POLISH NATIONAL INFLUENCES IN CHOPIN'S MUSIC

Author(s): JAMES BAKST

Source: The Polish Review, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Autumn, 1962), pp. 55-68
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences of
America
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JAMESBAKST

POLISH NATIONAL INFLUENCES IN CHOPIN'S MUSIC

A study of national influences in Chopin's music should begin with

a review of national Polish dances and songs prevalent in Chopin's
time.

One of the oldest Polish dances is the polonaise which was orig
inally called the great, or pedestrian, dance, later became the polski,
and, finally, the polonaise. The country polonaise had little to do
with the salon-concert polonaise which became popular in the nine
teenth century. The salon polonaise probably originated with the
festive procession of Polish nobility at the celebration in Cracow in
1574 of the accession of Henri de Valois to the Polish throne.
Among old Polish gentry and in court circles, the polonaise was
originally a dance formen only. Later, women in pairs, participated in
the dance, and, finally, itwas danced by men and women as partners.
A ball was usually opened with a polonaise in which the host marched
with the most important lady.
The mazur, also popular with the nobility, was probably adopted
in 1596 during the reign of Sigismund III when the capital of the
kingdom was transferred to Warsaw, and Mazovia assumed an inj
portant role in the life of the Polish people.
Originally mazurs, when danced by the nobility, had pictorial
symbolical significance. The figures and steps of the mazur symbolized
military experiences of the nobility: tapping of heels recalled prancing
or tread of horses' hoofs, and some figures represented setting of spurs.
The mazur was a favorite dance of Polish villagers. With the first
sound of a mazur, dancers gathered in a circle and moved in pairs
in different directions. The large circle then broke up into several
smaller circles, and each pair turned separately. The first pair, led
by the leader, set the pattern of dancing followed by other pairs.
The body movements and dance figures of the village mazur were
not devised beforehand, but were created by the dancers. The leader
introduced new dance figures, changed them, and, in general, enliv
ened the dance.

55

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56 The Polish Review

The kujawiak, a dance in the Kujawy region, consisted of three

parts. It began with a pedestrian polonaise, in which the stamped step
was different from a measured step. The leading role was usually
taken by a married peasant. When the singing dancers rounded a
peasants cottage, the leader commanded "odsib," that is away from
every mans right hand, and this signified the beginning of the kuja
wiak. In the kujawiak, the partners in each pair faced one another.
The man leaned his palms on the waist of the woman, and the woman
leaned her arms on the waist of the man. In this pose they waltzed
from right to left. The dancing proceeded with slightly fastermeasur
ed steps, and the music, at times, sounded mournful. After a while,
the man released his right hand, the woman released her left hand,
and, when the leader commanded "kseb" (a turn towards himself to the
left), the dancing pairs began to whirl to the left. This part of the
dance was called oberek or "small mazur." The oberek did not have the
capricious rhythm of the regular mazur and was accompanied by tapping
of heels and by various figures. Unexpected turns of the leading pair
finally threw the dancers into real or feigned confusion, often called
"the mill." The songs appropriate to the oberek were usually hu
morous.

The krakowiak, a dance in duple time, was danced by the inhab

itants of the Cracow region and by the nobility. Originally the nobility
danced it by pairs of men in which one person represented the knight
and the other person represented the armour-bearer. Polish nobility
adopted the krakowiak during the reign of Casimir the Great. After
the transfer of the capital from Cracow to Warsaw, the krakowiak
competed with the mazur for popularity. In Chopin's time the kra
kowiak was danced mostly by peasants in the Cracow and Sando
mierz regions .

* * *

The melodic features of Polish dances are derived from folk

songs. The same song may become a krakowiak in duple time, or
a mazur in triple time. Of the two dances the mazur is more
complex rhythmically. Capricious accents shifted from strong beats
toweak beats endow themazur with energy and flexibilitywhich Chopin
successfully used to create musical pictures of village life and of
emotional states.
The common rhythmic figures in a mazur are in 3/8 measure, two
semiquavers and two quavers or in 3/4 measure, two quavers and
two crotchets. This rhythmic pattern is varied by the following arrange

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Polish National Influences in Chopin's Music 57

ments: three quavers: six semiquavers; a dotted quaver and three

quavers; a dotted quaver followed by a semiquaver and a quaver, alternat
ing with the original pattern.
The capricious character of a mazurka results from accentuations of
the three beats in a measure. Usually the accent is placed on the
high note in a measure. This is quite natural because a village violinist
stresses tonal accents by conforming the violin bow to the sharp body
movements of the dancers.
The faster the dancing, the faster the tempo of the music, followed
by accentuation of the third beat in a measure, or by equal accentuations
of all three beats. The accentuations depend on themelodic pattern of
the mazur reflecting the body movements of the dancers.
The musical structure of the mazur results from joining of two
measured or four-measured phrases. Three-measured and even single
measured phrases are also used. The commonly accepted form of the
mazur consist of several rhythmically different motives of unequal
length, but forming an esthetically complete unit.
The mazur is a dance of jerkymovements and without smooth rhythm
ical melodic aspects. The kujawiak is symmetrical in structure and
accents. The common form of a kujawiak is a musical period consisting
of two phrases with similar accentuations. Such rhythmical symmetry
is convenient for circling body movements of dancers. Because of
their rhythmical aspects kujawiak melodies cannot be danced in the
style of the capricious mazur. On the other hand, mazurs with stable
accents can be danced as waltz-like kujawiaks or obereks. In a Ger
man waltz the accent always falls on the first beat. In a kujawiak
the accent may fall on any other beat, provided the rhythmical
patterns are sustained.

The kujawiak in Chopin's Fantasy on Polish Themes op. 13 has

the accent on the second beat of everymeasure.

The village polonaise (chodzony) is based on smoothlyflowing

melodies in eighths and quarter notes, with accents on the first beat,
and sometimes with trilled half-note fermates in themiddle.

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58 The Polish Review

Chopin's polonaises have little in common with these polonaises.

The concert polonaise is a dance in 3/4 time in which the melody
begins on the accented first beat of the opening measure. The met
rical pattern of the accompaniment is usually two quavers and four
quavers, with the final conclusion, four semiquavers, a dotted crotch
et and a quaver.
Such accompaniments are impossible in a village polonaise where
a melody sung by dancers or played by a violin, is accompanied by
a droning double bass.

* *

The character of Polish

folksongs in Chopin's time was determin
ed by the harmonic
basis of Polish national music. Unlike Russian
folksongs, Polish folksongs are, on the whole, monophonic, not het
erophonic (without the podgolosky). When a song is sung to the
accompaniment of a violin, there is no emerging polyphonic back
ground.
The harmonic basis of the accompaniment consists of simple in
tervals formed, for example, by the open G string with a tone on
another string. By retuning the violin, a player obtains tones which
are impossible with a regular tuning. The harmonics of these accom
paniments are alternations of the tonic triad with the dominant sev
enth chord. The melody consists mainly of harmonic figurations of
chords. Major tonalities are preferred to minor tonalities with their
leading tones. In some folksongs there occur chromatic elements, the
form of the chromatic series being.1

modes, such as the Aeolian,

Various Phrygian, Dorian, Lydian, and
Mixolydian also occur.

compositions in which the Polish national spirit is vividly

Chopin's
expressed include the mazurkas, the Fantasy on Polish Themes op. 13,
the Krakomak for piano and orchestra op. 14, the Rondo & la Mazur

iVassily B. Paschalov, Chopin i polskaya natsyonalnaya muzyka (Chopin and

Polish National Music), Moscow, 1949.

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Polish National Influences in Chopin's Music 59

op. 5, and songs. Chopin's polonaises do not have characteristics in

herent in village polonaises. However, aspects and traits of Polish
dances and songs permeate melodic elements, rhythmic structures, and
harmonic successions in Chopin's polonaises. Generally speaking, Pol
ish cultural and sociological elements permeate Chopin's melodic and
rhythmic aspects as functions inmusical esthetic forms (unity of content
and design). In Chopin's large forms the national influence is weaker
because he used tonal elements purely as thematic materials for large
compositions. Into the Fantasy, Krakowiak, and Rondo d la Mazur
Chopin poured Polish national content using genuine Polish melodies,
or creating original themes in the spirit of Polish national music.
The Fantasy op. 13 Chopin successfully played in Warsaw and
abroad. It is a pot-pourri of Polish songs in which Polish audiences
recognized familiar tunes. The Fantasy was published in Paris in 1834.
One of itsmelodies is the song "Juz niiesi^c zaszedl." Chopin also in
cluded a melody composed by Karol Kazimierz Kurpinski (1785-1857),
and a kujawiak which Chopin probably heard during a visit to Polish
villages. The introduction of the Fantasy, a melody with empty fourths,
recalls Polish popular tunes. The other themes in the Fantasy are
Chopin's original creations.
Chopin's treatment of thematic materials in the Fantasy is a series
of brilliant piano variations which reveal the incomparable wealth of
his inventive genius and imagination. However the style of the Fantasy
is uneven. The first and second execution of the kujawiak are national
in spirit: themelody is played in unison of one and two octaves, or it is
sustained by fourths and fifths in the bass. This is reminiscent of perky
village violins and droning of double basses.
The beginning of the third appearance of the kujawiak (in C major)
contains popular melodic turns, as do the first and second appearances
of the kujawiak. However, the transition to the tutti and the coda of
the Fantasy, partly constructed on the kujawiak theme, have little in
common with national music. The clearcut rhythm of the national dance
gives way to virtuoso passages, the popular village fifths in the bass
disappear from the harmony, and the brilliant piano style holds sway
till the very end.
The workingout of the song "Juzmiesiac zaszedl"and ofKurpinskis
theme loses national characteristics. The national feeling is sustained
theme when the melody,
by the orchestral presentation of Kurpinski's
played by clarinets,is supportedby a sustainedtone played by the
violoncellos.

? ?

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60 The Polish Review

The orchestral part in the Rondo d la Krakowiak op. 14 presents

the themes against a simple harmonic background. This is in perfect
consonance with the national spirit of the music.
The introductory theme is remarkable for the national simplicity of
its tone elements: successions of tonic and dominant triads, the sustained
organ point on the tonic, the clarinet solo which imitates the concluding
piano part in the introduction, and the presentation of the theme in
unison at the distance of two octaves,?all these endow the music with
a Polish atmosphere. Similar national aspects characterize the orchestra
tion of the subordinate theme in the Rondo.
The main theme of the Rondo is a lively krakowiak melody in F
major. A short orchestral episode is followed by an extensive section
whose character has little in common with the unpretentious, rhyt
mically punctuated, typically national krakowiak theme. In the end
of this section, the krakowiak theme is "recalled'' in the key of A major
by melodic piano figurations resembling the theme.
As in the Fantasy, various sequential motives, melodic figurations,
and modulational aspects in the Rondo do not recall Polish national
songs or village celebrations. The D minor subordinate theme is follow
ed by a piano variation of the theme which is interesting musically
but not nationally. The concluding section of the Rondo (melodically
and harmonically reminiscent of the theme in Chopin's Etude in F
major op. 25 % 3) begins with a motive that resembled themain theme.
The coda of the Rondo is constructed on a motive of the main theme
devoid, however, of its characteristic rhythm.

* * #

The Rondo a la Mazur was composed by Chopin in 1828. With the

of a few connecting episodes, the music of the Rondo is a
exception
tonal representation of a village festival during which the villagers
dance an oberek, a kujawiak, and a mazur. The "vivace" first theme
of the Rondo is an oberek of two measure phrases with the accent on
the third beat of the second measure.
The second theme in B major resembles a kujawiak, not a mazur.
Its four-measured phrases, symmetrical accents, moderate tempo, smooth
ly flowing ascending and descending melody against a sustained fifth
in the bass,? these are aspects of a kujawiak rather than of an im
petuous mazur, despite the fact that Chopin called the Rondo "a la
Mazur."

Characteristics of a mazur are more prominent in the modulating

episode leading to the repetition section. The principal motive in the

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Polish NationalTnfluences in Chopin's Music 61

bass supports mazur-like rhythmic constructions. It seems as if the

dance leader suddenly stopped the dance, and, after a sudden "odsib,"
wants to lead the dancers out of the real, or feigned confusion, the
"mill," and resume the oberek. To enhance the picture of this situa
tion, after a "musical confusion'' of rhythmical and modulational as
pects, Chopin reverts to the first theme of the Rondo, the fast, sym
metrically accented oberek.
The section of the Rondo beginning with the B major theme (tran
quillo e cantabile) up to and including the beginning of the repeti
tion is an excellent example of Polish national musical forms inChopin's
style. What is lacking to complete the picture is a processional (cho
dzony) village polonaise which usually preceded the kujawiak and
oberek at village festivals .

K- * *

The adaptation of national dance and song elements to musical

forms within the sonata style is one of Chopin's greatest accomplish
ments. Of course it could be questioned whether tone and time aspects
of Polish folksongs and dances are compatible with complex musical
forms within the sonata style. The brilliant and effective piano pas
sages and figures employed by Chopin do not occur in Polish folk
songs and dances. Equally alien to national Polish music are devel
opmental schemes appropriate to large musical forms. Polish folk
songs, generally lacking polyphonic features (similar to the podgo
losky in Russian folksongs), are hardly suitable for large musical forms
with extensive polyphonic developments.
Another restraining aspect is in the dance-like characteristics of
Polish songs, features that tend to limit a composer's rhythmical in
ventiveness. It is probable that Chopin realized these shortcomings
and neutralized them with a decorative, mosaic piano polyphony typ
ical of his style.
The three compositions discussed above represent a certain mixture
of styles, of typical national aspects with Chopin's piano style. These
compositions are Chopin's answer to the pressure of Polish nationalist
aspirations during the first decades of the nineteenth century.
Chopin did not possess operatic gift. Therefore, he used the piano
to propagandize Polish nationalism. While composing large musical
forms during his early musical career, Chopin had in mind large
audiences. His successful blending of national idioms with piano
virtuosity wras a natural response to the tastes of these audiences,

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62 The Polish Review

Until 1841 Chopin's concert programs inWarsaw did not include

compositions of a purely intimate, chamber character. His mazurkas
Chopin first played in Paris in 1841.
To Chopin's audiences the Rondo and the Fantasy were little different
from free improvisations on popular melodies practiced by pianists of
the period. In Warsaw Chopin often improvised on themes submitted
by members of an audience.

* * *

The mazurkas Chopin composed throughout his life. Most of

them he composed while living abroad .They reflect the nostalgia
of Polish emigres and their propensity to indulge reminiscences of
their native country.
Many of Chopin's mazurkas are pictures of Polish countryside. The
listener feels as if Chopin has just returned from a visit to the country
and immortalized his impressions in music. It is remarkable that
Cfhopin composed these mazurkas in France, far away from his
native Poland.
According to Liszt, Chopin called themazurkas "pictures" (obrazki).
This description is applicable tomany of themazurkas because in these
miniature piano poems Chopin was influenced not only by tonal
recollections, but also by visual memories of impressions he experienced
in his youth. In the mazurkas Chopin mentally revisits Poland and
expresses his experiences in miniature tone-paintings.
In the mazurkas Chopin developed individual rhythmic aspects of
three-pulsational Polish dances with their characteristic bar constructions,
which he already used in the Rondo a la Mazur, for example, the
rhythmically contrasting themes and modulations (representing the
indefinite patter of feet, the "mill") before the final oberek. In the
Rondo Chopin caught the spirit of national harmonic aspects using
harmonic combinations appropriate to the possibilities of village violins
and bagpipes: alternations of tonic and dominant seventh chords, mo
tions by octaves and unisons, and sustained fifths in the bass. These
aspects become even more prominent in the mazurkas because of the
miniature form of the composition. In themazurkas Chopin used major
and minor tonalities, medieval modes, and a chromatic series.
Rhythmically the mazurkas consist of mazurs, kujatviaks, obereks,
and even waltz-like patterns. Often the various rhythmical aspects
appear in the same mazurka. For example, mazurka # 6 (op. 7, $ 2)
is a mazur,but the trioinA major isia kujawiak; #8 (op. 7, #4) is in

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Polish National Influences in Chopin's Music 63

the Form A-B-A-C-A, where A is an oberek, B and C are mazurs; #11

(op. 17, # 2) is in the form A-B-A where A is a kujawiak, B is an
oberekwith a mazur; # 24 (op. 33, # 3) is in the formA-B-A where
A isa mazur andB is a kujawiak; #33 (op. 56, #6) is a mazurkawith
three themes: A is a kujawiak (odsib), B (poco piu mosso) is a waltz
like oberek (kseb), and C is a mazur. Space does not permit an analysis
of all mazurkas, but each one of them is a unique adaptation of national
dance rhythms in patterns of a pure mazur; mazur and kujawiak;
mazur and oberek; mazur, kujawiak, and oberek; mazur, kujawiak,
and waltz; mazur, oberek, and waltz; mazur, kujawiak, oberek, and
waltz; oberek and waltz; pure oberek; pure kujawiak. The above is a
good indication of the variety of national rhythmical aspects in Chopin's
mazurkas.

Here is how rhythmical aspects determine the characteristic dance.

In the mazur the accent may fall on any pulsation in themeasure?first
second or third; on the third beat only; on the first and second beats;
and on all three beats. The mood of a mazurka is happy, gay, or
sentimental. The tempo is lively.
In the kujawiak the accent falls on any part of the fourthmeasure.
In the oberek the accent falls usually on the third beat of the second
measure, The mood of the kujawiak and of the oberek is gay, the
tempo is fast.
It would be difficult, if not impossible, to subject Chopin's mazurkas
to metronomic indications. The tempi of his mazurkas, while preserving
die rhythmical quality of the mazur, of the kujawiak, or of the oberek,
are not exactly identical with the tempi of Polish national dances. This
certainly applies to the elegiac mazurkas of Chopin, for example, the
mazurka # 49 (op. 68, # 4) composednot long beforeChopin died.
This mazurka is a slow oberek concluded with an elegiac waltz. However,
even Chopin's slow and elegiac mazurkas reflect rhythmic aspects
of Polish national dances.
Chopin's kujawiaks are closer to accepted musical sentence-periods
than either the mazurs or the obereks. This is due to the fact that
kujawiak consist of four-bar phrases with a semicadence in
melodies
the middle. The accent falls on any beat in the fourthmeasure in each
phrase. The smoothness of kujawiak melodies and the regularity of
secondary accents produce the charm so characteristic of Chopin's
style.
Chopin's mazurs reveal a variety of shifting accentuations and rhythm
ical links. In addition Chopin cultivated a custom practiced by village
violinists of altering a shortmelody during the dance. Examples of this
custom are found in theD flatmajor episode in the mazurka #31 (op.

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64 The Polish Review

50, # 2); in thebeginningof themazurka # 26 (op. 41, # 1); and in

other scattered episodes among the mazurkas.
Generally, if Chopin uses a mazur rhythm in the first section of a
mazurka, the second part is an oberek, and the third part is a kujawiak
or a waltz. In some mazurkas Chopin combined in one section rhythm
ical elements of various dances.
The forms of Chopin's are unique.
mazurkas Instead of thematic
development, Chopin usually introduces new thematic material which
enables him to preserve the national spirit and mood of the music.
Although this method is not suitable to aspects of sonata style, it is
expedient in the miniature, musical "inlaid picture' that the mazurkas
represent. Exceptions to this are the mazurkas # 26 (op. 41, % 9),
# 32 (op. 50, % 3), and % 55 (op. 56, # 3). These mazurkas are based
on thematic transformations and changes. The concluding section of
mazurka % 32 (op. 50, % 3) is an example of thematic transformation
with harmonic and contrapuntal variations, and recitative-like episodes.
The harmonic and melodic aspects of Chopin's mazurkas depend on
the scale system?major, minor, chromatic series, and modes. The motivic
elements and turns used by Chopin are found in popular Polish songs,
for example the motivic progression G-F sharp -D-F natural, contrasts
of chromatically changed tones, and "open" fourths,?all of these are
found in peasant songs and in melodic turns employed by a village
violinist.
Modal aspects were not used by Chopin too often. The middle
section of themazurka % 12 (op., 17, % 3) is in the Aeolian mode. The
opening themeof themazurka % 26 (op. 41, % 1) is in the Phrygian
mode; the trioin themazurka %48 (op. 68, #3) is in theLydianmode.
Harmonic aspects of Chopin's mazurkas are successions of dominant
and tonic formations in major-minor scales common in Polish dances,
such as sustained tonic and dominant tones, usually played by double
basses and bagpipes; motions by unisons or octaves; and harmonies
with chromatic alterations. In some mazurkas Chopin used all of
theabove aspects,forexample in % 13 (op. 17, % 4), and in % 23 (op.
33, % 2). The successionsof parallel fifthsin the coda of themazurka
$21 (op. 30, % 4) is correctnationally,but wrong academically.All
these confirm the close relationship of Chopin's mazurkas to national
sources. It is interesting that themelodies of themazurkas are generally
confined within the range of the singing human voice.
The general style of the mazurkas is predominantly homophonic.
Contrapuntal aspects are found in the mazurkas % 26 (op. 41, % 9)
(imitativeaspects); in % 32 (op. 50, % 3) (canonicpresentationof the
theme); in #35 (op. 56, % 3) (a four-partinterweave).

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Polish National Influences in Chopin's Music 65

* * *

The question whether there are national influences in Chopin's other

compositions should be answered affirmatively. Although specific na
tional elements do not occur in the Ballades, Waltzes, Scherzi, and
Polonaises, echoes and reminiscences of characteristic national aspects
do occur in these forms. For example, in the trio of the B minor
Scherzo (a Christmas Carol), in the first theme of the F minor Ballade,
and theB minorwaltz (op. 69, # 2). The finaleof theE minor piano
concerto ismelodically and rhythmically a krakowiak; the finale of the
F minor concerto is a mazur.
In his polonaises Chopin is a great Polish patriot narrating inmusic
the great historic past of the Polish people, or expressing his sensitivity
to revolutionary successes and failures of the Polish people. The
"Tempo di Mazurka" in the F sharp minor polonaise is a salon mazurka,
not a mazurka as a tone poem expressing village experiences or impres
sions.

The flat minor is a programmatic composition, a great

sonata in B
tragic conception, a drama in which personal grief is merged with
thoughts, reflections, and dreams about the Polish people and its
heroes, and the death of its heroes. About the funeral march in the
sonata Liszt wrote: "A feeling arises that it is not the death of one
hero that is here lamented... but that a whole generation has fallen."2

* * *

Chopin is a national composer whose music is interwoven with the

national art and life of Poland. The national roots of his music are
deep and ramified. Outside of Chopin's early compositions and the
mazurkas, national influences are best exemplified in Chopin's melodies.
Generally, Chopin did not incorporate in his music genuine national
melodies. Attempts were made to trace some of Chopin's melodies to
national sources. The Polish composer Z. Noskowski (1846-1909) in
his book on Chopin wrote that he heard a Polish shepherd song which
coincidedwith F sharp (op. 36) Impromptuof Chopin.3
AlthoughChopin rarelyincorporated originalPolishmelodies in his
music, not only themazurkas, but the preludes, nocturnes, ballades, and
polonaises have intonational motives characteristic of Polish folksongs.
Chopin's melodic style has intonational aspects very much in common
2 Franz Friderik from the French, Moscow,
Liszt, Chopin, (Translated 1956, pp.
87-88.
3Zygmunt Noskowski, Istota utworow Chopina (The Essence of Chopin's Works),
Warsaw, 1902, p. 27.

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 66 The Polish Review

with Polish national music.4 Should we assemble the fragmentary

motives in the C sharp minor scherzo, there will emerge a beautiful
pensive melody in national character and feeling.

The melancholy waltz-like melody (piu lento) in the E major scherzo

is probably an intonational reminiscence of Romances Chopin heard in
Warsaw's drawing rooms.

Chopin's music is intonationally related to the songs and tunes of

Mazovia. "It is sufficient to look over any edition of the collection of
motives Oscar Kolberg collected inMazovia to become convinced how
much the national music of theMazurs became part of Chopin's musical
nature."5

The aspects of Chopin's melody that relate it to Polish national songs

are characteristic of all Slavic national music,?"an emotional warmth,
gentleness, and singing breadth."6 Similar aspects characterize melodies
of Russian musical classics in the nineteenth century.
Variational aspects found in Polish national music are akin to
Chopin's melodic variations. A marvelous example of Chopin's melodic
variations is the Berceuse in which tonic and dominant harmonies,
4 This view is shared by V.B. Paschalov (op. cit.,); by L. Mazel (Chopin, Moscow,
1947); and by Zdziskw Jachimecki (Chopin,Warsaw, 1949).
5Zdzisiaw Jachimecki, op. cit., p. 160. Oscar Kolberg (1814-1890), was a Polish
composer and a collector of Polish folksongs.
6Aleksei Solovtzov, Friderik Chopin, Moscow, 1956, p. 132.

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Polish National Influences in Chopin's Music 67

prominent in Polish national music, are the only two chords in every
measure, while the tonic tone is sustained in the bass throughout the
composition. Against this ostinato background Chopin varies a charm
ing, peaceful melody, a tune with a very distinct national coloring.
"The magnificence of Chopin's melodic ornamentations does not encum
ber the gracefulness of the melodic lines."7 "Variational ornamenta
tions enhance the intonational expressiveness of Chopin's melody, its
continuity and fluidity."8
Chopin's arpeggios and runs are not generalized tonal movements,
but individualized thematic formations unified with themusical imagery
of his national programmatic conceptions, for example, the famous
"Revolutionary Etude" in C minor, and the ballades. Thereby Chopin
enables the listener to perceive national feelings in the melodic and
harmonic aspects of the compositions.
Polish songs are characterized by vocal and instrumental intona
tions. Vocal intonations are unhutjried, smooth, stepwise melodic
progressions whose intervals are easily sung by the human voice. In
strumental intonations are more complex intervalically, with skips,
figurations, and chromaticisms difficult for the human voice.
Vocal and instrumental characteristics in Chopin's melody relate it
to Polish national music. Chopin combines vocal and instrumental
characteristics so that the musical texture becomes a polyphonic inter
weave. Moreover, in Chopin's style vocal intonations pass into in
strumental, and instrumental intonations pass into vocal. Often in
strumental intonations emerge from vocal aspects. This is characteristic
of Chopin's nocturnes and the Barcarolle in F sharp, op. 60.
The relationship of Chopin's melodic ornamentations to national
intonational elements enhances the individual charm of his style.
Despite variational repetitions, Chopin's harmony supporting the
melody remains basically unchanged. This enables Chopin to create
in the listener's mind new incarnations of musical imagery, as in the
nocturnes, ballades, and polonaises.
National elements in Chopin's style are represented by a synthesis
of declamatory, recitative-like, and dance-like elements in his non
dance compositions, especially in the ballades. Some of Chopin's
melodies not only "sing," but actually "talk" (etude in E major op.
10, % 3; nocturneinG minor op. 37; the subordinatetheme in the
firstmovement of the B sonata; the developmental episode
flatminor
"lento sostenuto" and coda in the F minor fantasia). There is no doubt
that the prototype of this synthesis exists in national Polish music.
7 Franz 81.
Liszt, op. cit., p.
8L Mazel, O melodii (AboutMelody), Moscow, 1952, p. 232.

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68 The Polish Review

Chopin an equilibrium of speaking and singing aspects in

achieved
melody. A
composer of melodies of unsurpassed variety and beauty,
Chopin endowed them with a speaking quality. Beethoven's intonations
are universal in their conceptions. Liszt developed a speaking, oratorical
instrumental expressive of life and nature. Tchaikowsky
recitative
speaks of suffering, love, joy, yearning, and melancholy in Russian
intonations, even when he treats non-Russian subjects such as Romeo
and Juliet, Francesca, and Manfred. In his melody Chopin speaks as
a Polish Chopin was a national composer not because of
nationalist.
preconceived ideas, but because of an inner necessity of his spirit.
A few words about Chopin's polyphony. In his memoirs, Delacroix
recalls the following: "I asked him (Chopin) what is logic in music.
In general remarks he explained to me what is harmony and counter
point, and why one should study the fugue as a means to perceive a
basis for every reason and consistency inmusic."9
Chopin, who highly regarded Bach's fugues, composed only one
fugue. Chopin's contrapuntal devices are all imitative counterpoints and
interweaves. Independent voices usually do not imitate one another,
and do not repeat the same melody one after another, but are inter
woven with a single melody that is picked up by each voice.
The predominance of dance-like characteristics in Polish songs limits
the rhythmical variety of a composer's style. Chopin's individual decora
tive, arabesque, mosaic piano polyphony, marvelously recompenses for
the absence of polyphonic elements in national Polish music.
Chopin was not an autobiographical composer. It is difficult to
guess from his compositions his personal feelings towards his parents,
George Sand, orMaria Wodzinska.10 Patriotic feelings and emotions are
easily recognizable and felt in Chopin's music. In a letter to his teacher
Jozef Eisner, Chopin wrote: "As an artist I am still in the cradle; as a
Pole I have begun my third decade."11
As a composer, Chopin became the carrier of the Polish spirit, of
Polish hopes and aspirations. As a nationalist and a patriot, Chopin
became an example for Grieg, Dvorak, Debussy, Tchaikowsky, and
Rachmaninoff. Chopin's realistic programmatic forms, saturated with
the national Polish spirit, prove that a national music is beautiful and
fascinating.
9 from the French), Moscow,
Eugene Delacroix, Memoirs, (Translated 1950, p.
156.
10The Etude in F minor, op. 25, # 2, is supposed to be a musical picture of
Maria Wodzinska. After listening to his pupil Gutman play the Etude in E major,
op. 10 # 3, Chopin exclaimed "Oh, my homeland." (A. Solovtzov, op. cit., pp.
270, 275). The exclamation might have been an intimation of Chopin's thoughts
of his family in Poland.
nB. Sydow, ed., Correspondence de Frederic Chopin, Paris, 1955, p. 251.

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