considerably later time. Chopin's individuality, it is true, is
here still in a rudimentary state, chiefly manifested in the
light-winged figuration; the thoughts and the expression,
however, are natural and even graceful, bearing thus the divine
impress. The echoes of Weber should be noted. Of two mazurkas, in
G and B flat major, of the year 1825, the first is, especially in
its last part, rather commonplace; the second is more
interesting, because more suggestive of better things, which the
first is only to an inconsiderable extent. In No. 2 we meet
already with harmonic piquancies which charmed musicians and
lovers of music so much in the later mazurkas. Critics and
students will not overlook the octaves between, treble and bass
in the second bar of part two in No. 1. A. Polonaise in B flat
minor, superscribed "Farewell to William Kolberg," of the year
1826, has not less naturalness and grace than the Polonaise of
1822, but in addition to these qualities, it has also at least
one thought (part 1) which contains something of the sweet ring
of Chopinian melancholy. The trio of the Polonaise is headed by
the words: "Au revoir! after an aria from 'Gazza ladra'." Two
foot-notes accompany this composition in the Breitkopf and Hartel
edition (No. 16 of the Posthumous Works). The first says that the
Polonaise was composed "at Chopin's departure from [should be
'for'] Reinerz"; and the second, in connection with the trio,
that "some days before Chopin's departure the two friends had
been present at a performance of Rossini's opera." There is one
other early posthumously-published work of Chopin's, whose
status, however, differs from the above-mentioned ones in this,
that the composer seems to have intended to publish it. The
composition in question is the Variations sur un air national
allemand.