Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin,was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era, who wrote primarily for the solo piano. He gained and has maintained renown worldwide as one of the leading musicians of his era, whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation." Chopin was born in what was then the Duchy of Warsaw, and grew up in Warsaw, which after 1815 became part of Congress Poland. A child prodigy, he completed his musical education and composed many of his works in Warsaw before leaving Poland at the age of 20, less than a month before the outbreak of the November 1830 Uprising.

The piano pieces of Chopin changed the way the piano was played, not so much in the technical sense as with Liszt, but in the expressiveness required of the pianist. In shorter works, Chopin experimented with textures and sonorities, creating an utterly distinct piano style. Perhaps the most unusual and individual of the shorter forms is the mazurka, which reflects the merging of Chopin's cosmopolitan influences in Paris with his growin consciousness of being Polish. While retaining the flavor and rhythm of traditional Polish dances, the mazurkas also reflect the sophisticated melodic nuances and the coloristic harmonies found in Chopin's other music. These brief, intimate evocations of his homeland are perhaps some of Chopin's greatest contributions to the piano repertoire.

The four mazurkas of Op. 6 were not the first Chopin composed; he began writing them at the age of fifteen. The mazurka sets Opp. 6 and 7, published in 1832, were, however, the first of the genre that he published. The first piece in the Op. 6 set is the most rhythmically ambiguous, with the accented third beats and tied downbeats. The mournful, reflective thematic material is briefly interrupted by a much more joyous and rhythmically simpler interlude, returning shortly to the opening melody. The second piece in the set is more outwardly dance-like, with a triple-meter waltz-like bass line. The music seems fairly straightforward, but the play between the inner voices adds extra character and nuance. The third mazurka, marked Vivace, is the only one in a major key. Its accented third beat and its rhythmic drive add animation to the set. The interplay between the flashy right hand and the sneaky left-hand melodies also adds to the fun. The final piece in Op. 6 is very brief, with a recurring, spinning melody that gives the impression of a carousel.

The first mazurka of the set (No. 1 in F? minor) is a lively piece that makes use Polish folk rhythms and modes. The main theme, which revolves around triplets and brings heavy accents on the third beat of each bar, is quite melancholy, yet elegant in character. A second theme, marked fortissimo, offers a passage full of sforzandos and wedge accents. The original theme then returns, forte, but quickly decrescendos. These passages end with repeats. The third theme enters as an ostinato under a thundering accompaniment with a grace note before every chord. There is use of the Lydian mode, and the accents are even heavier than in the second section. After several percussive chords, the central theme returns and the mazurka gradually dies away. It takes around two and a half minutes to perform.

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazurkas,_Op._6_(Chopin) ).

Although composed for solo piano, I created this Interpretation of the Mazurka in F# Minor (Op. 6 No. 1) for String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).