Translated from the French by Martha Walker Cook. According to Wikipedia: "Liszt gained renown in Europe during the early nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age, and in the 1840s he was considered by some to be perhaps the greatest pianist of all time. Liszt was also a well-known and influential composer, piano teacher and conductor.... Frédéric Chopin (1 March 1810 17 October 1849) was a composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period. He is widely regarded as the greatest Polish composer, and one of music's greatest tone poets."