ted between Chopin,
Slavik, and Merk. [FOOTNOTE: Thus the name is spelt in Mendel's
Musikalisches Conversations-Lexikon and by E. A. Melis, the Bohemian
writer on music. Chopin spells it Slawik. The more usual spelling,
however, is Slawjk; and in C.F. Whistling's Handbuch der musikalischen
Literatur (Leipzig, 1828) it is Slavjk.] Joseph Slavik had come to
Vienna in 1825 and had at once excited a great sensation. He was then
a young man of nineteen, but technically already superior to all the
violinists that had been heard in the Austrian capital. The celebrated
Mayseder called him a second Lipinski. Pixis, his master at the
Conservatorium in Prague, on seeing some of this extraordinary pupil's
compositions--a concerto, variations, &c.--had wondered how anyone could
write down such mad, unplayable stuff. But Slavik before leaving Prague
proved at a farewell concert that there was at least one who could play
the mad stuff. All this, however, was merely the prelude to what was yet
to come. The appearance of Paganini in 1828 revealed to him the,
till then, dimly-perceived ideal of his dreams, and the great Italian
violinist, who took an interest in this ardent admirer and gave him some
hints, became henceforth his model. Having saved a little money, he went
for his further improvement to Paris, studying especially under Baillot,
but soon returned to accept an engagement in the Imperial Band. When
after two years of hard practising he reappeared before the public
of Vienna, his style was altogether changed; he mastered the same
difficulties as Paganini, or even greater ones, not, however, with the
same unfailing certainty, nor with an always irreproachable intonation.
Still, there can be no doubt that had not a premature death (in 1833, at
the age of twenty-seven) cut short his career, he would have spread his
fame all over the world. Chopin, who met him first at Wurfel's, at once
felt a liking for him, and when on the following day he heard him play
after dinner at Beyer's, he was more pleased with his performance than
with that of any other violinist except Paganini. As Chopin's playing
was equally sympathetic to Slavik, they formed the project of writing
a duet for violin and piano. In a letter to his friend Matuszynski
(December 25, 1830) Chopin writes:--

I have just come from the excellent violinist Slavik. With
the exception of Paganini, I never heard a violin-player like
him. Ninety-six staccato notes in one