, and
tender, these Mazurkas, and some of them have a soft, melancholy light,
as if shining through alabaster--true corpse light leading to a morass
of doubt and terror. But a fantastic, dishevelled, debonair spirit is
the guide, and to him we abandon ourselves in these precise and
vertiginous dances.

XIV. CHOPIN THE CONQUEROR

The Scherzi of Chopin are of his own creation; the type as illustrated
by Beethoven and Mendelssohn had no meaning for him. Whether in earnest
or serious jest, Chopin pitched on a title that is widely misleading
when the content is considered. The Beethoven Scherzo is full of a
robust sort of humor. In it he is seldom poetical, frequently given to
gossip, and at times he hints at the mystery of life. The demoniacal
element, the fierce jollity that mocks itself, the almost titanic anger
of Chopin would not have been regarded by the composer of the Eroica
Symphony as adapted to the form. The Pole practically built up a new
musical structure, boldly called it a Scherzo, and, as in the case of
the Ballades, poured into its elastic mould most disturbing and
incomparable music.

Chopin seldom compasses sublimity. His arrows are tipped with fire, yet
they do not fly far. But in some of his music he skirts the regions
where abide the gods. In at least one Scherzo, in one Ballade, in the F
minor Fantaisie, in the first two movements of the B flat minor Sonata,
in several of the Eludes, and in one of the Preludes, he compasses
grandeur. Individuality of utterance, beauty of utterance, and the
eloquence we call divine are his; criticism then bows its questioning
brows before this anointed one. In the Scherzi Chopin is often prophet
as well as poet. He fumes and frets, but upon his countenance is the
precious fury of the sibyls. We see the soul that suffers from secret
convulsions, but forgive the writhing for the music made. These four
Scherzi are psychical records, confessions committed to paper of
outpourings that never could have passed the lips. From these alone we
may almost reconstruct the real Chopin, the inner Chopin, whose
conventional exterior so ill prepared the world for the tragic issues
of his music.

The first Scherzo is a fair model. There are a few bars of
introduction--the porch, as Niecks would call it--a principal subject,
a trio, a short working-out section, a skilful return to the opening
theme, and an elaborate coda. This edifice, not architecturally
flawless, is better