us number), and a Funeral March (Op. 726). I will
not too confidently assert that every one of the last four works was
composed in the spring or early summer of 1829; but whether they were or
were not, they may be properly ranged with those previously mentioned
of 1827 and 1828. The works that bear a higher opus number than 65 were
published after the composer's death by Fontana. The Waltz without opus
number and the Sonata, Op. 4, are likewise posthumous publications.

The works enumerated above may be divided into three groups, the first
of which comprises the Sonata, the Trio, and the Rondo for two pianos.

The Sonata (in C minor) for piano, Op. 4, of which Chopin wrote as early
as September 9, 1828, that it had been for some time in the hands of
Haslinger at Vienna, was kept by this publisher in manuscript till after
the composer's death, being published only in July, 1851. "As a pupil
of his I dedicated it to Elsner," says Chopin. It is indeed a pupil's
work--an exercise, and not a very successful one. The exigencies of the
form overburdened the composer and crushed all individuality out of him.
Nowhere is Chopin so little himself, we may even say so unlike himself.
The distribution of keys and the character of the themes show that the
importance of contrast in the construction of larger works was
still unsuspected by him. The two middle movements, a Menuetto and a
Larghetto--although in the latter the self-imposed fetters of the 5-4
time prevent the composer from feeling quite at his ease--are more
attractive than the rest. In them are discernible an approach to freedom
and something like a breath of life, whereas in the first and the last
movement there is almost nothing but painful labour and dull monotony.
The most curious thing, however, about this work is the lumbering
passage-writing of our graceful, light-winged Chopin.

Infinitely superior to the Sonata is the Trio for piano, violin, and
violoncello, Op. 8, dedicated to Prince Anton Radziwill, which was
published in March, 1833. It was begun early in 1828, was "not yet
finished" on September 9, and "not yet quite finished" on December 27 of
that year. Chopin tried the first movement in the summer of 1828, and we
may assume that, a few details and improvements excepted, the whole
was completed at the beginning of 1829. A considerable time, however,
elapsed before the composer declared it ready for the press. On August
31, 1830, he writes:--

I tried t