The date of Debussy's Mazurka (ca. 1890) remains uncertain; stylistically, it seems an earlier work than the date shown on the manuscript would indicate. Indeed, it has more in common with the Deux arabesques (1888 - 91) than with the Danse (1890) or the Rêverie (1890). Unlike most of Debussy's works of this period, the Mazurka shows the strong influence of Chopin, who, decades earlier, had essayed this spirited, compact dance genre more than sixty times. Mme. Mauté de Fleurville, Debussy's piano teacher, was a student of Chopin, and it seems that the Mazurka could have been a product of Debussy's own student years; if written later, it was, perhaps, intended as an homage.

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