er of its own. Liszt, who did not speak merely from
hearsay, emphasises, in giving expression to his admiration of the
elegant and refined manners of the Polish aristocracy, the absence of
formalism and stiff artificiality:--

In these salons [he writes] the rigorously observed
proprieties were not a kind of ingeniously-constructed
corsets that served to hide deformed hearts; they only
necessitated the spiritualisation of all contacts, the
elevation of all rapports, the aristocratisation of all
impressions.

But enough of this for the present.

A surer proof of Frederick's ability than the applause and favour of the
aristocracy was the impression he made on the celebrated Catalani, who,
in January, 1820, gave four concerts in the town-hall of Warsaw, the
charge for admission to each of which was, as we may note in passing, no
less than thirty Polish florins (fifteen shillings). Hearing much of the
musically-gifted boy, she expressed the wish to have him presented to
her. On this being done, she was so pleased with him and his playing
that she made him a present of a watch, on which were engraved the
words: "Donne par Madame Catalani a Frederic Chopin, age de dix ans."

As yet I have said nothing of the boy's first attempts at composition.
Little Frederick began to compose soon after the commencement of his
pianoforte lessons and before he could handle the pen. His master had
to write down what the pupil played, after which the youthful maestro,
often dissatisfied with his first conception, would set to work with the
critical file, and try to improve it. He composed mazurkas, polonaises,
waltzes, &c. At the age of ten he dedicated a march to the Grand Duke
Constantine, who had it scored for a military band and played on parade
(subsequently it was also published, but without the composer's name),
and these productions gave such evident proof of talent that his father
deemed it desirable to get his friend Elsner to instruct him in
harmony and counterpoint. At this time, however, it was not as yet in
contemplation that Frederick should become a professional musician; on
the contrary, he was made to understand that his musical studies must
not interfere with his other studies, as he was then preparing for his
entrance into the Warsaw Lyceum. As we know that this event took place
in 1824, we know also the approximate time of the commencement of
Elsner's lessons. Fontana says that Chopin began these stud