Some scholars speculate that Chopin was especially fond of the number four since he composed four ballades, four scherzos, four impromptus, and four rondos. But we must attribute it to pure chance because next to this undeniable count are the twenty nocturnes, the twenty-seven etudes, the fourteen waltzes, the twenty-six preludes, the fifty-seven mazurkas and a very long etcetera that has nothing to do with the aforementioned number.
Paris, 1832: nocturnes instead rondos
But it is also true that, as far as the production of rondos is concerned, Chopin wrote the fourth and last of them in 1832, when he was only 22 years old. Having just settled in Paris, it is likely that his audience, that of the salons of the rising bourgeoisie and fading aristocracy, rather than typically "classical" musical forms, would have celebrated with greater enthusiasm his more melodious and novel nocturnes or preludes, with which Chopin was establishing his most genuine musical personality in the composition of pieces with an intimate character.
Rondo a la mazur op 5 in F major
The rondo a la mazur (that is, in the style of a mazurka, a typically Polish dance) is the second rondo written by Chopin. At the time, 1826, the author was sixteen years old, was living with his parents and sisters in Warsaw and was about to take his maturitas – Latin exam to become a bachelor – which would open the doors to the university, or to the Conservatory. Chopin would prefer the latter. At the recently opened Warsaw Conservatory he would have lessons in harmony, counterpoint and composition, because his piano teacher, the violinist and harpsichordist Wojcieh Zwyny, had no more to teach him by the time Chopin turned twelve.
Published in 1827, the work is dedicated to his pupil Countess Alexandrine de Moriolles. (Indeed, Chopin had pupils at the age of sixteen.) Quite demanding, it presents two contrasting themes, lively and graceful the first over a mazurka rhythm, quiet and cantabile the second (1:35). The piece closes with a brilliant finale.
The performance is by Bulgarian pianist Evgeny Bozhanov, while participating in the International Chopin Competition, in Warsaw, 2010.
