some variations which astonished and
delighted the Capellmeister, who had not heard him for four years, so
much that he overwhelmed him with expressions of admiration. As the poor
amateur began to feel nervous, Chopin was pressed on all sides to take
that gentleman's place in the evening. Although he had not practised
for some weeks he consented, drove to the hotel, fetched the requisite
music, rehearsed, and in the evening performed the Romanza and Rondo of
his E minor Concerto and an improvisation on a theme from Auber's "La
Muette" ("Masaniello"). At the rehearsal the "Germans" admired his
playing; some of them he heard whispering "What a light touch he has!"
but not a word was said about the composition. The amateurs did not know
whether it was good or bad. Titus Woyciechowski heard one of them say
"No doubt he can play, but he can't compose." There was, however, one
gentleman who praised the novelty of the form, and the composer naively
declares that this was the person who understood him best. Speaking of
the professional musicians, Chopin remarks that, with the exception of
Schnabel, "the Germans" were at a loss what to think of him. The Polish
peasants use the word "German" as an invective, believe that the devil
speaks German and dresses in the German fashion, and refuse to take
medicine because they hold it to be an invention of the Germans and,
consequently, unfit for Christians. Although Chopin does not go so
far, he is by no means free from this national antipathy. Let his
susceptibility be ruffled by Germans, and you may be sure he will
remember their nationality. Besides old Schnabel there was among the
persons whose acquaintance Chopin made at Breslau only one other who
interests us, and interests us more than that respectable composer
of church music; and this one was the organist and composer Adolph
Frederick Hesse, then a young man of Chopin's age. Before long the
latter became better acquainted with him. In his account of his stay and
playing in the Silesian capital, he says of him only that "the second
local connoisseur, Hesse, who has travelled through the whole of
Germany, paid me also compliments."

Chopin continued his journey on November 10, and on November 12 had
already plunged into Dresden life. Two features of this, in some
respects quite unique, life cannot but have been particularly attractive
to our traveller--namely, its Polish colony and the Italian opera. The
former owed its origin to