Polonaise in F-sharp minor, Op. 44 (Chopin)

[1] The polonaise is dedicated to Princess Ludmilla de Beauvau, a prominent member of the Polish émigré community in Paris.

The piece opens with a short menacing passage, and soon develops into a dark and often furious polonaise theme.

The mazurka soon gives in to darker harmonies and the polonaise returns after two isolated torrents of notes.

At length, the reprise seems to lose force and momentum, and Chopin concludes the work with a surprising fortissimo double octave on F#.

The time had come for polonaises subjected to free fantasy, for more heroic dance poems.