This was the last of the five mazurkas that Chopin composed for his Op. 7 set. Among the 51 numbered mazurkas in his output this one is arguably the shortest, clocking in at just over a minute-and-a-half in typical performances. Yet, for all its brevity it cannot be dismissed as small-fry fare, for its artistic worth is enhanced by—even depends on—its fleeting character.

This mazurka, marked Vivo, begins with a repeating chord that gradually fades to the background and serves as the rhythmic underpinning. Here, Chopin deftly raises the listeners' expectations, almost as though presenting a suspenseful countdown to an important event. Next he introduces the brief main theme, lively, joyous, energetic, but seemingly stuck in a groove, trying to expand its short-breathed character to wider borders. It repeats again and again, varying only slightly. Suddenly the music stops, and the listener is left with the impression that the blossoming and struggling of this little melody has collapsed under the oppressive weight of its own meagerness. However listeners respond to the music, no one can hear the ending as anything other than deliberately abrupt.

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The mazurka originated in the Polish province of Mazovia, near Warsaw. In the seventeenth century, the dance began to spread beyond the boundaries of Poland. Stylized mazurkas, such as Chopin's, combine aspects of this and several other dances, but some characteristics are consistently present: an accented third beat (occasionally the second) in a 3/4 measure; the use of both the natural and raised versions of some scale degrees, particularly the fourth; and a drone bass. During the 1830s and 1840s "art" music mazurkas were very popular in drawing rooms throughout Europe.

Some of the melodies of the mazurkas are unusual in comparison to the melodies of European "art" music. Many of these are related to folk mazurkas in their "modular" melodies consisting of tiny rhythmic and melodic units. Also, some use cross rhythms, chromatic scales, and modes typically not found in Western music. Often, we find remote keys used as colorful excursions from the tonic.

Most of Chopin's Mazurkas are in strict ternary form, some of them actually sporting a da capo to indicate the return to the first section. Chopin's later Mazurkas are more stylized than the earlier ones and are in many cases the testing ground for some of his most experimental ideas. Unlike other Romantic-era manifestations of "folk" music, Chopin's Mazurkas contain no actual folk tunes. He uses typical rhythms associated with Polish music, fragments of Polish melodies and Polish rhythmic and cadential formulas and combines them in an original way. Chopin's mazurkas are far more advanced than those by his contemporaries. Chopin borrowed sounds he found outside the European "art" music tradition and used them to create music within that tradition. Some consider Chopin's mazurkas to be the most original of his works.

Chopin composed the Five Mazurkas, Op. 7, in 1831; they were published in Leipzig the next year, not long after he had moved to Paris. The five pieces are in B flat major, A minor, F minor, A flat major and C major.

In the third of the Op. 7 set, in F minor, we find Chopin stretching the typical boundaries of the mazurka. Instead of jumping right into the main theme, the piece begins with an introductory idea in the lower register featuring a sinister open-fifth drone. The main theme is an arching line of mostly eighth notes over broken chords in the left hand that also contain an open fifth. As we would expect, this melody sounds twice. What we don't expect, however, is the lengthy, harmonically adventurous trio section, which is twice as long as the introduction and main theme combined. Each of its three, eight-measure melodies is played twice and each, with an aggressive, repeated-note pattern, provides a stark contrast to the main theme. Most striking is the quiet, highly dramatic transition back to the main theme, which includes a partial return of the introduction.

Uncharacteristically, Chopin alters the final return of the main theme to create a an actual close to the piece as opposed to the abrupt "stop" we hear at the end of most of his mazurkas.

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The Op. 7 set of mazurkas certainly contains a wide variety of pieces, with the high spirits of the B flat major, No. 5, setting the mood for a powerful contrast in the ensuing A minor Sixth, one of the composer's more depressing but effective efforts in the series. This A flat major Eighth is one of the slighter entries here, but its swift pace and quirky character make it, if not more consequential, then more unusual. The mazurka was, after all, a dance designed to be of moderate liveliness.

This piece, which runs a bit over a minute in a typical performance, opens with a theme whose demeanor is more than vaguely reminiscent of the wit and slapstick in Beethoven's Rage over a Lost Penny. Chopin's music is less vulgar here, to be sure, but this piece is more of a romp than a dance. Still, there is a measure of elegance to it, especially in the brief slow section. This is, in the end then, a colorful, witty piece whose rhythmic and thematic quirks make it a most effective offering.

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The Op. 7 set of mazurkas is the only one containing five pieces; all the composer's other published sets consist of either three or four items each. On the whole, this set represents a step forward from the Op. 6 collection. In fact, when the Op. 7 was published in 1832, it gained Chopin both recognition and notoriety in France for bold and imaginative writing that more tradition-minded ears found revolting. The pieces range in length from about four minutes (the second piece in the set) to half a minute (the final mazurka, in C major).

The first mazurka in this set, in B flat major and sometimes known as Mazurka No. 5, is probably the best known in the group. Marked Vivace, it is a graceful, lively piece whose elegance and debonair qualities give it a somewhat aristocratic air. But in the latter half of this piece a subdued theme appears that is more earthy, more peasant-like. The main theme returns to close this attractive work.

The next mazurka, in A minor, has a mournful quality. The usual tempo is slow, despite the Vivo, ma non troppo marking, and the main theme is gentle in its sadness. Many will hear in this piece the composer's longing for his family and Polish homeland, from which he was exiled for political reasons in 1831. The middle section has an air of defiance, but yields to the lovely, forlorn theme from the opening to close the piece.

The next mazurka, in F minor, begins with an ominous rhythmic idea; it then presents a lively theme whose rhythms are sharp and springy, but portending no threat or menace. The melody is colorful and Slavic in nature, containing the admixture of the peasant-like and exotic that so fascinated Parisians of the day and has lost none of its piquancy over the years. This mazurka bears no textual description but carries a metronome marking of 54 for the dotted half-note.

The A flat major mazurka, is fast-paced, carrying a marking of Presto, ma non troppo. The main theme is playful and good-natured, mischievous in its clown-like manner. A subdued, pensive middle section evokes a dreamy atmosphere, which is ultimately short-lived as the opening theme returns to close out this one-minute romp.

The final mazurka in the Op. 7 set, in C major and marked Vivo, is the shortest but in many ways the subtlest. It is a fine example of Chopin's sense of humor, or of what one might call his sense of mischief. In the main it is lively and happy—or so it seems. The listener quickly becomes aware that the giddy melody cannot get untracked—it repeats itself again and again, varying quite little. Suddenly the mazurka ends, as though collapsing in the realization that it really had little to say.

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The mazurka originated in the Polish province of Mazovia, near Warsaw. In the seventeenth century, the dance began to spread beyond the boundaries of Poland. Stylized mazurkas, such as Chopin's, combine aspects of this and several other dances, but some characteristics are consistently present: an accented third beat (occasionally the second) in a 3/4 measure; the use of both the natural and raised versions of some scale degrees, particularly the fourth; and a drone bass. During the 1830s and 1840s "art" music mazurkas were very popular in drawing rooms throughout Europe.

Some of the melodies of the mazurkas are unusual in comparison to the melodies of European "art" music. Many of these are related to folk mazurkas in their "modular" melodies consisting of tiny rhythmic and melodic units. Also, some use cross rhythms, chromatic scales, and modes typically not found in Western music. Often, we find remote keys used as colorful excursions from the tonic.

Most of Chopin's Mazurkas are in strict ternary form, some of them actually sporting a da capo to indicate the return to the first section. Chopin's later Mazurkas are more stylized than the earlier ones and are in many cases the testing ground for some of his most experimental ideas. Unlike other Romantic-era manifestations of "folk" music, Chopin's Mazurkas contain no actual folk tunes. He uses typical rhythms associated with Polish music, fragments of Polish melodies and Polish rhythmic and cadential formulas and combines them in an original way. Chopin's mazurkas are far more advanced than those by his contemporaries. Chopin borrowed sounds he found outside the European "art" music tradition and used them to create music within that tradition. Some consider Chopin's mazurkas to be the most original of his works.

Chopin composed the Five Mazurkas, Op. 7, in 1831; they were published in Leipzig the next year, not long after he had moved to Paris. The five pieces are in B flat major, A minor, F minor, A flat major and C major.

Structured much like a minuet and trio, the Mazurka in B flat major, Op. 7, No. 1, opens with a wide ranging melody that is literally repeated. A new eight-measure melody provides contrast before another return of the main theme; this pair of themes is then repeated, as in the second half of a minuet. Thus far, the music has not strayed from the tonic, B flat major, and contains typical rhythmic gestures, such as four-measure segments that end on an accented second beat of the fourth measure and a "dotted" figure at the beginning of each phrase. The trio section of Op. 7, No. 1 contains an open-fifth drone on G flat and D flat, notes whose sudden appearance in B flat major add to the exotic atmosphere created by the persistent raised fourth scale degree (E natural) in the melody. As in the previous section, the trio opens with a new theme and closes with a return of the main theme, ending abruptly without any closing embellishment. Thus, the form of the whole is AA|:BA:||:CA:|.

It should be noted that the repeat structure given above is found only in the printed editions. Chopin's manuscript copy, and various scribal copies (which Chopin knew), have different repeat patterns, generally skipping repeats of melodies B and C. This reflects the early nineteenth century freedom with which composers and performers approached a score.

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Chopin's first set of mazurkas, the Op. 6 collection, came in 1830 and consists of four pieces; the second collection, Op. 7, contains five. Though it was written shortly after the first, it divulges a noticeable stylistic evolution, and this A minor mazurka documents that growth. This was Chopin's longest mazurka up to that time, and its more expansive design and deeper expressive language combine to offer one of his best in the series.

This piece opens with a regretful theme that is typical of the composer in his more reflective and mournful music. While its triple time and general musical characteristics make it dance music, its despondency and pathetic emotions clearly take it out of the ballroom. The tempo is slow and the sad theme may well reflect the composer's longing for his country: Chopin had departed Poland for Vienna on November 2, 1830, intending to return, but because of the uprising in Poland and subsequent political turmoil, he never did. This mazurka was written in Vienna, when he was suffering from bouts of homesickness, a condition that would also plague him throughout his years of exile in Paris.

In sum, this is a fine mazurka, whose desolate sadness yields touching beauty. A typical performance of this work lasts about four minutes.

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