Chopin's posthumous Polonaises

[tinctoria88]

How does everyone regard the 4 posthumous Polonaises of Chopn, opl 71, now. 1, 2, 3, and the one in G# minor.  I just re-discovered these pieces and find them charming and quite full of fingerwork.  Rather contrasting to the other "Maestoso" polonaises.

[nastassja]

I am working on the g sharp minor polonaise, so I can only talk about that one. Chopin wrote it when he was really young, so you may find 12 year olds playing this piece in competition. It is a grade 10 piece that is lovely and technically doable if you are comfortable with arpeggios and repeated notes/trills. Interesting to work on, in my opinion.

[tinctoria88]

Yes, I find the style of the figuration (trills, arpeggios, etc.) as you mentioned very intriguing.  These "early Chopin" polonaises almost ... perhaps suggest some of the figuration in Chopin's mazurkas.  Something folksy, violin folksy?? about the effects in these polonaises posthumous.  I'm intending to read up on the history of this group of polonaise pieces.  They could certainly be another style of technique challenge within Chopoin's works.

[mjames]

I don't care for many of them, but the ones from his teenage years are wonderfully crafted filled with beautiful passages. He wasn't called a child prodigy for nothing, at the age of 13 he was composing far better music than most seasoned composers could. The g-sharp and bflatminor are my favorites:

[outin]

Op 71 nr 1 is one of my favorite polonaises. Must learn one day...