Chopin’s pianistic invention was closely related to the improvements in the instrument itself- the wider ranges of tone, extension of the keyboard, refinements in action- and much of his novelty turns out on examination to be an inspired elaboration of the simpler art of his less adventurous predecessors, Field, Cramer, Hummel and others. It is in his use of the pianoforte as a means of creating those impressions which are lamely described y the words “atmosphere”, “color”, “suggestion”, that Chopin is a great originator. His fertile invention of glittering, kaleidoscopic passage work in which every resource of mechanical dexterity is exploited; his delicate and fanciful ornamentation based on the fioriture of Italian opera; his skill in realizing on a percussive instrument a cantabile style which turns to profit the very features of the pianoforte that have generally been regarded as its defects- these are merits which justify Chopin’s reputation in the history of pianism.