will be presented, with a view to plotting
a receptive trend line, as it were. An attempt at finding historical
circumstances that may or may not have influenced Chopin's approach to the
sonata will then be followed by various analyses. Owing to the bewildered
response, even in recent writings, of many musicians to the Finale, an attempt
at disentangling this elusive movement, viewed by Schumann as a mockery, will
be the subject of the final chapter.
