ling of the wind in the last A minor Study. Of the A flat Study
Chopin said: "Imagine a little shepherd who takes refuge in a peaceful
grotto from an approaching storm. In the distance rushes the wind and
the rain, while the shepherd gently plays a melody on his flute." This
is quoted by Kleczynski. There are word-whisperings in the next study
in F minor, whilst the symbolism of the dance--the Valse, Mazurka,
Polonaise, Menuetto, Bolero, Schottische, Krakowiak and Tarantella--is
admirably indicated in all of them. The bells of the Funeral March, the
will o' wisp character of the last movement of the B flat minor Sonata,
the dainty Butterfly Study in G flat, opus 25, the aeolian murmurs of
the E flat Study, in opus 10, the tiny prancing silvery hoofs in the F
major Study, opus 25, the flickering flame-like C major Study No. 7,
opus 10, the spinning in the D flat Valse and the cyclonic rush of
chromatic double notes in the E flat minor Scherzo--these are not
studied imitations but spontaneous transpositions to the ideal plane of
primary, natural phenomena.

Chopin's system--if it be a system--of cadenzas, fioriture
embellishment and ornamentation is perhaps traceable to the East. In
his "Folk Music Studies," Mr. H. E. Krehbiel quotes the description of
"a rhapsodical embellishment, called 'alap,' which after going through
a variety of ad libitum passages, rejoins the melody with as much grace
as if it had never been disunited, the musical accompaniment all the
while keeping time. These passages are not reckoned essential to the
melody, but are considered only as grace notes introduced according to
the fancy of the singer, when the only limitations by which the
performer is bound are the notes peculiar to that particular melody and
a strict regard to time."

Chopin founded no school, although the possibilities of the piano were
canalized by him. In playing, as in composition, only the broad trend
of his discoveries may be followed, for his was a manner not a method.
He has had for followers Liszt, Rubinstein, Mikuli, Zarembski,
Nowakowski, Xaver Scharwenka, Saint-Saens, Scholtz, Heller, Nicode,
Moriz Moszkowski, Paderewski, Stojowski, Arenski, Leschetizki, the two
Wieniawskis, and a whole group of the younger Russians Liadoff,
Scriabine and the rest. Even Brahms--in his F sharp major Sonata and E
flat minor Scherzo--shows Chopin's influence. Indeed but for Chopin
much modern music would not exist.

But a genuine school