Classical Music | Piano Music

Frédéric Chopin

Mazurka in A-flat Major, Op. 41, No. 4  Play

Dmitry Paperno Piano

Recorded on 12/31/1969, uploaded on 02/10/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Like with his waltzes, Chopin’s mazurkas progressed from stylized concert pieces not far removed from the traditional dances to elaborate formal compositions that intricately and subtly entwined the characteristics of the dance with an increasingly complex musical structure. Here in these later pieces, expression took precedence over formal considerations and the elements of the dance became only the boundaries of a large blank canvas to be filled by the composer’s imagination.

The four mazurkas of opus 41, composed in 1838-39, mark a sort of halfway point in the progression of Chopin’s development. No longer are the pieces mere dances but begin to take on a life of their own, enriched by more evocative moods and an expanded musical vocabulary. Furthermore, the composition of these mazurkas also coincides with the beginning of a relatively happy period in the composer’s life. His relationship with Aurore Dupin, better known by her pseudonym George Sand, was just beginning and the following years were very productive.

The last mazurka of the set, in A-flat major, is joyful with a waltz-like gracefulness to it—the opening melody gliding effortlessly along. A sense of mystery comes in the middle section as the music remains fixed over a tonic pedal in C minor as if in a trance. The melody moves but little and the addition of dominant harmonies adds a sense of poignancy. Yet, as if reawakening from this daze, Chopin finds his was gradually back into the blithe first theme and the mazurka concludes somewhat dreamily rising up to the third of the tonic in the final chord.       Joseph DuBose

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"Paperno's playing is exceptionally strong: colorful, forthright, original, and tonally suave. The phrasing is elegant and poetic. The two scherzos, especially No. 4, are put forth with a tremendous rush of energy; the ballade [No. 4] and the fantasy are powerfully shaped, among the best I've heard of these sublime pieces . . . Paperno is an artist." (Fanfare)


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Listeners' Comments        (You have to be logged in to leave comments)

Very beautiful. Very subtle. Really special.

Submitted by Alexis1 on Sun, 02/22/2009 - 00:53. Report abuse