The Polonaises Op. posth mous'' include

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

polonaise The polonaise (, ; , ) is a dance originating in Poland, and one of the five Polish folk dances#National Dances, Polish national dances in Triple metre, time. The original Polish-language name of the dance is ''chodzony'' (), denoting a walki ...

s that were not given opus numbers. This page does not consider the three posthumous polonaises Op. 71, which Chopin's assistant

Julian Fontana Julian (or Jules) Fontana (31 July 1810 — 23 December 1869) was a Polish pianist, composer, lawyer, author, translator, and entrepreneur, best remembered as a close friend and musical executor of Polish people, Polish composer Frédéric Chopin ...

published with the family approval. On the other hand, it includes the early G minor polonaise (KK IIa No. 1) that was published in Chopin's youth without opus number.

KK IIa No. 1: Polonaise in G minor (1817)

Polonaise in G minor was either the first or second of Chopin's Polonaises, the other one being Polonaise in B-flat major. The piece was written in 1817, when he was only seven and was dedicated to Lady Wiktoria Skarbek, the wife of his godfather. The piece consists of two main parts; a minor dance section which lasts 12 measures, and

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

section, which consists of a variation of the first dance along with a trio. This goes on for 26 measures, by which it then repeats to the minor dance section.

KK IVa No. 1: Polonaise in B-flat major (1817)

Polonaise in B-flat major, or B. 3 was also written when Chopin was seven. Though Chopin asked to have it burned after death, it was published in 1879.

KK IVa No. 2: Polonaise in A-flat major (1821)

This piece was dedicated to his teacher,

Wojciech Żywny Wojciech Żywny (; 13 May 175621 February 1842) was a Czech-born Polish pianist, violinist, teacher and composer. He was Frédéric Chopin's first professional piano teacher. Life Żywny was born in Mšeno, Bohemia, and became a pupil of J ...

(1756–1842) and is commonly referred to as B.5. It was not first published until 1901.

KK IVa No. 3: Polonaise in G-sharp minor (1824)

Polonaise in G-sharp minor, was not published until a year after his death in 1850.

KK IVa No. 5: Polonaise in B-flat minor "Adieu à Guillaume Kolberg" (1826)

This polonaise quotes the tenor cavatina "Vieni fra queste braccia" from Rossini's opera ''

La gazza ladra ''La gazza ladra'' (, ''The Thieving Magpie'') is a ''melodramma'' or opera semiseria in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, with a libretto by Giovanni Gherardini based on ''La pie voleuse'' by Théodore Baudouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caigniez ...

'', which Chopin had seen with his father's friend, the composer Oskar Kolberg.

KK IVa No. 8: Polonaise in G-flat major (1829)

B.36, or Polonaise in G-flat major, was the final polonaise that was published posthumously.

Numbering systems

On some CDs, these pieces are respectively designated as "Nos. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 & 16" in the order presented above. Some other CDs give a different numbering system, which comparatively gives "Nos. 15, 16, 11, 12, 13 & 14" or "Nos. 15, 16, 13, 14, 11 & 12".

References

Polonaises by Frédéric Chopin 1817 compositions 1821 compositions 1822 compositions 1826 compositions 1829 compositions Compositions by Frédéric Chopin published posthumously Compositions in G minor Compositions in B-flat major Compositions in A-flat major Compositions in G-sharp minor Compositions in B-flat minor Compositions in G-flat major {{classical-composition-stub