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Huneker, James, 1860-1921

"Chopin : the Man and His Music"

64 were published
September, 1847, and are respectively dedicated to the Comtesse
Delphine Potocka, the Baronne Nathaniel de Rothschild and the
Baronne Bronicka.
I shall not presume to speak of the execution of the D flat
Valse; like the rich, it is always with us. It is usually taken
at a meaningless, rapid gait. I have heard it played by a genuine
Chopin pupil, M. Georges Mathias, and he did not take it
prestissimo. He ran up the D flat scale, ending with a sforzato
at the top, and gave a variety of nuance to the composition. The
cantabile is nearly always delivered with sloppiness of
sentiment. This valse has been served up in a highly indigestible
condition for concert purposes by Tausig, Joseffy--whose
arrangement was the first to be heard here--Theodore Ritter,
Rosenthal and Isidor Philipp.
The C sharp minor Valse is the most poetic of all. The first
theme has never been excelled by Chopin for a species of veiled
melancholy. It is a fascinating, lyrical sorrow, and what Kullak
calls the psychologic motivation of the first theme in the
curving figure of the second does not relax the spell.


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