Mazurka
The Mazurka, in Polish Mazurek, is a couple dancing with widespread triple rhythm across Europe. The etymology of the word Mazurka is of Polish origin and derives from Mazury, Mazury in Polish, or Mazovia, names of two Polish regions, to Mazurek, a village near Warsaw, where the first 500 originated this dance, or Mazur, the Polish peasant. The mazurka is therefore born in Poland as a folk dance and has spread since 1700 throughout the ‘Europe; from 800 compositions by Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Debussy and others they contributed to increasing its spread. The Mazurka, as the waltz is a dance to acrobatics on triple time but with a more moderate pace and driest movement, accentuated by back-heel that accompanies the end of each sequence choreography. The musical feature of this dance lies in the rhythmic accent fall on the second beat of the measure. This peculiarity, which also belongs to other Polish national dances, would have a curious origin: it derives from the trotting horses. When they heard the trot of a horse carefully, you will feel the second beat of the hooves is stronger than the first. Originally the Mazurka was danced by an undetermined number of pairs and only later took the form of dance for four or eight pairs arranged in a circle around the ballroom. The Mazurka emerged as popular dance and departs from the polonaise, a typical dance of the aristocratic circles of the time and characterised by slow cadences and track time for its lively and bubbly nature.
Mazurka Op.6 No.1
Chopin composed this mazurka around 1830-1831 and it was dedicated to Ferdinand Hiller and Pauline Plater. The Mazurka in F sharp minor has characteristics of a Kujawiak poetic and sublimated by Chopin with his melody in time stolen and his movement of a rocking dance. The second theme of the Mazurka brings strength and vitality, and a series of typical accents of a Mazur heel. Finally, the third theme, in joking, refers to the model of an Oberek, so in this mazurka three features are included Polish dances. As soon as it was published had great success so much so that a couple of years later, stimulate the interest of a Spanish singer and student of Chopin, Pauline Viardot, who had the idea to add the words to some of his mazurkas so they could be sung, according to Professor Mieczysław Tomaszewski.
Dario Gatto / Pianist & Composer 