It's been a while since I've done this as I got a mild obsession with covering guitar solos. But that's over for the moment and I'm excited to pretend to be excited about Chopin's 700 mazurkas. I can't believe I'm only up to Opus 33.

Quatre Mazurkas

For à Mlle la Comtease Mostowka.

Op. 33, No. 1 in G♯ minor

This one is super short and straightforward and I don't much to say. It has some neat little descending chromatic diminished chords that lead into the main theme. The same motif returns a few bars later and it turns out it was diatonic all along. What a tease.

The B section is in the relative major and not very interesting. Yawn.

Op. 33, No. 2 in D major

This one sounds like a stereotypical waltz. The main theme starts in D in forte, repeats in a pianissimo, then modulates to A in forte, then piannisimo, then back to D. It's very pleasant but not much to say.

The B section modulates to B♭ with some dotted eighth/sixteenth patterns. Some jazzy chords in the right hand allow for the left hand to take over the melody in some classic V of the V shenanigans of which I am so fond.

An interesting modulation takes place after the first time through the B section, where it throws in a D♭ (B♭ minor instead of B♭ major) and does some classic Chopin trickery to end up in D♭.

And then there's more modulation! Suddenly we're in F♯ major-ish. I guess that's the enharmonic of G♭, and we ended on a D♭ chord which is the V of G♭/F♯. Sure.

This fun modulation transitions to E which is the V of A which is the V of D and we're back to the beginning in classic mazurka style. It was so nice I want to listen to it twice or five times.

For the ending we get a Ballade-ish agitato Coda. And then it ends with some more implied V of the V with a scale in the higher registers. Overall a fun little piece, although it's a little repetitive. But such is the mazurka.

Op. 33, No. 3 in C major

Op. 33, No. 4 in B minor