Polonaise-Fantaisie
Encyclopedia
The Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat major, Op.
61, is a composition for piano
by Frédéric Chopin
. It was dedicated to Mme A. Veyret, and published in 1846.
This work was slow to gain favour with musicians, due to its harmonic
complexity and intricate form
. Arthur Hedley
was one of the first critics to speak in its favour, writing in 1947 that it 'works on the hearer's imagination with a power of suggestion equalled only by the F minor Fantasy or the fourth Ballade', although Arthur Rubinstein
, Leff Pouishnoff
, Claudio Arrau
and Vladimir Horowitz
had been including it in their programmes some decades earlier.
It is intimately indebted to the polonaise
for its metre
, much of its rhythm
, and some of its melodic character, but the fantaisie is the operative formal paradigm (Samson, 1988). Parallels with the Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49 include the work's overall tonality, A flat, the key of its slower middle section, B major
, and the motive
of the descending fourth.
Opus number
An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
61, is a composition for piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
by Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
. It was dedicated to Mme A. Veyret, and published in 1846.
This work was slow to gain favour with musicians, due to its harmonic
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
complexity and intricate form
Musical form
The term musical form refers to the overall structure or plan of a piece of music, and it describes the layout of a composition as divided into sections...
. Arthur Hedley
Arthur Hedley
Arthur Hedley , English musicologist and scholar, biographer of Frédéric Chopin.Arthur Hedley was educated at Durham and at the Sorbonne, and he devoted much of his life to the study of the composer Frédéric Chopin and his music. 1947 saw the publication of Hedley's biography of Chopin, as part of...
was one of the first critics to speak in its favour, writing in 1947 that it 'works on the hearer's imagination with a power of suggestion equalled only by the F minor Fantasy or the fourth Ballade', although Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers...
, Leff Pouishnoff
Leff Pouishnoff
Leff Nicolas Pouishnoff was a Ukrainian-born pianist and composer, who made his home in the United Kingdom and whose career was largely in the West, from the 1920s onwards...
, Claudio Arrau
Claudio Arrau
Claudio Arrau León was a Chilean pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning from the baroque to 20th-century composers, especially Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms and Debussy...
and Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...
had been including it in their programmes some decades earlier.
It is intimately indebted to the polonaise
Polonaise
The polonaise is a slow dance of Polish origin, in 3/4 time. Its name is French for "Polish."The polonaise had a rhythm quite close to that of the Swedish semiquaver or sixteenth-note polska, and the two dances have a common origin....
for its metre
Meter (music)
Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented...
, much of its rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
, and some of its melodic character, but the fantaisie is the operative formal paradigm (Samson, 1988). Parallels with the Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49 include the work's overall tonality, A flat, the key of its slower middle section, B major
B major
In music theory, B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps....
, and the motive
Motif (music)
In music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition....
of the descending fourth.
External links
- Polonaise-Fantaisie sheet music available at Musopen.com
- Polonaise-Fantaisie performed by Valery SigalevitchValery SigalevitchValery Sigalevitch is a Russian classical concert pianist.-Biography:...
on youtubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
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