How did Chopin play – vol. 9

In the third stage of the Competition, one of the challenges for pianists is the interpretation of Chopin’s mazurkas – participants must perform the entire opus of them (choosing Op. 17, 24, 30, 33, 41, 50, 56, or 59.

Mazurkas, although short, relatively technically simple compositions, are considered the most difficult in Chopin’s oeuvre. The point is that Chopin derived this genre from Polish folk music, imitating it and transforming the inspirations in his own, inimitable style. Therefore, the performance must capture the spirit and characteristics of traditional Polish music, a certain danceability (although Chopin’s mazurkas were not written for dancing, as he himself wrote in one of his letters!), but without being overly literal. Tempo rubato and skilful accentuation play a crucial role. Young pianists devote special attention to preparing for mazurka performances – some even learn to dance the mazurka, oberek, and kujawiak! Some tips on how to perform Chopin’s mazurkas were left by the composer’s listeners and students.

‘In the national dances – Karol Mikuli taught – such as the Polonaise, Mazurka, Krakowiak, Kujawiak, the main rhythmic notes should be strongly accentuated, followed by a gentle release of the rhythmic impulse wherever the accent (or long-held accented note) is omitted or displaced. But this must never degenerate into mere lack of rhythm.’

Charles Hallé, pianist and conductor, recalled his own experience of performing a mazurka in the presence of Chopin: ‘A remarkable feature of his [Chopin’s] playing was the entire freedom with which he treated the rhythm, but which appeared so natural that for years it has never struck me. It must have been in 1845 or 1846 that I once ventured to observe to him that most of his Mazurkas (those dainty jewels), when played by himself, appeared to be written, not in 3/4, but in 4/4 time, the result of his dwelling so much longer on the first note in the bar. He denied it strenuously, until I made him play one of them and counted audibly four in the bar, which fitted perfectly. The he laughed and explained that it was the national character of the dance which created the oddity. The more remarkable fact was that you received the impression of 3/4 rhythm whilst listening to common time. Of course this was not the case with every Mazurka, but with many. I understood later how ill advised I have been to make that observation to him and how well disposed towards me he must have been to have taken it with such a good humour.’

And Raul Koczalski, Mikuli’s student, so, one might say, Chopin’s musical grandson, noted his teacher’s observation regarding the embellishment of melodies in mazurkas: ‘While playing his own compositions, Chopin liked to introduce ornamental variations in some places. Mikuli told me that he was particularly fond of doing so in the Mazurkas.’

You can learn a lot about the spirit of mazurkas by listening to recordings by their most outstanding interpreters, who have been awarded a special Polish Radio Prize for their best performances at Chopin Competitions – including Martha Argerich, Garrick Ohlsson, Krystian Zimerman, Dang Thai Son, Ewa Pobłocka, Rafał Blechacz and Kate Liu.

Kamila Stępień-Kutera