There is a third peculiarity of Chopin's style which may be included
under the name of _rubato_, namely, his habit of "robbing" the note,
not of its duration, but its _accent_. Every student of music knows
that the symphony and sonata are called "idealized dance forms,"
because they are direct outgrowths of the dances that were cultivated
originally in Italy, France, and Germany. Now, one peculiarity of
these dances is the fact that the accent always falls on the first
beat of each bar. This is very appropriate and convenient for dancing,
but from an artistic point of view, it is decidedly monotonous. Hence,
Chopin conferred a vast benefit on modern art by introducing the
spirit of Slavic music, in which the accent often falls on other beats
beside the first. These regular accents produce the effect of the
variable _tempo rubato_, and it is to them that Chopin's works largely
owe their exotic, poetic color. As they open up new possibilities of
emotional expression, they have been eagerly appropriated by other
composers and have leavened all modern music. To Chopin, therefore,
chiefly belongs the honor of having emancipated music from the
monotony of the Western European dance-beat by means of the _tempo
rubato_ in its varied aspects.

But, it was not merely in the accent of the dance forms, that he
introduced an agreeable innovation; he was one of the giants who helped
to create a new epoch in art, by breaking these old forms altogether,
and substituting new ones better suited to modern tastes. And here we
come across one of the most ludicrous misconceptions which have been
fostered concerning Chopin by shallow critics, and which brings us back
again for a moment to the question of Jumboism. I do not know whether
he was a German or a French critic who first wrote that Chopin,
although great in short pieces, was not great enough to master the