Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin,was a Polish composer and
virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era, who wrote
primarily for the solo piano. He gained and has
maintained renown worldwide as one of the leading
musicians of his era, whose "poetic genius was based on
a professional technique that was without equal in his
generation." Chopin was born in what was then the Duchy
of Warsaw, and grew up in Warsaw, which after 1815
became part of Congress Poland. A child prodigy, he
completed his musical education...(+)
Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin,was a Polish composer and
virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era, who wrote
primarily for the solo piano. He gained and has
maintained renown worldwide as one of the leading
musicians of his era, whose "poetic genius was based on
a professional technique that was without equal in his
generation." Chopin was born in what was then the Duchy
of Warsaw, and grew up in Warsaw, which after 1815
became part of Congress Poland. A child prodigy, he
completed his musical education and composed many of
his works in Warsaw before leaving Poland at the age of
20, less than a month before the outbreak of the
November 1830 Uprising.
The piano pieces of Chopin changed the way the piano
was played, not so much in the technical sense as with
Liszt, but in the expressiveness required of the
pianist. In shorter works, Chopin experimented with
textures and sonorities, creating an utterly distinct
piano style. Perhaps the most unusual and individual of
the shorter forms is the mazurka, which reflects the
merging of Chopin's cosmopolitan influences in Paris
with his growin consciousness of being Polish. While
retaining the flavor and rhythm of traditional Polish
dances, the mazurkas also reflect the sophisticated
melodic nuances and the coloristic harmonies found in
Chopin's other music. These brief, intimate evocations
of his homeland are perhaps some of Chopin's greatest
contributions to the piano repertoire.
The four mazurkas of Op. 6 were not the first Chopin
composed; he began writing them at the age of fifteen.
The mazurka sets Opp. 6 and 7, published in 1832, were,
however, the first of the genre that he published. The
first piece in the Op. 6 set is the most rhythmically
ambiguous, with the accented third beats and tied
downbeats. The mournful, reflective thematic material
is briefly interrupted by a much more joyous and
rhythmically simpler interlude, returning shortly to
the opening melody. The second piece in the set is more
outwardly dance-like, with a triple-meter waltz-like
bass line. The music seems fairly straightforward, but
the play between the inner voices adds extra character
and nuance. The third mazurka, marked Vivace, is the
only one in a major key. Its accented third beat and
its rhythmic drive add animation to the set. The
interplay between the flashy right hand and the sneaky
left-hand melodies also adds to the fun. The final
piece in Op. 6 is very brief, with a recurring,
spinning melody that gives the impression of a
carousel.
The second mazurka of the set, in C-sharp minor, is
quite an outwardly dance-like piece, with a triple
meter and bass line characteristic of a waltz. It
starts with a slow introduction characterised by the
play between the inner voices. The principal theme,
returning a couple of times, although in slightly
altered form, has a lyrical and almost melancholy
character. The second theme makes use of the Lydian
mode. The trio section provides a contrast with a more
joyous theme. This then quickly fades into the opening
introduction measures and the mazurka ends after the
main theme is repeated twice. It lasts around two and a
half minutes.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazurkas,_Op._6_(Chopin)
).
Although composed for solo piano, I created this
Interpretation of the Mazurka in C# Minor (Op. 6 No. 2)
for String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
