The trio and 'cello sonata were also tasks for whose
accomplishment Nature did not design him. He must touch the keys
by himself without being called upon to heed the players sitting
next him. He is at his best when without formal restraint, he can
create out of his inmost soul."
"He must touch the keys by himself!" There you have summed up in
a phrase the reason Chopin never succeeded in impressing his
individuality upon the sonata form and his playing upon the
masses. His was the lonely soul. George Sand knew this when she
wrote, "He made an instrument speak the language of the infinite.
Often in ten lines that a child might play he has introduced
poems of unequalled elevation, dramas unrivalled in force and
energy. He did not need the great material methods to find
expression for his genius. Neither saxophone nor ophicleide was
necessary for him to fill the soul with awe. Without church organ
or human voice he inspired faith and enthusiasm."
It might be remarked here that Beethoven, too, aroused a
wondering and worshipping world without the aid of saxophone or
ophicleide.
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