, 1874-10-25

il you will"
work his whole soul and will Then the emo
tlon OF the audience Was Of altogether different
nature; there were tears and sobs, but no long
er those soft tears which Chopin had caused 10
How. but the ''cruel tear" !" Of which Othcl,o
speaks. The melody Of the second artist did
not find its way s!o ty into tho heart of tie list
oner: it was thrust into it like dagger 1t was
not nc an eiegy; it was drama: Yet Chopin
thought that evening that he had eclipsed Liazt.
aad boosted Of his achievement. saying: t.How
ye1ed he was !" Liszt heard Of this, and took
his revenge only "a intelligent artist. like
bimae1f could hare done- THIS is the highly
original plan he carried into execution four CT
five days afterward:
The company waa assembled at the same hour,
that ia to say, toward midnight Liszt asked
Chopin to play. After considerable persuasion
the latter yielded Liszt requested that the
lamps should be e1tinsuished and the curtains
drawn, in order that they might bs in total dark
ness. It was an artists caprice, and was acced-
ed to. As Chopin was stepping to the piano,
Liszt whispered rapidly few words in his cur,
and took his seat. Chopin, who was far from un-
deEstandins his friends intentions, quietly
threw himself into the nearest nrm-chair- Then
Liszt played the same pieces Chopin had e1ecut-
ed on that memorable evening Of which have
/ already spoken. He initiated Chopin's stylo
with such fidelity that it would have been i'm
possible for any one not to have been mistaken.
Everybody was deceived; all experienced the
| same raptures, the same emotions. When the
ecstasy was at its height, L'szt struck . match
and lighted candle which stood on the piano.
A cry OF astoniahmont broka forth.
"What! It il you?"
"As you Bee."
"Wo all thought it WAS Chopin"
| "What do you say to this 2" asked Iiazt Of his
rival.
Chopin"
be Chopin when he pleases; but could Chopin
| It was challenge; but Chopin would not, OF
! dared not, accept it, .Llszt was reyeuged-
! Sometimes there we're impronptu comedies or
| dramas. There was pretty theatre, and q large
assortment OF costumes. We wera only given
the subject OF tho play, and the order OF
the scenes. The performers wero TO improv;ee
the dialogue. Liszt andiChopin constituted the
| orchestra-one seated at the piano at the right,
| the other at an instrument at the left, and both
| concealed by drsperies- They were to follow
| the performance, and improvise preIudes in
keeping with the aciou Of the play. Here,
again, am obliged to acknowledge my incom-
| potency to reproduce what ! heard The two
artists, gifted with wonderful memories. and
familiar with all the 1talian, German, and French
operas gr1sped with marvellous p1omptitude tbs
themes suited to the situations. and developed
| them with so much spirit and such An ardent de-
sire Of superiority over each other that the
| actors, who themselves were doing wonders.
| were conatrained to csy out !" Enough! enough!
why waste auch beauties ?" The noble amuse-
meuts were invariably followed by superb and
loJous supper.
A volume could readily be filed with rccollec-
tions OF that summer saason but: not to tire
the reader, will conclude with an artists fan
taisie, OF which few examples will be found, at
least with similar circumstances:
At the foot Of the garden vas an opeu plece
Of ground, which overlooked tho entire - Black
Valley" It had been neatly paved; they had
placed upon it table and somo stone benchea,
| With rustic sofas and chairs, and tho place WEB
surrounded by strong iron balustcra, in ordar
that, when children we're 1T play, there might Ia
no danger OF falling into the ravlne below. Ihls
spot was famous for its echo, which repeated ;
SPOKEN word three or four times with absolute
correctness The children often amused then-
selves Nth what they called making the echo
talk" Que evening somebody had the idea to
have the piano tasen there, in order to have tn'
forest repeat some romantic music The snySes-
ton was mned:ate}y adopted, and the guests CT
the the house took the magnificent Erard Z
their shoulders, and proceeded to the spot:
It vas u fine evening" not bAthed in moonlg1AA
but bright with stars. The air was calm. The
piano was tuned. and opened IN the direction OF
the valley, and List was ths first to strike OFT
With his tremendous touch, the ndnirab:1
Hunters Chorus" from s.Eu1yanthe." 1t
may be supposed, be stopped after every phrast
to wait for the echos answer After the lrft
| pause we we're all enthusiasm, we hearscueo to
new, au immense, al ideal poesy. Tho mnsi-
cal phrase WAS too long to be repeated Clearly b!
the frat and second echos, but the third and
fourth rendered it fau1tlessly. List was IN
spired and continued hastenns ailtt,e ING nme;
! What shall say? Each phrase awakened most
ardent curiosity and breathless attention.
The laas but one, especially "hen tho eno1us
in unison falls on terrible y. nat ,th ro1leo
through the woods OF tho blaeA saAes VIII =. "a
> sinister sound, but the final phrase, where it sc
proudly takes up the key Of E lat, announced
the victory Of the human Will over the obstacles IS
Of nature. After the fanfare so "e1t suited 70
tho occasion Chopin took Llszts plhce, ana
made the echo alternately sing ana cry. ne "aa
at that time composing his lmpromftu, VPus oo.
it am not mlstakeo, ana ne pla9ed !o1 Ine nis4 y
| middle OF the composition CHOPIN VAS Gu
raptured with tn1s dlaphanous, tso'iAu nualc. NJ
/ prolonged much moro tnan Lls1s n1s Gonse18a-
ton with the eplf1ts OF tne Val1es 1nolo TEa
carri ed on between them anu MN strange ola-
logue full OF whispers and nuElnurs, and re.
!: sembling an incantation scene. Ine mistress OF
| the chateau was obliged to tear him from tno