In all cases, since these writers were well-respected and carried weight in the scholarly community, people accepted their suggestions as truth, which allowed the myth to grow. Others simply made generalizations so that their claims of this connection would make sense. Some picked specific mazurkas that they could apply to a point they were trying to make in support of Chopin's direct connection with folk music. Īfter scholars created this myth, they furthered it through their own writings in different ways. When reading Liszt's work, scholars interpreted the word 'national' as 'folk,' creating the 'longest standing myth in Chopin criticism-the myth that Chopin's mazurkas are national works rooted in an authentic Polish-folk music tradition.' In fact, the most likely explanation for Chopin's influence is the national music he was hearing as a young man in urban areas of Poland, such as Warsaw.

' While Liszt's claim was inaccurate, the actions of scholars who read his writing proved to be more disastrous. Liszt also provided descriptions of specific dance scenes, which were not completely accurate, but were 'a way to raise the status of these works. In 1852, three years after Chopin's death, Franz Liszt published a piece about Chopin's mazurkas, saying that Chopin had been directly influenced by Polish national music to compose his mazurkas. The main subject of this debate is whether Chopin had an actual direct connection to Polish folk music, or whether he heard Polish national music in urban areas and was inspired by that to compose his mazurkas. While it is known that Chopin's mazurkas are connected to the traditional dance, throughout the years there has been much scholarly debate as to how exactly they are connected. One of these techniques is four part harmony in the manner of a chorale. In fact, Chopin used more classical techniques in his mazurkas than in any of his other genres. Furthermore, many of the rhythmic patterns of the traditional mazurka also appear in Chopin's compositions so they still convey the idea of a dance, but a more 'self-contained, stylized dance piece.' In keeping with this idea, Chopin did try to make his mazurkas more technically interesting by furthering their chromaticism and harmony, along with using classical techniques, such as counterpoint and fugues. This repetition makes sense in the traditional dance for the repeat of a certain section of the actual dance even though Chopin did not compose his mazurkas so they could be danced to, it is clear Chopin kept the original form in mind. This can mean repetition of a single measure or small group of measures, repetition of a theme, or even repetition of an entire section. For example, both the traditional mazurka and Chopin's version contain a great deal of repetition. Since Chopin's mazurkas connect to the already established traditional Polish mazurka, some of the characteristics of the genre remain the same in his interpretation. The number of mazurkas composed in each year varies, but he was steadily writing them throughout this time period. Problems playing this file? See media help.Ĭhopin started composing his mazurkas in 1825, and continued composing them until 1849, the year of his death.

Frederic chopin composition