These Three Mazurkas, Op. 56, are dedicated to Miss Catherine Maberly.

The first piece, in B major, is marked Allegro non tanto. It begins with an introduction whose tonality is difficult to grasp. It consists of two musical ideas, the mazur and the oberek, and is characterized by the fusion of these two ideas at the end of the piece.

The second piece, in C major, is marked Vivace. It is a mazur that effectively employs open fifths. The Lydian mode also resonates midway through the piece. Furthermore, a canonic technique is observed in the middle section.

The third piece, in C minor, is marked Moderato. It is relatively large in scale for a mazurka, beginning with a Kujawiak and rich in variation, transitioning through oberek, Kujawiak, mazur... It also features a coda spanning 49 measures.

For explanations of Kujawiak, Mazur, and Oberek, please refer here (Nobuko Sato's series page).