Of course it does not matter much whether we know or do not know the year or day of the adoption of the practice, what is really interesting is the fact itself.

I may, however, remark that Chopin's love of wide-spread chords and skips, if marked at all, is not strongly marked in the Variations on the German air and the first Rondo.

Let the curious examine with regard to this matter the Tempo di Valse of the former work, and bars 38-43 of the Piu lento of the latter.
In the Rondeau a la Mazur, the next work in chronological order, this peculiarity begins to show itself distinctly, and it continues to grow in the works that follow.

It is not my intention to weary the reader with microscopical criticism, but I thought the first manifestations of Chopin's individuality ought not to be passed over in silence.

As to his style, it will be more fully discussed in a subsequent chapter, where also the seeds from which it sprang will be pointed out..