Chopin frequently returned to the mazurka form throughout his career, making the collection a musical diary that charts his progress as a composer.
Compositional Technique
Chopin elevated the Polish folk dance form of the mazurka into high art, preserving elements like sudden emotional changes and the drone bass of bagpipes.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Chopin's mazurkas are considered the soul of his work, revealing his personality and emotions more directly than any other compositions.
Composition History
Though Chopin instructed that they be destroyed, two sets of mazurkas (Opp. 67 and 68) were published posthumously by his friend Julian Fontana with his family's approval.
Composition History
The Mazurka in F minor, Op. 68 No. 4, was Chopin's last musical inspiration committed to paper shortly before his death, when he was too ill to play it.
Composer Biography
Chopin's last published set of mazurkas, Op. 63, was dedicated to Countess Laura Czosnowska from Warsaw, a flirtatious friend of his sister Ludwika.
Interpretation
Chopin played his mazurkas with such free rubato that some listeners, like Meyerbeer, mistook his timing for being erratic, leading to a heated argument.
