Polonaise in A flat major Op.53 (1842)

Written in 1842, between the Fantasia in F minor and the Fourth Ballade, the Polonaise in A flat is the last in the series before Chopin finally transcended the form in the Polonaise-Fantaisie. It is no mere polonaise, however: it is more a tone poem which draws on the heroic associations of the dance as Chopin had developed it during the last seven years but which also includes other kinds of material which it is difficult not to think of as being inspired by some kind of poetic programme.

There is nothing specifically of the polonaise in the dramatically articulated introduction and, although its generic character is unmistakable, the splendid main theme is accompanied not by the usual rhythmic figures but by pairs of quavers phrased across the bar lines. A new, less muscular theme marked sostenuto is awarded the authentic polonaise accompaniment but it doesn’t last long before it provokes a fortissimo return of the main theme. The passage which invites programmatic commentary is the one beginning with seven emphatic chords of E major and continuing with a galloping ostinato in the left hand while a proud new melodic personality rises above it in the right. So, after a brief reminder of polonaise rhythm, does the apparently anomalous passage of decorative semiquavers in the right hand running over syncopated figuration in the left. Anyway, the main theme returns in all its splendour and the coda briefly recalls the galloping ostinato, which is now won over to A flat major.

For Chopin in his youth, when he was still living in Warsaw, the polonaise was just another dance, just another vehicle with a familiar rhythmic profile for a display of keyboard virtuosity. When he was livng in France, after the cruel suppression of the Warsaw uprising, he discovered in the strutting rhythms of his national dance a heroic potential which had never been realised before. In his hands it became not only a Polish national symbol but also a new musical form which he was to develop, well beyond its dance associations, to the transcendental stature of the Polonaise-Fantasie Op.61 of 1846.

It is not insignificant that the two most popular of Chopin’s Polonaises, those in A major and A flat major known as the “Military” and the “Heroic” respectively, have attracted similarly defiant nicknames. The latter seems to have more than mere heroism on its mind, however. Certainly, its structural imagination far exceeds that of its “Military” predecessor. It opens, like others of its kind, with a dramatically orientated introduction and presents a splendid main theme, the generic character of which is unmistakable even though it is accompanied not by the usual rhythmic figures but by pairs of quavers phrased across the bar lines. A new, less muscular theme marked sostenuto is awarded the authentic polonaise accompaniment but it doesn’t last long before it provokes a fortissimo return of the main theme.

The structural departure begins in the middle section with seven emphatic chords of E major and a galloping ostinato in the left hand while a proud new melodic personality rises above it in the right. Then, after a brief reminder of polonaise rhythm, there is an almost nocturnally reflective passage of decorative semiquavers in the right hand running over syncopated figuration in the left. It pulls itself together, however, as the main theme returns in all its splendour and as the coda briefly recalls the galloping ostinato, which is now won over to A flat major.