Mazurka

Grade 7

1. MAZURKA

2. The  mazurka ( Polish :  mazur  or  mazurek ) is a Polish musical form based on stylised  folk dances  in  triple meter , usually at a lively tempo, with character defined mostly by the prominent  mazur 's "strong  accents  unsystematically placed on the second or third  beat ". The mazurka, alongside the  polka  dance, became popular at the  ballrooms  and salons of Europe in the 19th century, particularly through the notable works by  Frédéric Chopin . The mazurka (in Polish  mazur , the same word as the  mazur ) and mazurek (rural dance based on the mazur) are often confused in Western literature as the same musical form .

3. In the 19th century, the form became popular in many  ballrooms  in different parts of Europe. " Mazurka" is a Polish word, it means a  Masovian  woman or girl. It is a  feminine  form of the word "Mazur", which — until the nineteenth century — denoted an inhabitant of Poland's  Mazovia  region ( Masovians , formerly plural:  Mazurzy ). The similar word "Mazurek" is a  diminutive  and  masculine  form of "Mazur". In relation to dance, all these words ( mazur, mazurek, mazurka ) mean "a Mazovian dance". Apart from the ethnic name, the word  mazurek  refers to various terms in Polish, e.g. a  cake , a  bird  and a popular surname. Mazurek  is also a rural dance identified by some as the  oberek . It is said  oberek  is a danced variation of the sung  mazurek , the latter also having more prominent accents on second and third beats and less fluent of a rhythmical flow, which is so characteristical of  oberek .

4. Latin America Brazil In  Brazil , the composer  Ernesto Nazareth  wrote a Chopinesque mazurka called "Mercedes" in 1917.  Heitor Villa-Lobos  wrote a mazurka for classical guitar in a similar musical style to Polish mazurkas . Cuba In  Cuba , composer  Ernesto Lecuona   wrote a piece titled  Mazurka en Glisado  for the piano, one of various commissions throughout his life . Nicaragua In  Nicaragua ,  Carlos Mejía Godoy y los de Palacaguina  and  Los Soñadores de Saraguasca  made a compilation of mazurkas from popular folk music, which are performed with a  violin de talalate , an indigenous instrument from  Nicaragua .

5. — Curaçao In  Curaçao  the mazurka was popular as dance music in the nineteenth century, as well as in the first half of the twentieth century. Several Curaçao-born composers, such as  Jan Gerard Palm ,  Joseph Sickman Corsen ,  Jacobo Palm ,  Rudolph Palm  and  Wim Statius Muller , have written mazurkas . Mexico In  Mexico , composers  Ricardo Castro  and  Manuel M Ponce  wrote mazurkas for the piano in a Chopin fashion, eventually mixing elements of Mexican folk dances . Philippines In the   Philippines , the mazurka is a popular form of  traditional dance . The Mazurka Boholana is one well-known Filipino mazurka . Portugal In Portugal the mazurka became one of the most popular traditional European dances through the first years of the annual  Andanças , a traditional dances festival held nearby  Castelo de Vide .