Most of Frédéric Chopin's polonaises were written for solo piano. He wrote his first polonaise in 1817, when he was 7; his last was the Polonaise-Fantaisie of 1846, three years before his death. Among the best known polonaises are the "Military" Polonaise in A major, Op. 40, No. 1, the "Tragic" Polonaise In F minor, Op. 44, and the "Heroic" Polonaise in A major, Op. 53.
There is also the Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante in E major, Op. 22, for piano and orchestra (a solo piano version also exists), and the Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major, Op. 3, for cello and piano.
Polonaises for solo piano Chopin wrote at least 23 polonaises for piano solo. Of these: 7, including the Polonaise-Fantaisie, were published in his lifetime with opus numbers 1 was published in his lifetime without an opus number by his father (Polonaise in G minor) 3 were published posthumously with an opus number (Op. 71) 5 were published posthumously without opus numbers at least 7 are lost.
List of polonaises by Chopin
These are for solo piano unless otherwise indicated.
Series numberKeyComposedPublishedOpus NumberBrownKobylańskaChominskiDedicationNotes11 G minor 1817 1817 - B. 1 KK IIa/1 S1/1 Countess Wiktoria Skarbek Published by Chopin's father- C major 1829-30 1831 Op. 3 B. 41/52 Introduction and Polonaise brillante for cello and piano- E major 1830-34 1836 Op. 22 B. 58/88 Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante; originally for piano and orchestra. A solo piano version also exists1 C minor 1834-35 1836 Op. 26/1 B. 90/1 Josef Dessauer 2 E minor 1834-35 1836 Op. 26/2 B. 90/2 Josef Dessauer 3 A major 1838 (October) 1841 Op. 40/1 B. 120 Julian Fontana "Military" Polonaise4 C minor 1838-39 1841 Op. 40/2 B. 121 Julian Fontana5 F minor 1840-41 1841 Op. 44 B. 135 Mme la Princesse Charles de Beauveau, née de Komar "Tragic" Polonaise6 A major 1842 1843 Op. 53 B. 147 Auguste Léo "Heroic" or "Drum" Polonaise7 A major 1845-46 1846 Op. 61 B. 159 Mme A. Veyret Polonaise-Fantaisie8 D minor 1825 1855 Op. posth. 71/1 B. 11 Some sources give 1827 as date of composition.Ohlsson, Garrick, 1973. "Chopin: The Complete Polonaises". Angel EMI records SB-3794. Hollywood: Capitol Records.9 B major 1828 1855 Op. posth. 71/2 B. 24 - - 10 F minor 1828 1855 Op. posth. 71/3 B. 30 - - 14 G minor 1822 1864 - B. 6 KK IVa/3 P1/3 Mme. Du-Pont Some sources give 1824 as the composition date.16 G major 1829 (July) 1870 - B. 36 KK IVa/8 P1/8 15 B minor 1826-27 1879 - B. 13 KK IVa/5 P1/5 "son ami Guillaume Kolberg, en partant pour Reinertz" "Adieu" Polonaise. Includes a quotation from Rossini's La gazza ladra (the tenor cavatina "Vieni fra queste braccia")13 A major 1821 1902 - B. 5 KK IVa/2 P1/2 Wojciech Żywny Some sources doubt this is a work by Chopin12 B major 1817 1947 - B. 3 KK IVa/1 P1/1- ? "early" - KK Vf "Several polonaises", now lost- ? 1818 - - - - - - 2 polonaises presented on 26 September 1818 to the Empress Maria Fyodorovna, mother of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, on the occasion of her visit to Warsaw; these are now lost- ? 1825 - - - KK Vf - - Lost; on themes by Rossini (The Barber of Seville) and Spontini; mentioned in a letter from Chopin dated November 1825- ? 1831 (by July) - - - KK Vc/1 Lost; mentioned in a letter from Chopin- ? 1832 - - - KK Vc/3 Lost; mentioned in a letter from Chopin dated 10 September 1832
See also List of compositions by Frédéric Chopin by genre List of compositions by Frédéric Chopin by opus number
References