Chopin: His Wit and Humour

Author(s): Mrs. Frank Liebich

Source: The Musical Times, Vol. 69, No. 1025 (Jul. 1, 1928), pp. 604-606
Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/917117
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604 THE MUSICAL TIMES-JULY 1 1928

been reduced to complete formlessness, since developed,butwe nowfindinit,notan extension

co-ordinatesand landmarksof everykindhave of the conceptof euphony,but of a taste for
disappearedfromit, has in these days arrived cacophony, and the musical consciousness
at the rejection of the fundamentalspheresbecomes unexactingand rudimentary-itis a
fromwhichit set out-the spheresofexpressive-matterof indifference whethera thingbe true
ness and euphony. The eras of the past or false, and on this point the musician,the
establishednew paths to the attainmentof contemporary composer,offershis hand to the
beauty and new methods of acquiring the man who simplyhas no ear formusic.
maximumof expressiveness, but this is not a Hence we now have in this art which has
characteristicfeatureof contemporarymusic, transgressedthe bounds of music a series of
whichdeniesthenecessityforeither. It desires characteristic phenomena. We saw earlierthat
frankly to be unexpressiveand unbeautiful, and at one timeeuphonywas occasionallysacrificed
this leads to self-destruction, since labour de- forthe sake of expressiveness-theinnovators
voted to thingsthat have no beauty or emo- broke through the customary restraintsof
tionalsignificance is of no use to anybody,and euphony in order to express new sensations.
the significanceof these principles(or lack of And conversely, expressiveness was diminished
principles)cannot be likenedto art, but must and curtailedforthe sake of euphony,lest the
be includedin the categoryof violationsof the former shouldexceedthelimitsofagreeableness.
public peace and tranquillity. Now,however, thereis confusion;theinnovators
This,ofcourse,showsthatmusicis exceedingdestroy euphony for some reason unknown,
its limits and is being transformed into non- sincetheyrejectthenecessityforexpressiveness.
music. On thesequestionsI am quiteobjective. Musicis occupyingitself,strangelyand without
I know that many composers,conservativeby any justification,in the productionof casual
conviction,are now writingindifferent, neutral,noisesand sounds,and approximatesmoreand
untalented,dull music,but it is music,and not moreto unmitigated charlatanism,whichcounts
somethingelse. Even the very difficulty of on the public's confidingnature and want of
producinginteresting music to-dayis perfectlydevelopment ; or to the typeof activityof the
naturaland comprehensible because, as I have mentallyafflicted.But the bulk of the people,
already said, the musical sphereis built over, who still possess the heritageof the age-long
and thosemusicianswho mightonce have been traditionof taste and simplyan ear formusic,
recognizedas geniuses,in view of theirtalents,unspoiledand not deficient,are beginningto
must now be satisfiedwith the modesttitleof understandthatinsteadofbreadtheyareoffered
epigoni. In this is contained only a bitter a stone; that they are being nourishedon
truth. But, on the other hand, men have products of an inferiorquality; that their
appeared who write 'violations of the public snobbishfeelingsare being played upon; and
peace and tranquillity,'possiblyworksofgenius, that the edifice of musical culture is being
witty,diverting-but not music. Every con- steadilyundermined.
cept has its limitations,and to confusethemis byS. W. Pring.)
(Translated
onlyin the interestsof the charlatans.
Tonal combinations lackingeven thedesireto CHOPIN: HIS WIT AND HUMOUR
be expressiveand euphonioushave no rightto BY MRS. FRANKLIEBICH
be entitledmusic. You may tell me that the From several 19th-centurybiographersof
concepts of euphony and expressivenessare Chopin one seems to derive a more vivid im-
relative,but, whilstthoroughlyagreeingwith pressionof his momentsof despondencythan
this,I would observethat the relativityof the of his hours of genialityand happiness. It is
conceptof euphonyconsistsmerelyin the fact to the best interpreters of his music that one
that our ear graduallyaccustoms itselfto a turnsfora fartruerpresentment ofhissensitive,
more and more complex tissue, on conditionmercurialcharacteras reflectedin his compo-
that the organizationof the latteris such that sitions,whichare as fullof shiftinglight and
its complexitybecomesintelligible to us; or in shade as any typical April day of sun and
the fact that the line of developmentof this shadow. As a teacherhe was knownto prefer
tonal consciousnessvaries in differentraces his Polish pupils to those of any othernation-
and cultures. But euphonyis fundamentally a alities, because of their verve and their
physiologicalconcept,and therefore its axioms impressionable, mobiletemperaments.And it
are the same forall those who have the same was thesesame racial qualitiesthatcolouredhis
physiologicalorganization. The tolerationof personalityand his outlook on life, and that
cacophonyis usuallythe resultof a bad ear, or gave strengthto his frailorganizationto endure
of a defectivetonal culture. In this consists the variedpains and pleasuresof his shortand
the difference betweencontemporary methodseventfulcareer. As a child he was noted for
and that enrichmentof euphony which was his vivacityand forhis irrepressible and versa-
evidentin musicpriorto the 20thcentury. In tile humour. Possessingan easy aptitude for
the 19thcenturythe complextonal phenomenacaricaturing,he would portraythe ludicrous
in the sphereof euphonywere moreand more side of any character,and many were the
restricted,and a tonal consciousness was innocentpracticaljokes he would play on the

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 THE MUSICAL TIMES-JuLY 1 1928 605

different membersof his family. This giftof in Spain.' A fewweeks laterChopin,returned

humour,of seeingthe lighterside of things,of to Paris and civilisation,writes to Fontana:
separatingthe sweet fromthe bitter,helped ' My healthimproves; I am beginningto play,
him to keep beauty ever presentin his mind to eat, to walk, to talk, like everyoneelse, and
and in his creative work. It preservedhim whenyou receivethesefewlinesyou willnotice
fromthe contaminationof the coarsernatures that I writequite easily.' And yet the coarse-
withwhichhe was broughtin contact. naturedSand woman was incapable of under-
At the very outset his innate refinement standinghishatredofthethenuncivilisedplaces
caused himto shrinkfrommakingtheacquaint- to which she had draggedhim. His sense of
ance of theexpansive,exuberantAuroreDupin, humour,offun,failedhimutterlyin Valdemosa.
wife of CasimirDudevant, writingunder the Later, when the bucolic surroundingsof
name of George Sand. The law of contrastsGeorgeSand's countryhome at Nohant bored
sometimes brings about strange matings.him, he would amuse himselfridiculingthe
Chopin,accordingto Liszt, dreaded becomingpeople he disliked. But his otherwisepleasant
acquaintedwiththe chatelaineof Nohant. He humourhad becomefromsheerforceofcircum-
keptresolutely outofherway.Thenovelist,how- stancesa bit acrid and verydifferent fromthe
ever,had determinedto trackhim down. By irrepressible funand mimicryof his happydays
sheer forceof will she succeeded. Soon after-in Poland. It was never tingedwith sarcasm
wards Chopin was whirledoffto Majorca by in thoseearlydays. But at Nohanttheremust
her, having slipped into the positionof sixth have been so muchthat was againstthe grain;
in successionto JulesSandeau,Alfredde Musset, whilethe monotonyof the life,musthave been
Pagello,thepoet'sdoctor,andMichelde Bourges. deadening. The great painter,Delacroix, des-
Theirfirstabode in Majorca,surnamedby them cribesit whenwritingto a friendfromNohant
' Maison de Vent,' mightmore properlyhave in June,1842: ' I live,'he says,' a conventional
been called ' Maison de Pluie,' forthe rain fell life here, each day is like the precedingone.
daily and unceasingly. Chopin, unused to Nothing takes place to vary the monotony.
roughingit, becameill. The ignorantlandlord,There is not even the diversionof meetingany
fearing infection,turned the couple adrift.neighboursor friends. In this part of the
They took refugein a disusedmonastery. To worldeveryonestays at home and looks after
GeorgeSand, accustomedfromearlygirlhoodto his acres and his cows. He wouldn'ttake long
thebucolicsurroundings of Nohant,the circum-to turn into a fossil.' And Chopin tells his
stances in Majorca seemed all that was most sister: ' I am notmade forthecountry,though
romantic. For Chopinit was one long period I enjoy the freshair.' Neverthelesshis latent
of discomfort.There was no decent food to humour and bonhomieusually asserted itself,
eat ; no stove or meansof properlyheatingthe and he couldtakea delightin theSand children's
barelyfurnished, draughtyrooms; no comfortmarionettes, forwhichhe wouldimproviselittle
of any sort or kind. In the words of George ballets. Maurice Sand and his young friends
Sand, 'it was a frightful fiasco.' amused themselvesarrangingcomicscenes and
Liszt's romantic story of the Prelude in dances. Chopin would accompany them on
B minor,composedto the accompanimentof the pianoforte,alternatingfromgay to grave,
the melancholyrhythmof the unceasingrain leading the dance accordingto his fantasy';
fallingon to the ruinedroof,is now knownto comic and solemn, gentle and passionate,
be a legend. Like so manyofLiszt's utterances,suitinghis themesto the variouslittledramas,
it was a figmentof his brainand nothingmore. makinghimselfthelifeand soul ofthegay little
In Rend Doumico's 'Life of GeorgeSand' the throng.
authorassertsthatthereis no echoofValdemosa When in a speciallycomic vein,in his home
in any of Chopin'swork. It is indeed diffi-at Paris, he would reproduceall the different
cult to imaginethe fastidiousPolish composermannerismsof the variouspianistsof the day.
takingpains to reproduceany momentsofthose Balzac mentionshis fun and humour in his
wearisomehoursof that melancholysojournin 'Homme d'Affaire.' Moscheleswas astonished
his poeticPreludes. And Liszt in his biographyto findhow greatwas his aptitudeformimicry
of Chopinemphasiseshow muchtherewas that and comedy. An Austrian,seeing his comic
was intolerably incompatible and secretlyimpersonation of the Emperorof Austria,had
antipatheticbetweentwo natures who seemed fears for him if ever he went to Vienna and
to have been broughttogetherby some sudden repeatedthe imitation. He possesseda whole
and factitiousattractiononly in order to use store of comic anecdote with which he would
the forceengenderedby the inexpressiblean- amuse young people. He could relate the
guish and utterboredomof the circumstancesdrolleststoriesto themand enjoy the funof it
to freethemselveseventuallyfromoneanother. all as much as any of the youngsters. His
'Chopin fich6 6tait effrayant,'said George featureswould become almost unrecognisable,
Sand. His Etude in E2 minor,No. 12, might said Liszt. He would twisttheminto all kinds
stand as an exponentof that statement. And of funnyshapes,but evenwhenhe wouldrepro-
she adds: 'With the exceptionof myselfand duce any ugliness or grotesquenesshe never
the childreneverythingwas abhorrentto him lost his innateeleganceand charm.

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606 THE MUSICAL TIMES-JULY 1 1928

When he broke away from the woman who betweenhis elemental,sensuous instinctsand the
eventually bored him as much as she had finally conventional,empiricalaestheticswhichhe acquired
wearied de Musset, he knew that he had been fromthe Paris literarycircles.
but one in a longish succession. It was His instinct asserts itself chieflyin terms of
motion. Unrestrained,it tends to overstep all
almost a convention of the romanticism of the boundaries-as in the 'Rite of Spring,' in which
19th century that artists should lead irregular we see him at his best. But whenever he becomes
lives. The estrangement begun in 1842 and 'the champion of a decadent and paradoxical
became final in 1846. In no way did it affect futurism,'he collapses; the classical work of art
Chopin's work. The compositions of that of which he dreams remainsa dream, because he
period-the Nocturnes in F minor, E? major, is incapable of strikinga balance between his
B major, and E major-rank in beauty of instinctsand his aesthetics. There is fine music
in his his Sonata, and his Octet; but
workmanship with any of the previous ones. works Concerto,
such as these reveal the deep crisis in his
The Berceuse, the Sonata in B minor, the
conscience; they are confessionsof impotence.
Polonaise-Fantasia, were all written between Likewise
1844 and 1847. Chopin's irrepressiblesense of renovatehis 'CEdipus Rex' shows his inability to
style. It shows him a prisonerof his
humour kept him free from all absurdities, literal, matter-of-factconception of form, and
especially from some of the absurdities of the renouncingthe substance for the shadow. His
Romantic movement. conceptionis, in fact, a piece of sheer pedantry,
George Sand had quarrelled with her son which, in the musician of unquestionable genius
Maurice and her daughter Solange. Chopin he is, may interest,but remainspedantryfor all
took the part of both son and daughter,knowing that. Yet now and again in 'CEdipus Rex' his
the trial their mother had been to her children. vitalitygains the upper hand in the struggle,and
From that moment he passed out of her life. he turns out powerful,impressivethings such as
the choral sections and specially the Finale.
A small volume might be filledwith accounts
of the dainty humour which was as a silver MOZART'S D MAJOR VIOLIN CONCERTO

lining to the many dark days of Chopin's life, AND BOCCHERINI

and as a buttress to his delicate health and In the April Zeitschriftftir Musikwissenschaft,
sensitive disposition. At the last, when he E. von Zschinsky-Troxler writes:
could only make himself understood by signs, A Violin Concertoin D major by Boccheriniwas
he refused to see people, and when this was recently published by Schott, the editor being
mistaken for pride and ill-humour, Berlioz, Samuel Dushkin. It was writtenin 1768, is the
only one fromthe pen of this composer, and is of
who understood, refuted the wrong judgments. interest not only forits freshnessand genuineness,
His wish to be alone was misinterpreted,said but because it undoubtedly was used as model for
Berlioz; it was attributed by some to pride, Mozart's Violin Concerto in the same key (K6chel
by others to a gloomy melancholy; both 218), composed in 1775. Not only many patterns,
but the actual structureare similar,as the writer
equally remote from the character of this proceeds to demonstrateby a carefullycarried-out
charming and excellent artist. comparative analysis withmany musical examples.
Chopin lives in his music. It explains his Boccherini'sConcertoremainedin MS., and Mozart
life and character, and these in their turn probably owed his acquaintanceship with it to his
friendshipwith the violinist Thomas Linley, who,
interpretand elucidate his work. like Manfredi,for whom Boccherini wrote it, was
a pupil of Nardini,and may thus have got hold of
a copy.
(Iuic itntheforeihn
irese A LISZT NUMBER
The May Revue Musicale is a special Liszt
AN ITALIAN CRITIC ON STRAVINSKY number, with contributionsby Andre Suar6s,
The May Rassegna Musicale contains a remark- Constantin Photiades, Robert Bory, de Hevesy,
ably instructiveessay on Stravinsky by Guido Gil-Marchex,Andr6 Schaeffner,Antoine Molnar,
Pannain. and others. A poem by the Comtesse de Noailles
It is possible to divide Stravinsky'soutput into and unpublished letters to Saint-Saens and to
three categories,correspondingto three periods. PrincessWittgensteinare interestingfeatures.
These maybe labelled,veryroughly,the' academic- GENUINE TEXTS OR ARRANGEMENTS
impressionistic,' the' Russian,' and the' historical.' the March-AprilA uftakt,Werner Ladwig
In the first,Stravinskyis under the influenceof In
Glazunov's and Scriabin's ' anonymous' style,and writes:
to a degree under that of Debussy. 'The Fire- Musical worksmust be protectedagainst retouch
Bird' marks the transitionto the second period, and ' corrections.' But veryoftenconductorswho
the 'Russian,' which extends from ' Petrushka' wish to put this principle into practice find it
impossible to procure sets of parts giving exactly
(1910) to 'Noces' (plannedin 1917). The thirdis what the composerhad written; all they can findis
a period of pseudo-classicism,in whichStravinsky some edition or other ' forpractical use,' in which,
is seen strugglingagainst fetterswhich he has for instance, the phrasing and bowing are altered
forgedforhimself. in accordance with the editor's notions. The
Stravinskylacks humanity and glories in this difficultyis specially great with regard to Bach
deficiency-which,according to his partisans, is and the works of his period generally. Most
the very foundationof his classicism,his objec- capable competent conductors of to-day are perfectly
his constructive outlook. The of doing justice to the style ofthese works.
tivity, history of But where are sets of to be found that will
his creativeactivitiesis primarilythat of a struggle correspond exactly toparts what Bach has written?

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