Overview
Introduction
Chopin: Trois Mazurkas Op. 50
Composed in 1842, the three Mazurkas, Op. 50, in G major, E flat major and C sharp minor, were published in 1842 in Vienna. By this time, Chopin, now involved with George Sand (Aurore Dudevant), had established his pattern of spending most of the year in seclusion in Paris and his summers in Nohant, where he wrote the Mazurkas, Op. 50.
Op. 50 begins with a grand and noble mazurka, rich in melodic and harmonic invention. The Aeolian mode which Chopin uses adds to a feeling of mystery and impending danger. What follows is an introspective, tender waltz, with a rhythmically stable, lighthearted middle passage. The third mazurka employs the rhythmic and characteristic traits of the Mazur, the Oberek, and the Kujawiak. In weaving the three together, Chopin uses several contrasting contrapuntal and accompanimental figures, including fugal imitation, thicker chordal textures, and waltz pattern bass lines. The piece appears to fade away, but it ends with two surprising and accented cadence chords.
Mazurka No. 30 in G Major, Op. 50-1
The three mazurkas comprising the Op. 50 set are among the more substantial ones, not simply because they are longer than most, but because their moods vary and their expressive range is broad. Though this G major mazurka is the shortest in the group, lasting about two-and-a-half minutes in a typical performance, it is no miniature alongside many of the 60 or so other mazurkas.
Marked Vivace, it is a robust, vibrant piece whose main theme is more complex than it might first sound. The melodic path here is rather broken and hesitant, but always seems to know what direction to take. The music is elegant and mostly cheerful, and even the somewhat detached middle section does not hamper the generally positive nature of the piece. The work ends quietly, though in some editions there is confusion concerning the dynamics here. Clearly the composer intended a softer, gentler close to the piece, since any playing close to forte in the closing measures would be out of place. In any event, the mood of this mazurka is hardly one of joyous abandon; rather, it strikes the ear as brightly-lit and good-natured.
Mazurka No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 50-2
This piece, marked Allegretto, begins with a few introductory chords, then launches into an elegant, flowing theme whose light-footed gait is all grace and delicacy. The trio, in D flat, is robust and jaunty, proud and poised, but demurely steps aside to allow the return of the main theme to close the piece. This is one of the few mazurkas to eschew feelings of romance or longing or gloom. The mood here is bright and cheery, yet, unusual for Chopin, also somewhat detached. A typical performance of this mazurka lasts about three minutes.
Mazaurka No. 32 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 50-3
It is typical to find the most substantial mazurka of a Chopin set in the last position, and the third of Op. 50 is no exception. Although one of the longest of Chopin's Mazurkas (six pages long, depending on the edition), it does not contain a single tedious passage. With this piece, Chopin effectively re-designs the basic concept of the mazurka. He combines folk rhythms with cultivated counterpoint, mixes modal harmonies and chromatic writing, uses ostinato to give a primitive sound to the work and push toward a climax, occasionally reduces the texture to a single line, and ends with a long and developmental coda.
Chopin rarely places learned compositional procedures on the surface of his pieces, but in the C sharp minor mazurka we find blatant examples of contrapuntal artifice. For instance, the opening is very much like a fugue, although Chopin dispenses with the alternation of tonic and dominant entries. This fugal texture increases when the main theme returns after its contrasting partner. The trio, with its insistent rhythm and rustic sound, begins with what seems like a continuous, endless phrase.
The coda, designed to close both the piece and the entire Op. 50 set, features a dramatic sequential passage. The motive from which this sequence is derived—two eighth notes followed by two quarter notes—is part of the trio's primary theme. However, the music slithers chromatically all over the tonal map before ending up on the tonic. What Chopin accomplishes with this harmonic adventure is the creation of an "exotic" sound his contemporaries would have associated with foreign music and "authentic" mazurkas. Such passages influenced Wagner's harmonic thinking.
