A peasant dance from the plains around Warsaw that Chopin transformed into some of the most heartbreaking piano music ever written.
A lively Polish dance in triple time, or music composed for such a dance.
From Polish mazurek, from Mazur meaning an inhabitant of Mazovia (Mazowsze), the central Polish region around Warsaw Key roots: Mazowsze (Polish: "Mazovia, central Polish region").
Chopin composed at least 59 mazurkas — more than any other single form in his output. He transformed a rustic folk dance into some of the most sophisticated piano music ever written, using the mazurka's rhythmic patterns to encode his longing for a Poland he could never safely return to.