2
he uttered his historical cry. Today we wonder somewhat at his
enthusiasm. It is the old story--a generation seeks to know, a
generation comprehends and enjoys, and a generation discards.
Opus 1, a Rondo in C minor, dedicated to Madame de Linde, saw the
light in 1825, but it was preceded by two polonaises, a set of
variations, and two mazurkas in G and B flat major. Schumann
declared that Chopin's first published work was his tenth, and
that between op. 1 and 2 there lay two years and twenty works. Be
this as it may, one cannot help liking the C minor Rondo. In the
A flat section we detect traces of his F minor Concerto. There is
lightness, joy in creation, which contrast with the heavy, dour
quality of the C minor Sonata, op. 4. Loosely constructed, in a
formal sense, and too exuberant for his strict confines, this op.
1 is remarkable, much more remarkable, than Schumann's Abegg
variations.
The Rondo a la Mazur, in F, is a further advance. It is dedicated
to Comtesse Moriolles, and was published in 1827 (?). Schumann
reviewed it in 1836.
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