Chopin's Polonaises

    The Polonaise       Chopin's Polonaises (16 extant)   


           The Polonaise simulates a march.  The 16th notes in the last half of the 

            first beat give the polonaise a driving rhythm. 

        Frédéric Chopin's polonaises are generally the best known of all polonaises 

        in classical music. Other composers who wrote polonaises or pieces in 

        polonaise rhythm include Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann, 

        Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, 
        Carl Maria von Weber, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt,Modest Mussorgsky, 

          and Pyotr Tchaikovsky.  Maria Szymanowska  (1789 - 1831)  was one of the 

         first to compose Polish style polonaises for piano.

         Polonaise No. 11 in g minor was Chopin's first published work written at age 7.   


       An example of a polonaise dance  (3:00)


          Famous Chopin polonaises:

          Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op. 22  -  Daniil Trifonov  (5:30)  (1839 - 1831)  

 
          Polonaise in A♭ major, Op. 53  'Heroic'  (1842)

                      Martha Argerich  (7:00)   

           Polonaise in F# minor, Op. 44  'Tragic'  (1841)

                       Anna Feodorova  (11:11)

          Polonaise in A major, Op. 40, No. 1  'Military'  (1838) 

                   Rafał Blechacz, piano  (4:30)


        Special polonaise compositions (each more than 10 minutes long):

           Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op. 22  (1830-31, 1834) 

                        (14 min) 


           Polonaise-fantasy in A flat major, Op. 61  (1846)


            Introduction and Polonaise Brillante in C Major, Op.3  (1829-30) 

                       (for cello & piano)