It has three requirements: The
comprehension of the programme as a whole,--for Chopin writes
according to a programme, to the situations in life best known
to, and understood by himself; and in an adequate manner; the
conquest of the stupendous difficulties in complicated
figures, winding harmonies and formidable passages.
Tausig fulfilled these requirements, presenting an embodiment
of the signification and the feeling of the work. The Ballade--
andante con moto, six-eighths--begins in the major key of the
dominant; the seventh measure comes to a stand before a
fermata on C major. The easy handling of these seven measures
Tausig interpreted thus: 'The piece has not yet begun;' in his
firmer, nobly expressive exposition of the principal theme,
free from sentimentality--to which one might easily yield--the
grand style found due scope. An essential requirement in an
instrumental virtuoso is that he should understand how to
breathe, and how to allow his hearers to take breath--giving
them opportunity to arrive at a better understanding.
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