The expression of sadness or regret undoubtedly marks the two mazurkas considered by biographers to be Chopin’s last: the G minor and the F minor, published by Fontana among the posthumous works. They were composed (the G minor) or sketched (the F minor) over the course of Chopin’s last two years, though we do not know their exact dates. Chopin felt lonely, as he admitted in a letter to Wojciech Grzymała: ‘I feel alone, alone, alone – though surrounded’. The year 1848 was marked by Chopin’s last Paris concert, at the Salle Pleyel, and a concert tour of England and Scotland, organised by Jane Stirling. It was from there that Grzymała received those sad, moving words: ‘The world has somehow passed me by. Meanwhile, what has become of my art? And where did I squander my heart?’ It is assumed that the G minor Mazurka (placed by Fontana in Opus 67) was written after the composer’s return from Scotland, in the winter of 1848 or the spring of 1849. It brings a melody that is pure and songful, crystal clear. For a moment, rustic music breaks in, but it is followed by a few bars of a melody hummed quietly by the piano – before the music of the beginning returns. This Mazurka also adheres to the current of ‘new simplicity’ that characterises the last works. It would perhaps have been difficult for Chopin to compose anything more simple and modest.Author: Mieczysław TomaszewskiA series of programmes entitled ‘Fryderyk Chopin’s Complete Works’Polish Radio 2