There is a famous myth that Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude in C minor was written when Chopin heard about the fall of Warsaw to the Russians, in 1831. While this story may or may not be true, it conveys the deep patriotism that Chopin had for Poland, a patriotism that expressed itself through music.
In his teens, Chopin set poems of numerous Polish nationalists to music, among them the famous poet Adam Mickiewicz. Later in life, while writing his four Ballades, Chopin told a friend that Mickiewicz’s poems led him to this idea. (quote) Many of Chopin’s pieces contain snippets of melodies from Polish songs.
Examples of Nationalism in Chopin’s Music
The calm middle section of the Scherzo in b minor is a Polish carol, Hush, hush little Jesus. The poignant four measures that begin the Winter Wind etude are taken from a Polish folk song, The miller had three daughters, and in the Cello etude, the soprano voice carries the Polish lullaby Little Jesus.
The musical borrowing is a subtle example of nationalism, since not many people are going to recognize the Polish melodies, especially nowadays. Chopin’s genres of composition make the nationalism more obvious: the Mazurkas and the Polonaises. These two compositional styles are Polish dances. The Mazurka is a Polish peasant dance, whereas the Polonaise was danced by Polish soldiers and sounds more militaristic than the carefree Mazurkas.
Style of Chopin’s Mazurkas
Chopin used three different Polish dances as the basis for his Mazurkas: the kujawiak (coo-YA-vee-ak), the mazurek, and the oberek. The kujawiak is the most relaxed dance, although not necessarily slow. The oberek is the fastest, meaning to spin. The oberek has a tell-tale rhythm, two shorter notes followed by two longer notes, such as two eighth notes followed by two quarter notes. Chopin’s Mazurka in B flat major exemplifies this dance.
William von Lenz, a student of Chopin’s, said of the Mazurkas, “Chopin…represented Poland. He incarnated Poland, he put Poland to music.” Chopin managed to elevate the Mazurka from banal peasant dance to a recognizable, national sound in classical music. People could listen to the Mazurkas and say, “that’s Polish.”
Aside from the obvious Slavic influence in the Mazurkas and Polonaises, some of the most Polish sounding of Chopin’s compositions are in pieces that are rarely played and not well known, such as the Grand Fantasy on Polish Airs for piano and orchestra, and the Rondos. For more on the Rondos see Lesser-Known Works of Fryderyk Chopin.
Chopin loved his country, but he did not consider himself a composer of Polish music, the way the Austrians hail Mozart as a composer of Austrian music. He did give Poland a voice in classical music though, most obviously through the Maurkas and Polonaises, but also through the subtle use of Polish tunes woven into his other masterpieces.
