Chopin drew upon both the classical traditions of Poland and its folk songs and dances to create the 57 mazurkas for piano, which stand as some of his most personal and intimate compositions. In composing the dance form, Chopin actually drew upon three traditional dances: the Mazur, the Kujawiak, and the Oberek. Each is in triple meter and often has the third or second beats accented. Some of his mazurkas draw directly from one of these dances, but most are a combination of the three, along with more classical influences. Thus Chopin was able to create a genre both personal and unique, adding much to the piano repertoire. The mazurkas of Op. 67, published posthumously, seem to represent the compositional style of the earlier collections, with the four-piece format, the shorter pieces, and the more good-natured tone. The first mazurka is amusing and flamboyant, with many flourishes and a dance-like character. The cheerful dialogue between the melody's two ranges is innovative and playful. The second piece of the set, marked Cantabile, is a brief but pleasant reflection. The contentment is found in the rhythmic and melodic stability; there are no surprises, but there are no disappointments. The third piece in the collection, again very brief, seems to have shed the pathos of the Op. 63 mazurkas, with its agreeable melody and character. The final mazurka, the first in the minor key, adds some heart to the collection. It displays the flourishes and rhythm of the dances, but with effortless melodic subtlety and warmth of tone.



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No.1 in G

This mazurka was published posthumously in Berlin in 1855. Its higher numbering would suggest it was written in the late 1840s, but it dates from 1835, like the third mazurka from the set (No. 44, in C major). To make matters a bit confusing, the other two works in the Op. 67 set (Nos. 43, in G minor, and 45 in A minor) were composed in 1849 and 1846 respectively. It was the publisher who lumped them together and fashioned an order heedless to chronology.

The G major mazurka under examination here is a joyous piece whose graceful manner is often counterbalanced by a robustness when the playing veers downward from the upper register of the keyboard. The main theme is playful in its bliss, and Chopin's writing, as usual, is brilliant and colorful. This mazurka is really a glittering confection, bubbly and effervescent, but a little short on depth. The piece was written for a Polish friend of the composer, Anna Mlokosiewicz, but apparently never given to, or performed before, her. This mazurka, which lasts just over a minute in a typical performance, is attractive and reveals the composer in purely high spirits, not a common mood for him in his works.

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No.2 in G-

Chopin drew upon both the classical traditions of Poland and its folk songs and dances to create the 57 mazurkas for piano, which stand as some of his most personal and intimate compositions. In composing the dance form, Chopin actually drew upon three traditional dances: the mazur, the kujawiak, and the oberek. Each is in triple meter and often has the third or second beats accented. Some of his mazurkas draw directly from one of these dances, but most are a combination of the three, along with more classical influences. Thus Chopin was able to create a genre both personal and unique, adding much to the piano repertoire. The Mazurkas of Op. 67, published posthumously, seem to represent a return to the compositional style of the earlier collections, with the four-movement format, the shorter pieces, and the more good-natured tone. The first mazurka is amusing and flamboyant, with many flourishes and a dance-like character. The cheerful dialogue between the melody's two ranges is innovative and playful. The second piece of the set, marked cantabile, is a brief but pleasant reflection. The contentment is found in the rhythmic and melodic stability; there are no surprises, but there are no disappointments. The third piece in the collection, again very brief, seems to have shed the pathos of the Op. 63 Mazurkas, with its agreeable melody and character. The final mazurka, the first in the minor key, adds some heart to the collection. It displays the flourishes and rhythm of the dances, but with effortless melodic subtlety and warmth of tone.

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No.3 in C

There is still some confusion about the dating of Chopin's posthumously published mazurkas. This C major mazurka and the first item in the set, the G major (No. 42) were written in 1835, while the second (No. 43) and fourth (No. 45) date to 1849 and 1846 respectively. Thus, one should not look for likenesses of mood in the group in order to link them to events in Chopin's personal life, as can sometimes be done with other sets of mazurkas.

Marked Allegretto, this C major effort is a finely-crafted miniature of considerable appeal. It features a lively, danceable melody, and playful if short-lived middle section. The robust main theme appears three times in the course of the piece. It has an aristocratic air about its elegance, yet possesses a folk-like quality in its jauntiness and joy. It returns to close the piece in much the same guise as heard on its second appearance. This is one of the shorter Chopin mazurkas, lasting about a minute-and-a-quarter in a typical performance.

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No.4 in A-

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 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 borrowed sounds he found outside European "art" music and used them to create music within that tradition. Some consider Chopin's mazurkas to be the most original of his works.

Chopin's Mazurkas, Op. 67, were assembled after the composer's death and were not intended by Chopin to be published together, if at all. No. 1, in G major, and No. 2, in C major, date from 1835. The second, in G minor, is from 1849 and the fourth, in A minor, was composed in 1846. These were printed as a set in Berlin in 1855.

For the first theme complex, Chopin combines aspects of "typical" mazurka form with European art music procedures. Chopin repeats the first eight-measure phrase, as one would expect in a mazurka, but the second sounding is varied, which is unexpected. We hear the same process in the section's second melody, all sixteen measures of which are repeated. Chopin set the trio, with its single, delicate phrase, in A major. Here, too, Chopin varies the repeat, in this case to provide a quicker return to A major (or minor) and the return of the first section. The trio contains no secondary theme and there is no coda to close the piece. In the return to the first them complex, Chopin repeats, note-for-note, the two melodies of the section, foregoing the double presentation of the second, contrasting theme. The brevity of the piece and its abrupt ending, on the second beat of the measure, come as a surprise, especially in the context of Chopin's Opp. 59 and 63 mazurkas.

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