Polonaise

For other uses, see Polonaise (disambiguation).

Typical rhythm of a Polonaise

Polonaise rhythm

The polonaise (Polish: polonez) is a slow dance of Polish origin, in 3/4 time. Its name is French for "Polish."

The polonaise had a rhythm quite close to that of the Swedish semiquaver or sixteenth-note polska, and the two dances have a common origin.

Polonaise is a widespread dance in carnival parties. Polonaise is always a first dance at a studniówka ("hundred-days"), the Polish equivalent of the senior prom that occurs approximately 100 days before exams.

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  Poles dance Polonez (painting by Kornelli Szlegel)

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  Chopin's Polonaise - a Ball in Hôtel Lambert in Paris.

Influence of Polonaise in music

The notation alla polacca (Italian: polacca means "polonaise") on a musical score indicates that the piece should be played with the rhythm and character of a polonaise (e.g., the rondo in Beethoven's Triple Concerto op. 56 and the finale of Chopin's Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" have this

Frédéric Chopin's polonaises are generally the best known of all polonaises in classical music. Other classical composers who wrote polonaises or pieces in polonaise rhythm included Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Michał Kleofas Ogiński, Franz Schubert, Carl Maria von Weber, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Moritz Moszkowski, Friedrich Baumfelder, Mauro Giuliani, Modest Mussorgsky, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Alexander Scriabin.

John Philip Sousa, who wrote the Presidential Polonaise, intended to keep visitors moving briskly through the White House receiving line. Sousa wrote it in 1886 at the request of President Chester A. Arthur who died before it was performed.

National dance

Polonaise is a Polish folk dance and is one of the five national dances of Poland. The others are the Mazurka (Mazur), Kujawiak, Krakowiak and Oberek.

See Also

• Waltz
• Mazurka
• Varsovienne
• Redowa