[26] Chopinʼs second sister; she and her husband, M. Barcinski, are still living in Warsaw.
[27] A nickname given to this prince on account of his extraordinary small stature, in spite of which he was one of the most able rulers. A thorough exploration of the Kingʼs Grotto has recently been made by archæologists, and the bones of prehistoric animals discovered.
[28] Chopin had sent Haslinger for publication, the Variations on “La ci darem la mano,” op. 2; and the Sonata, op. 4.
[29] Wilhelm Würfel, born in Bohemia, was, for some years, pianoforte teacher at the Warsaw Conservatoire. In 1826, he became conductor at the Kärthner Thor Theatre, in Vienna, where he died in 1832.
[30] Charlotte Veltheim was one of the most celebrated bravura singers of her time (1821—1840), and a much valued member of the Dresden Hof Theatre. She was a thorough musician, and played the piano very well.
[31] “Chmiel” is a song in the mazurka measure, sung by the Poles at marriage ceremonies at the moment when the brideʼs sisters place the cap on her head.
[32] Thomas Nidecki, one of the best pupils at the Warsaw Lyceum, was sent to Vienna, in 1822, at the public expense to complete his education. He became bandmaster at the Leopoldstadter Theatre. From 1841 he was bandmaster at the Grand Theatre, in Warsaw, in which City he died in 1852.
[33] The seal belonged to the waiter, and bore the word “Madeira.”
[34] An old Polish proverb.
[35] The “Wiener Theater Zeitung,” published by Adolph Bäuerle, from 1828 to 1848, was to every artist an important and dreaded publication. There were then but few papers devoted to art matters, and this journal was to be found in the clubs and coffee-houses of every town in Germany. Whoever was praised by the “Wiener Theater Zeitung,” was a made man. Bäuerle was the composer also of “Staberl, Staberlʼs Hochzeitstag,” “Aline, Queen of Golconda, or, Vienna in another quarter of the world,” and “The false Catalini,” pieces which were performed an immense number of times.