Much in miniature are these sculptured Preludes of the Polish
poet.
VIII. IMPROMPTUS AND VALSES
To write of the four Impromptus in their own key of unrestrained
feeling and pondered intention would not be as easy as
recapturing the first "careless rapture" of the lark. With all
the freedom of an improvisation the Chopin impromptu has a well
defined form. There is structural impulse, although the patterns
are free and original. The mood-color is not much varied in
three, the first, third and fourth, but in the second there is a
ballade-like quality that hints of the tragic. The A flat
Impromptu, op. 29, is, if one is pinned down to the title, the
happiest named of the set. Its seething, prankish, nimble,
bubbling quality is indicated from the start; the D natural in
the treble against the C and E flat--the dominant--in the bass is
a most original effect, and the flowing triplets of the first
part of this piece give a ductile, gracious, high-bred character
to it. The chromatic involutions are many and interesting. When
the F minor part is reached the ear experiences the relief of a
strongly contrasted rhythm.
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