Mazurka No. 16

At a glance

• What it isthe third of the Mazurkas, Op. 24, a short piece in A-flat major.
• Who, when, whywritten in Paris around 1834 to 1835 and published with the other three in 1836.
• What to listen forthe melody swaying as the beat is gently held back and pushed forward.

Listen for

• Songthe melody begins with a soft step. It is a dance in three, but it does not land heavily on the first beat.
• Swayinglisten for the passages where the player slightly delays and then hurries the beat. Chopin's mazurkas breathe and sway like this.
• The endthe same melody is repeated with small changes, then fades quietly to a close.

When it was written

The mazurka is a dance in three from the country dances of Mazovia in central Poland, often with the accent on the second or third beat. Yet Chopin's mazurkas were famous for not keeping strictly to the beat, holding back and pressing forward in subtle ways. There is a story that a composer who heard Chopin play a mazurka said it sounded as if it were in two rather than three, and the two of them argued.

Around 1835, when Op. 24 was written, Chopin met again in Dresden the Wodziński family, whom he had known as a boy. He grew close to their daughter Maria, but a few years later their engagement came to nothing.