Mazurkas, Op. 33 are a set of four Mazurkas for piano by Frédéric Chopin, composed and published in 1838. ''Mazurkas Op. 33'' at Allmusic/ref>

Analysis

Mazurka in G minor, Op. 33, No. 1

''Mazurka in G-sharp minor, Op. 33, No. 1'', the opening mazurka of the set, has a tempo marking of Lento. This mazurka has an emotional melody, accompanied in the left hand with a

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...

pattern. The mood changes many times throughout the piece, and to good effect. This intimate piece is occasionally considered less complicated than many of Chopin's other mazurkas.

Mazurka in D major, Op. 33, No. 2

''Mazurka in D major, Op. 33, No. 2'', the second piece of the collection, is one of the most popular mazurkas. It has a fast

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

and strong irregular

accents Accent may refer to: Speech and language * Accent (sociolinguistics), way of pronunciation particular to a speaker or group of speakers * Accent (phonetics), prominence given to a particular syllable in a word, or a word in a phrase ** Pitch acce ...

. The piece begins with the happy and joyful main theme, decorated with ornaments. After a second theme is introduced, the main theme is repeated for a second time. The mazurka concludes with a separate coda section that introduces a new theme, this concludes with a melody ascending high into the upper register. An average performance of this mazurka lasts around 3 minutes.

Mazurka in C major, Op. 33, No. 3

''Mazurka in C major, Op. 33, No. 3'', the third of the set, has an expression marking of ''semplice'' (see: Tempo#Italian tempo markings). This miniature is simple and warm, showing a different approach to the mazurka genre. Slightly accented second beats are used to keep the mazurka characteristics.

Mazurka in B minor, Op. 33, No. 4

''Mazurka in B minor, Op. 33, No. 4'', the final mazurka of the set, is one of the longest mazurkas at nearly 5 minutes in length. The piece is written in an ABABCA structure, similar to a

rondo The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period. Etymology The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round". Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...

form. The piece begins with a captivating main melody, decorated with

grace note A grace note is a kind of music notation denoting several kinds of musical ornaments. It is usually printed smaller to indicate that it is melodically and harmonically nonessential. When occurring by itself, a single grace note indicates eith ...

s and trills. This melody is repeated a total of eight times throughout the piece; between it, different melodies appear, but the main melody always returns. A B major section follows the theme, which is the B section. The C section is in B major, which is the parallel key to B minor.

References

External links

* ''Mazurkas Op. 33'' at Allmusic* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mazurkas, Chopin33 1838 compositions Mazurkas by Frédéric Chopin Music with dedications