September 2010
Beginner
376 pages
12h 7m
English
Like the sarabande, minuet, and gavotte, the mazurka started life as a dance. In fact, it is one of two popular folk dances to come out of Poland, along with its more famous cousin, the polka. But whereas the polka is still danced regularly at Wisconsin weddings, the mazurka has found life on the concert stage thanks to over 50 piano pieces by Polish composer/pianist Frédéric Chopin between 1825 and 1849.
Chopin spent most of his career in Paris, reshaping his native dances for the salon. The characteristic rhythms of the mazurka remained, although Chopin indicated so many tempo ...
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