4 Mazurkas, Op.41 (Chopin)

This set of mazurkas was composed and published between 1838 and 1839. They were dedicated to Chopin's friend Stefan Witwicki, a minor poet, ten of whose poems Chopin set to music as songs.
In 1839 Chopin wrote to a friend “I have four new mazurka: they seem good to me, as younger children do to parents growing old.” The composer was all of 29 years old at the time and had already written 25 pieces in the Polish dance form. They rightly seemed good to 'daddy', but one wonders if the first one, in C-sharp minor, seemed the best.
The order here is the order in the first German edition. The first French and English editions placed the C-sharp minor mazurka last rather than first.
The four mazurkas are:-
No. 1: Maestoso (majestically, meaning restrained, held back) in C# minor.
No. 2: Andantino (fairly slow) in E minor.
No. 3: Animato (animated, lively) in B major.
No. 4: Allegretto (fairly fast) in Ab major.
The first mazurka is one of the most extended. It begins simply enough, its rather plaintive main theme presented in single notes. After repetitions and departures from it, this theme is given a grandiose treatment in octave chords, sounding more in the style of a polonaise being danced to by warriors; this heralds a coda that ends very quietly on a version of a rhythmic pattern heard earlier. This is a small tone poem in dance form.
The second has a neurotic edge that asks for sympathy, but its health improves with the turn to major. The main theme’s last appearance, in the inner voice, is defiantly optimistic, though the very end is quietly submissive, Bear in mind that Chopin DID NOT compose his mazurkas so they could be danced to!!
The third seems a little wanting in the grace department, but this could be more viewed as if the dancers were wearing clogs?!
The last one is a graceful dance, more a waltz than a mazurka. Breaking off the repeat of the second theme at the very end could be construed as Chopin musefully thinking of days gone by, never to be returned.
GlynGlynn, alias GB, realiser.
Please feel free to leave any comments, be they good, bad, or indifferent as to whether the piece, or the performance, moved you in any way whatsoever!
(Since music is an aural art, and not a visual one, it is best to listen to these pieces, and other artists performances, with eyes closed, so as to be able to listen intently as to how the music is portrayed).