Mazurkas (Chopin)

The number of mazurkas composed in each year varies, but he was steadily writing them throughout this time period.

"[4] In keeping with this idea, Chopin did try to make his mazurkas more technically interesting by furthering their chromaticism and harmony,[3] along with using classical techniques, such as counterpoint and fugues.

Liszt also provided descriptions of specific dance scenes, which were not completely accurate, but were "a way to raise the status of these works [mazurkas].

When reading Liszt's work, scholars interpreted the word "national" as "folk," creating the "longest standing myth in Chopin criticism—the myth that Chopin's mazurkas are national works rooted in an authentic Polish-folk music tradition.

"[6] In fact, the most likely explanation for Chopin's influence is the national music he was hearing as a young man in urban areas of Poland, such as Warsaw.

[7] The soprano and composer Pauline Viardot was a close friend of Chopin and his lover George Sand, and she made a number of arrangements of his mazurkas as songs, with his full agreement.