I have to give background on the polonaise as a musical genre before I go into this particular composition. So bear with me. The polonaise originated in Poland, sometime during the late 18th century, I believe. Like so many genres in which Chopin dabbled, the polonaise has its roots in simple Polish folk dances. It is a dance, always in 3/4 time, and always with a modest rhythmic structure, characterized by this rhythm in particular. In the 17th century the Polish nobility got a hold of it and decided to make it all sophisticated and stately and whatnot. Of course, through this "refinement" of the genre, the polonaise also became more elaborate, mostly because the Baroques couldn't leave anything alone. Ornamentation was, after all, a composer's best friend! It did, however, retain that characteristic rhythm which, incidentally, can have either a militaristic or a patriotic sort of tone, depending on how one wants to listen. During the late 18th century, Poland was dealing with quite a bit of political upheaval, and almost disappeared from the maps. Because of this, there was a surge of Polish nationalistic music being composed. The polonaise had always been Polish music, and Polish composers took full advantage of their native music. As a result, the genre began to assume a very emotional quality, with the music being both majestic and melancholy. During this time,Prince Michal Kleofas Oginski (whom no one has ever heard of, but who has a really amazing name) began to compose polonaises for the salon, which in turn made the piece generally even more flowery. The polonaise eventually degenerated into a virtuostic piano work, which is where Chopin comes in! Finally!
The c-sharp minor polonaise was composed in 1836, and is one of Chopin's earliest composed polonaises. In his earlier compositions of this genre, he was heavily influenced by the bombastic, showy polonaises of Liszt (who, incidentally, was an expert in the field of bombastic and showy). It's obvious, too. You can listen to recordings here, here, and here. One has to listen to no more than the first 15 seconds of the song to be immediately captivated. Maybe that's why I enjoyed this piece so much. I literally cannot be ignored when playing this piece. I'm fairly certain that it's actually impossible. It's just so loud. The entire first half of the piece is that way, more or less. There is great Polish pride pouring forth from every note. It quite literally makes me angry at my ancestors for being Czech instead of Polish (though we do lay claim to Dvorak, whom I will write about a later time).
Then, all of the sudden, halfway through the piece, there's this sudden, dramatic change in mood, due largely to the very abrupt modulation to D-flat Major. This grand, militaristic march-like music is reduced to something tender, emotional, and full of heart-felt yearning. This very much alludes to my previous statement about the polonaise being both "majestic and melancholy." My particularly favorite part of this is the section where the left hand takes the melody. I can imagine it as a cello line, and a beautiful one at that. And of course, Chopin, through compositional genius, is able to link these two very separate musical ideas of patriotism and pride through rhythm, the characteristic steady beat being felt and heard throughout the piece.
All of that being said, the thing is just gorgeous. It's also a real beast to play. But worth it. So worth it.
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