The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-03-23

CHOPIN
Hats OF. gentlemen. senlusl"

! Hats OF, gentlemen, aEeniusF
win those words Robert Schumann.
! in His character Of Eusebius, the mild
and dreamy. the gentle and sentiment
| tai welcomed the young Polish com
! poser. Frederic Chopin. sixty years ago.
/ Juifus Knorr. the pianist. who de-
srribes the conversation between the
"Davidsbundler," the hosts OK
David" replies:
Chopin? I have never heard tho
name before--who may he be? Yet
stii he's q genius
! And heated with much discus
! sion" the Imaginary army go to see
! "Neister Raro." who is Schumann
again AS umrire, cool and critical be-
! tween his own contrary and conflicting
/ natures.
"Meister Raro~ laughed much. and
showed small curiosity over the new
work.
II know you and your new-fangled
epthuaiasm.' he cries, tTbut let me see
I your Chopin once"
Henreforth sEusehius," ~FFaorcstan,"
and 'Meiater Raro," that trinity OF
| critics. ali are one In their admira-
| ton Of Chopin. tbe first OK the sener-
| ours youth ito scale the wall and fall
I upon the sleeping Ph'listines." and
! whip them hip and thigh, In that MEM
orabie uprising OF art which dates
/ from 1890.
| sIfe came not" says Schumann,
! with an orchestral army, as great
reniuses are wont to come. He pos
sesSes only little cohort- but II be-
4 longs to him4whoily and entirely. even
j to the fast hero. :.
! Frederic WAS OF rarely sensitive ma
/ ture. All that f. known of his early
/ childhood Is the fact that he could not
hear music without sobbing violently.
HIS first and only piano teacher was
! the Bohemian Adalbert Zywny, and his
progress was so rapid that at eight ne
I played before numerous company,
/ and was regarded as second Mo-
cart.
! zynwv, though not himself the best
pianist at Warsaw. was a wise ana
/ admirable teacher His great hobby
was Bach and thus Chopin had for a
/ foundation this cornerstone of classic
| pianism., The tempered clavi-
! chord" was his daily bread. After
ward, when about to give concert.
] instead of practictng hN own eompo-
/ sitions. he would shut himself up for
( fortnight and play his Bach
/ He was equally fortunate in his
master in composition This was Jos
/ ern %aver Eisner.a native of Silesia,
4 who after a busy and varied life, had
I settled IN Warsaw. as musical conduc-
/ tor of the theater. He was a dlrec-
tor Of the Warsaw conservatory so
long as II existed. and a man Of Keen
insight and Ano ability; Full OF noble
ness Of purpose. learning, industry.
! perseverance,"
He saw what a~Eenins Chopin WAS,
I and said Leave him alone; he Is ex-
| traordtnarE1y gifted. He does not stick
TO the traditional methods, for he has
/ his own, and he win develop an orig
/ inaiity never before discovered in such
4 n degree"
Many teashers would have tried to
run his genius into mold. Then
after wasting. perhaps. years of his life
i in the va in effort to stick to the mold
he would have split 1t by q sudden
! effort, and become unhampered ex.
/ cent so far as pieces of the mold tlung
to him.
That is what is generally meant By
a mans three styles He begins rs ar
iraitator. Then follows the period OF
the mold. Then the originality asserts
itself.
Chopin was original from che begin
ming. At first. To BIO cure. he wa,
more successful in evoking the tricks,
spirits on the pfanoforte than In catch
ing them and confning them between
the bars. Afterwards his power ais
came to him He might have had Sc
verer training. but tho world wouls
probably have lost.
Fisher had the strength OF his In
sight to resist the criticisms OF pcopl
who thought Chopin should be drilles
In Himmel and Hummel. THE cleve
ran 1Isfsrer. says & correspondent &
schumann's journal. very clearly per
ceived what a poetic germ there wa
In the pale young dreamer. and fel
very keenly that he had under him tn
founder of a new epoch OF pianofort
playing. and declined to put \ nose
band upon him. knowing we'll, tina
such noble Thoroughbred may. In
deed. be cautiously led, but must no