For a generation accustomed to the realism of
Richard Strauss, the Fantaisie-Polonaise seems vaporous and
idealistic, withal new. It recalls one of those enchanted flasks
of the magii from which on opening smoke exhales that gradually
shapes itself into fantastic and fearsome figures. This Polonaise
at no time exhibits the solidity of its two predecessors; its
plasticity defies the imprint of the conventional Polonaise,
though we ever feel its rhythms. It may be full of monologues,
interspersed cadenzas, improvised preludes and short phrases, as
Kullak suggests, yet there is unity in the composition, the units
of structure and style. It was music of the future when Chopin
composed; it is now music of the present, as much as Richard
Wagner's. But the realism is a trifle clouded. Here is the
duality of Chopin the suffering man and Chopin the prophet of
Poland. Undimmed is his poetic vision--Poland will be free!--
undaunted his soul, though oppressed by a suffering body. There
are in the work throes of agony blended with the trumpet notes of
triumph.
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