BIOGRAPHICAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1987, 24 March 1892, Page 44

BIOGRAPHICAL.

FREDERICK CHOPIN.

By A. T. S. VI.

(Concluded.)

On the evening of a wretched, miserable, rainy day Chopin attended the salon of a fashionable Polish countess, and there he first saw that remarkable woman whose presence and memory was destined to cast a halo of commingled joy and sorrow round the remaining years of his life. The revels o£ that gay and brilliant assembly went orf apace. Liszt was there, buzzing round this fascinating woman like a moth round a candle. And now it is far into the morning; Chopin is seated at the piano playing, Madame Dudevant is standing, leaning her head upon her hand with her elbow resting on the instrument, watching him. Looks beget words ; and thus they met : seven years after this they parted. (Quoted from Vol. IV of Madame Dudevant's " Histoire de Ma Vie."): —

I saw him again for an instant in March. I shook his cold and trembling hand. I wished to speak to him, but ho avoided mo. It was now my turn to say that he loved me no longer. I spared him that pain. . .> . . I have been told that he invoked me, regretted me, and loved me to the end.

Such was the '.eginning and end of the intimacy between these celebrated persons. The whole narrative incidental to their connection, and the circumstances which led to their separation, form a touching and interesting section of the autobiography above cited. Other demands upon my time preclude my transcribing it ; and, further, if I did, it might be asserted that I had done so for the express purpose of casting reproach upon the memory of a kind-hearted, accomplished, and affectionate woman. Chopin's health had much declined prior to his separation from Madame Dudevanr, and that which was only an affection of the larynx at one time became an affection of the lungs a few years later, and in 1840 his physicians realised -the fact that consumption threatened their distinguished patient, who sank into a morbid and depressed state of mind, which was intensified to an alarming degree by the death of his father. On this occasion so prostrated was Chopin that he was unable to write a line of consolation to his widowed mother, and that sad duty was discharged by the gifted lady who was his constant attendant. Almost . simultaneously with the death of bis father occurred that ot his esteemed friend, Dr Matuszynski.

Chopin recovered slightly during the winter of 1847-8, and accepted an invitation to visit England. In February 1848 he gave a farewell concert in Paris, the first since 1842, and the last at which he was destined to appear in the city of his choice. Regarding this concert Karasowski says : —

Chopin could not have desired a more select and distinguished audience or a more enthusiastic reception. Many of the most exalted personages and the first artists in Paris were present, all anxious to testify their respect and admiration for the talented composer, the rare virtuoso, and the lovable man.

A few days after this success the revolution occurred which upset the throne of Louis Philippe, and established for a time the Becond republic. This event hastened Chopin's transit to Britain, for he bad received great kindness from the Orleans family. He arrived in London in April, 1848, and was one of that flight of distinguished pianists which the French revolution had sent there. Of these Kalkbrenner, Halle, and Billet were better known than Chopin ; and '.Thalberg, too, among the English, with his " Home, sweet home," was the most popular pianist then living.

Chopin appeared at a matinee at the rooms of Madame Sartoris, Eaton place, on June 23 ; and again on July 7 at the residecce of Lord Falraouth, St. James's square. On the latter occasion he was assisted by Madame Viardot-Garcia. His success at both recitals was most complete (vide Atbenjßiim critic's notice, July 1 and 15.) He left London for Scotland on August 4, and gave a recital at the Hopetoun Rooms, Queen street, Edinburgh ; and subsequently appeared at a morning recital in Glasgow on September 27. During an interval between these performances Ciopin was with the Salis Schwabes at Manchester, and gave a public recital there. Ie was Miss Stirling (a favourite pupil of tbe master) who induced him to visit Scotland, where he wa3 treated with the utmost hospitality, being the guest of various notables — staying (or a time i with [the Stirling?, .and afterwards with the Houstouns, of Johustone Castle.

During November Chopin was in London again. He would pl<iy at the Polish ball in the Guildhall, and his performance there was a disappointment to him, was his last appearance upon the musical platform of thiß world, and the thud — thud — thud of the dancers' feet sounded on Chopin's refined and musical ear like footfalls on the boundary of that undiscovered country lie was shortly to visit. His last letter from English soil was a heart-rending effusion, in which he manifests a fervid anxiety to return to Pari-% which city he ultimately reached none the better, but all the worse, for his sojourn in Britain. In his experience of. the insular climate he may have listened to words in that optimist spirit often attendant upon disease, which

though like Justice, has hands of iroD, has also feet of lead. " Hope springs eternal in the human breast," and there were moments when Chopin still dreamed of a future in this world ; but shortly after he had again settled down in Paris his trusted physician, Dr Molin, died. Chopin had uu bounded confidence in the skill of this famous man, and upon the latter's death he seems to have regarded his own lease of life as cancelled, and became an utter derelict upon the troubled sea of existence, drifting towards the rocks in a waning light. He struggled to pen a few melancholy lines to his most constant friends, chief among whom was his old copartner in the Vienna lodgings ; and it is evident that it would have given the master great relief to see that old friend once more ; he yearned to grasp his faithful hand — even as the sands of life were slowly trickling out, and the weary wheels of existence jerked on towards a standstill. The master heard the words — " Set thy house in order," and obeyed the summons. Chopin faced death with that calmness and fortitude which at the last never deserts a great soul. The grisly monster of Gothic fancy may indeed have appeared to this suffering creature as the last " angel cf peace," sent to lead him to a place of rest; — the liberator of him whom freedom could not release, the physician of him whom medicine could not cure, and the comforter of him whom time could not console.

The 15th of October had come, and the end was near ; attack followed attack, to the great distress of the onlookers, among whom were the Countess Potocka, M. Gutman and his Bister, and the master's own sister Louisa, who survived the whole family/ Each vied with the other in the assiduity of their attention and consolation of the dying musician, but not even Orpheus could redeem him from the gates of death. Two days prior to his final dissolution a telling scene was enacted within the chamber of death. The Countess Potocka was standing at the foot of the bed, till, erect, and superbly dressed in white— lustrous and handsome as a silver statue— and on recovering from a paroxysm the eyes of the sick man rested upon her lovely figure. Without doubt he supposed her to be a celestial apparition, and in a moment of repose requested her to sing, and urgently repeated his request. The piano was rolled to the door of the master's room, while, with sobs in her voice and tears streaming down her cheeks, hiß gifted countrywoman Bang that famous canticle to the Virgin which, it is said, once saved the life of Stradella. "Again, again," whispered the dying man. Though overwhelmed with emction, the Countess had the noble courage to comply with the last wish of an illustrious compatriot, and again took her seat at the piano, and sang a hymn from Marcello. On the player striking the opening chords, by a spontaneous impulse, all present fell on their knees ; no one ventured to speak j the sacred silence was bnJy broken by the voice of the singer floating, like a melody from heaven, above the sighs and spbs which formed its mournful earth accompaniment. It was the .haunted hour of twilight, and a dying light lent its mysterious shadows to this sad scene.

On the following morning the master seemed a little better, and received the sacrament from a priest of bis own nationality, after which he summoned his friends to his bedside, one by one, and bade them a final farewell. At 2"o'clock on the 17th he woke up from a convulsive sleep in the agony of death. "Who is near me ? " he asked, and bending to kiss the hand of M. Gutman he sank "down overpowered, and his spirit passed out into the unknown world through the merciful portals of unconsciousness.

The next day the corpse, the bed, and the room were buried in flowers, all sent by loving friends and ardent ad mirers who remembered what a tender affection the departed musician had always cherished for these simple yet lovely creations of Nature.

The master's funeral took place in November, and was of a character .commensurate wiih the esteem in which the elite of Parisian society held him. The Madelaine was hung with black ; 4000 persons attended the religious ceremony, and a musical service of special importance did honour to the departed composer. As the mourning train entered the church, Chopin's own "Fuseral March," played by the Conservatoire orchestra, added to the solemnity of the occasion. Meyerbeer and Prince Czartoryski followed immeoiafcely after the coffin, the pall being borne by M. Delacroix, M. Franchomme, M. Gutman, and Prince Alex. Czartoryski. The requiem mass was Mozart's (chosen by Chopin himself) ; solos were sung by Madame Viardot, Madame Castellan, M. Dupont, and Signor Lablache, who had taken the same part at the funeral of Beethoven 22 years before. At the offertory M. Lefebure-Wely j erformed on the organ the master's preludes in B and E minor, and as the congregation dispersed improvised on a number of themes from his various works. All possible musical significance thus given to the obsequies oE the great composer, the procession set out for Pere la Chaise, where (in accordance with Chopin's wish) a grave had been prepared next to the last resting place of his friend Biliini, and close to that of Chernbini, Habeneck, and Marie MilanolJo. The coflin was lowered, and, without a word being said, the mourners filled the grave with flowers and went their way.

Chopin's compositions comprise 73 works wish opus number, ]7 songs, and seven miseel aneous pieces. As a player and a cotn-po-er — for originality, novelty, and individuality — he has never been excelled, if equalled, even admitting the greatest names of which the musical history of the world can boast.