Mazourka

She is with the maiden in the graceful mazes of the gay Mazourka; she inflames the savage in the barbaric clang of the fierce war-dance; or marks the measured tramp of the drilled soldiery of civilization.

The Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 4, October, 1863 Devoted to Literature and National Policy Various

When Chopin published his E minor Concerto he dedicated it to Kalkbrenner, and the latter soon after composed "Variations brillantes (Op. 120) pour le piano sur une Mazourka de Chopin," and often improvised on his young brother-artist's mazurkas.

Frederic Chopin as a Man and Musician Niecks, Frederick 1888

Which among them has ever danced through a Mazourka, whose cheeks burned not more from the excitement of emotion than from mere physical fatigue?

Life of Chopin Liszt, Franz, 1811-1886 1877

In the country where the Mazourka reigns from the palace to the cottage, these gradations are pursued, for a longer or shorter time, with as much ardor and enthusiasm as malicious trifling.

Life of Chopin Liszt, Franz, 1811-1886 1877

What mingling emotions are concentrated in the accidental meetings of the Mazourka!

Life of Chopin Liszt, Franz, 1811-1886 1877

After the Mazourka has commenced, the attention, in place of being distracted by a multitude of people jostling against each other without grace or order, is fascinated by one couple of equal beauty, darting forward, like twin stars, in free and unimpeded space.

Life of Chopin Liszt, Franz, 1811-1886 1877

In order fully to understand how perfectly this setting suited the varying emotions which Chopin had succeeded in displaying in all the magic of their rainbow hues, we must have seen the Mazourka danced in Poland, because it is only there that it is possible to catch the haughty, yet tender and alluring, character of this dance.

Life of Chopin Liszt, Franz, 1811-1886 1877

Where such women reign as sovereigns, what feverish words, what hopes, what despair, what entrancing fascinations must occur in the mazes of the Mazourka; the Mazourka, whose every cadence vibrates in the ear of the Polish lady as the echo of a vanished passion, or the whisper of a tender declaration.

Life of Chopin Liszt, Franz, 1811-1886 1877

He saw there the chaste grace of his brilliant countrywomen displayed in the Mazourka, and the memories of their witching fascination, their winning reserve, were never effaced from his soul.

Life of Chopin Liszt, Franz, 1811-1886 1877

This strange but attractive contrast was caused by the necessity of "CONSOLING MISERY" (CIESZYC BIDE), which necessity induced them to seek the magical distraction of the graceful Mazourka, with its transient delusions.

Life of Chopin Liszt, Franz, 1811-1886 1877