Demonstration - Chopin's Mazurka in G minor, Op.24, No.1

Ivona Kaminska Bowlby performs Chopin's Mazurka in G minor, Op.24, No.1
The 4 Mazurkas, Op.24 (1836) belong among the most popular sets in this genre.
Most do not realize that under the title, “Mazurkas”, there are fragments representing other Polish National Dances, such as the Kujawiak (pronounced koo-YAH-vyahk) and Oberek (oh-BEHR-ehk). Chopin himself often referred to these dances in his personal letters to friends and family under these lesser-known but more accurate dance names. He nonetheless published them all collectively under the title of “Mazurkas”.
The first Mazurka from the opus 24 set opens with the material that is typical for the Kujawiak: the slower speed, sad and nostalgic character, and arch-like vocal melodies. Starting in measure 17, a new triplet rhythmic idea is introduced which is typical of the more swaying motion of the Kujawiak dance.
However, the contrasting section (B-flat major) starting in measure 34 introduces the most salient rhythmic features of the Mazurka, namely a preponderance of dotted rhythms, or dotted-like rhythms that substitute a sixteenth rest in place of a dot - these suggest the vigorous and athletic steps of the Mazur.
Perhaps the most expressive and poignant part of this Mazurka is found in measure 58 where the main motive is reworked with an altered dominant. Very characteristic for Chopin, this dominant-seventh chord substitutes a minor sixth in place of its normal consonant fifth. This sonority is so typically associated with Chopin’s harmonic language that in Polish harmony classes, the structure is often referred to as the “Chopin Chord”.
One important note to the performers of this piece is that the various accents, tenutti, and even sforzati should not be understood in the most basic and simplistic dynamic accent. These markings are a call to emphasize a note, not simply to accent it with a mere louder touch. Alternatively, one can emphasize these stresses by playing them longer, delaying them, adding a different kind of touch. Too often piano students and instructors understand these markings one-dimensionally.
The same goes for the range of dynamics - considering the earlier version of the piano that Chopin played and knew, as well as the historical placement of his music (arising from the traditions of Mozart, and Bach - and without knowing any music of Rachmaninov), a pianist should perform the louder sections with a touch that is not forceful and overbearing as if it was composed by a composer living in the early 20th-century.