Frederic Chopin - Fantasia on Polish Airs Op. 13

Frédéric Chopin wrote six works for piano and orchestra, including two concertos. The Fantasy on Polish Airs in A major, Op. 13, was the second of his concertante works, written in 1828-30. The piece is also sometimes referred to as Fantasia on Polish Airs, Grande fantaisie or Fantaisie brillante. Chopin himself referred to it as his «Potpourri on Polish themes», and kept it in his repertoire for many years. The Fantasy followed the highly successful Variations on «Là ci darem la mano», Op. 2 of 1827. It was written while a student of Józef Elsner at the Warsaw Conservatory.[ Structure The orchestration calls for flutes, oboes, clarinets (in A), bassoons, horns (in A), trumpets (in D), timpani (A and E), piano and strings. The work contains three main themes, two of which are traditional folk melodies. Introduction The piece starts with a 55-measure introduction marked Largo non troppo. The introduction is in common time and concludes on a chord of the dominant seventh. Już miesiąc zaszedł psy się uśpiły The next section is based on «Już miesiąc zaszedł psy się uśpiły (The moon had set, the dogs were asleep).» This popular Polish folk song was sung to words from Franciszek Karpiński's idyll «Laura i Filon». Significantly, the song was a favorite of Chopin's mother. The section lasts from mm. 56 to 127. The meter is 6/8. The section begins in A major and ends on C# minor. Theme de Charles Kurpinski This section features a melody in the style of a dumka or possibly...