Bold, brilliant,
enchanting, his pieces _conceal their depth behind so much grace,
their erudition behind so much charm_, that it is difficult to
emancipate one's self from their overpowering magic and estimate them
according to their theoretic value. This fact is already recognized by
some competent judges, and it will be more and more generally realized
when the progress made in art during the Chopin epoch is carefully
studied."
That Elsner, Chopin's teacher, detected his pupil's originality, has
already been stated. Fortunately he allowed it a free rein instead of
trying to check and crush it, as teachers are in the habit of doing.
But there are some passages in Chopin's early letters which seem to
indicate that the general public and the professional musicians in his
native Poland were not so very much in advance of the Germans in
recognizing his musical genius. Liszt doubts whether Chopin's national
compositions were as fully appreciated by his countrymen as the work
of native poets; and Chopin writes to a friend, apropos of his second
concert at Warsaw: "The _elite_ of the musical world will be there;
but I have little confidence in their musical judgment--Elsner of
course excepted.
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