
there; but I spoke to none of these gentlemen, as I did not
think it becoming to introduce myself.

It is not difficult to discover the circumstances that in this respect
caused matters to turn out so little in accordance with the young man's
wishes. Prince Radziwill was not in Berlin when Chopin arrived, and,
although he was expected, perhaps never came, or came too late to be
of any use. As to Lichtenstein, his time was too much taken up by his
duties as secretary to the congress. Had this not been so, the professor
could not only have brought the young artist in contact with many of
the musical celebrities in Berlin, but also have told him much about his
intimate friend Carl Maria von Weber, who had died little more than
two years before. Lichtenstein's connection with Weber was probably
the cause of his disagreement with Spontini, alluded to by Chopin.
The latter relates in an off-hand way that he was introduced to and
exchanged a few words with the editor of the Berliner Musikzeitung,
without mentioning that this was Marx. The great theorist had of course
then still to make his reputation.

One cannot help wondering at the absence from Chopin's Berlin letters
of the name of Ludwig Berger, who, no doubt, like Bernhard Klein,
Rungenhagen, the brothers Ganz, and many another composer and virtuoso
in Berlin, was included in the collective expression "distinguished