Anton added four polkas and the four songs, Op. 36, in the original numbering.

These new works were published in Moscow by Julius Gresser.

Berlin and Vienna, 184448

In the late spring of 1844 the Rubinsteins left St. Petersburg. Their route
took them through the Baltic cities, where they gave several concerts, and then
on to Warsaw. In Paris Kaleriya Khristoforovna approached Chopin for an appraisal of the musical abilities of her children, but their nal destination was to
be Berlin, and they arrived there toward the end of 1844. Although hardly anything is known about Kaleriya Khristoforovnas family, there is good reason to
suppose that she had relatives in the Prussian capital. Moreover, during the late
eighteenth century Berlin had been the home of the Haskala, or the Jewish enlightenment movement in Germany. The major gure in this movement had
been the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (the composers grandfather), who,
while defending Judaism, advocated the assimilation of Jews into the mainstream of Western European culture. Even in the mid-nineteenth century his
writings still absorbed Jewish intellectuals, for his collected works (seven volumes) were published in Berlin in 184345. The atmosphere of religious tolerance and the support of Mendelssohn and Meyerbeer (two of the foremost
composers of the day and themselves converts to Christianity) must have been
key factors in Kaleriya Khristoforovnas decision to settle in Berlin.
Mendelssohn would clearly have remembered Antons appearance in London
three years earlier, but Kaleriya could count on his direct support only for a brief
period. Although Mendelssohn had been director of the Berlin opera during the
184344 season, his visits were rare in later years owing to his conducting commitments with the Gewandhaus orchestra and the new music conservatory he
had founded in Leipzig. Kaleriya Khristoforovnas own family had been distant
acquaintances of the Mendelssohns, and this association, together with the letters of recommendation provided by Prince Odoyevsky and the Wielhorski
brothers, gained her entry to the musical gatherings arranged by the composer.
On one of these visits the Rubinstein brothers heard Mendelssohn play Chopins
Three Mazurkas, Op. 59, still in manuscript at that time. They also called on
Meyerbeer whose success in Germany had been assured after the rst Berlin
performance of Les Huguenots in May 1842. Within a month he was appointed
court composer and general music director of the Knigliche Schauspiele, a
post he held for six years until a quarrel with the theater director, Kstner, led to
his dismissal. The following year a re destroyed the theater and the new opera
house only reopened in December 1844, shortly after Kaleriya Khristoforovna
had arrived in Berlin with her children. Meyerbeers new Singspiel Ein Feldlager
in Schlesien, later remodeled for the Paris Opera as LEtoile du Nord, inaugurated
the theater. The opera began its run on 7 December 1844 with Leopoldine
Tuczek in the role of Vielka, but after only a few performances her place was
taken by Jenny Lind making her Berlin dbut in this role. The Rubinsteins must

Prologue 17