Polonaises

Polonaises. Fryderyk Chopin. , 'They enclose the noblest traditional sentiments of Old Poland. […] They mainly contain a combative element, but the courage and valour are tinged with serenity – a characteristic property of this knightly nation' , Ferenc Liszt, Over the sixteen known piano polonaises left by Chopin, there occurs an easily discernible evolution of the genre. The conventional pieces that he wrote as a child were replaced by ornamental and virtuosic polonaises in the brilliant style. In the mid 30s, a dramatic style appears, presaged by the bellicose octaves that open the first of Chopin's 'mature' polonaises, Op. 26 No. 1, in the key of C sharp minor. The last polonaises are elaborate epic poems, such as the 'Heroic' Polonaise in A flat major, Op. 53 and the subsequent work constituting a hybrid of the two genres: the Polonaise-Fantasy in A flat major, Op. 61. The expression in these compositions, and also their national lineage, reflect the turbulent history of Poland., The polonaise is one of the most important dances present in Polish lands since the turn of the eighteenth century. From that time on, it was both a formal, stately dance and a dance for amusement at the courts of royalty, magnates and landed gentry, and also among the middle strata of society, sometimes acquiring a sung form. Before Chopin, it was primarily a functional genre, and it gained importance as a stylised genre (in concert repertoire) shortly before Chopin's birth in the output of Michał Kleofas Ogiński.