The second Mazurka, in E minor, brings the ‘wistful’ tone of a kujawiak. It is to be played lento ma non troppo. The melody seems to evoke the mood and character of the playing of some rural violinist, fluent in the art of embellishing the original melody. The middle section, not distinctly marked out in this mazurka, is filled with a mazur or oberek – a ‘dance on the spot’. At first, the opening mazurka motif returns insistently, backed by a coarse foot-tapping. Then the dance abates. Henceforth, we have only a shifting from one leg to the other in anticipation of the return of the dance melody. Here, Chopin foregrounds the harmony: chords which with their stepwise movement dance solely on the spot, constrained by the invariable bass note. The kujawiak melody returns – and with it the opening mood, oscillating between liveliness and that ‘wistful’ cogitation.Author: Mieczysław TomaszewskiA series of programmes entitled ‘Fryderyk Chopin's Complete Works’Polish Radio 2