On the reverse, the design represents a lyre,
surrounded by a laurel branch, and having engraved upon it the
opening bars of the Mazurka in A flat major. The name of the
great composer with the dates of his birth and death, are given
in the margin. Paderewski is heading a movement to remove from
Paris to Warsaw the ashes of the pianist, but it is doubtful if
it can be managed. Paris will certainly object to losing the
bones of such a genius.
Chopin's acoustic parallelisms are not so concrete, so vivid as
Wagner's. Nor are they so theatrical, so obvious. It does not,
however, require much fancy to conjure up "the drums and
tramplings of three conquests" in the Eroica Polonaise or the F
sharp major Impromptu. The rhythms of the Cradle Song and the
Barcarolle are suggestive enough and if you please there are dew-
drops in his cadenzas and there is the whistling of the wind in
the last A minor Study. Of the A flat Study Chopin said: "Imagine
a little shepherd who takes refuge in a peaceful grotto from an
approaching storm. In the distance rushes the wind and the rain,
while the shepherd gently plays a melody on his flute.
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