Frederic Chopin: Polonaises (Henle Urtext)

Frédéric Chopin is renowned worldwide as one of the leading musicians of the Romantic era. This collection of Polonaises features all 16 of the Polish virtuoso pianist's works written in the dance style for the solo Piano. Chopin started composing his polonaises at the age of 7, in 1817, and continued composing them until 1846. The series of seven polonaises published in his lifetime (another nine were published posthumously and at least seven are lost) show a marked advance on those of his Polish predecessors and have set a new standard for music in the form. This Urtext edition is based on many different sources and follows the current state of research to present the pieces in a form as close to the original intentions of the composer as possible – this is especially applicable to the 6 polonaises without opus numbers. The comments at the end of the volume give detailed information about the sources and their deviations. An editorial preface by Ewald Zimmermann is included in German, English and French. Unlike most of their predecessors, Chopin's Polonaises require a formidable playing technique – but will be praised by grateful audiences when mastered and performed.