This Chopin work is relaxed and delightfully graceful in its lightness and nonchalance. Its general characteristics, as they relate to this particular genre, are easy to understand: while the contredanse involved many intricate steps, it was more elegant than fast-paced for the couples who faced each other to perform its broad range of movements. It is a French dance that dates to the late-eighteenth century, probably having been imported from England, where it was called "country dance." Chopin, a student at the Warsaw Conservatory when he wrote this work, always had a predilection for things French—long before he became an exile in Paris—since his father was French. The main theme of this Contredanse is conjures up, in a most attractive manner, the atmosphere of happy leisure. Interestingly, this work lacks the seemingly ubiquitous tinges of regret and wistfulness that one hears in much of Chopin's music, even the happier works. However, the bright mood is tempered by an aristocratic, even prim, reserve.

© All Music Guide