Three Mazurkas Op.50 (1842)

No.1 in G major

No.2 in A flat major

No.3 in C sharp minor

The Mazurka in C sharp minor Op.50 No.3 ranks alongside the Mazurka in C minor Op.56 No.3 as one of the two longest and most developed Chopin works of their kind. In fact, although they include obvious mazurka elements and even whole mazurka episodes, they are more fantasies or rhapsodies than dances. The problem for Chopin – and there is evidence that he did have trouble putting the earlier set together – must have been in accommodating these inspired anomalies in their respective groups. The solution he came up with for Op.50 was to precede the C sharp minor fantasy with mazurkas average in length, clear in their ternary structure, not too complex in texture and at the same time usefully contrasted in style. The cheerful G major Mazurka is relatively close to the folk model, as the Lydian fourths so exotically confirm at one point. After being coaxed into apparently reluctant activity in the introduction, the A flat major piece is a charmingly sophisticated example of the salon mazurka with a surprisingly plain sister in D flat major in the middle section.