Polonaise in C (Beethoven)

He composed it in December 1814, at a time when the polonaise was becoming a popular dance and class marker among the European nobility.

[1] Beethoven was presented as a prominent artist at the ongoing Congress of Vienna,[2] where he met the visiting Russian Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna.

[4] The piece is marked Alla Polacca, vivace (as a polonaise, lively).

After four bars, there is a brief barless passage of ascending and descending scales moving to adagio (slow) and then to più presto (faster).

At the conclusion of this unusual introduction, the piece returns to the first tempo and meter, and the polonaise rhythm and main theme are introduced.