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Huneker, James, 1860-1921

"Chopin : the Man and His Music"

Pathos,
delicacy, boldness, a measured melancholy and the art of
euphonious presentiment of all these, and many factors more,
stamp this Mazurka a masterpiece.
Niecks believes there is a return of the early freshness and
poetry in the last three Mazurkas, op. 63. "They are, indeed,
teeming with interesting matter," he writes. "Looked at from the
musician's point of view, how much do we not see novel and
strange, beautiful and fascinating withal? Sharp dissonances,
chromatic passing notes, suspensions and anticipations,
displacement of accent, progressions of perfect fifths--the
horror of schoolmen--sudden turns and unexpected digressions that
are so unaccountable, so out of the line of logical sequence,
that one's following the composer is beset with difficulties. But
all this is a means to an end, the expression of an individuality
with its intimate experiences. The emotional content of many of
these trifles--trifles if considered only by their size--is
really stupendous." Spoken like a brave man and not a pedant!
Full of vitality is the first number of op.


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