Work Overview

• Publication Year: 1928
• First Publisher: B. Schott’s Söhne
• Instrumentation: Piano solo
• Total Performance Time: Approximately 5.5 minutes

Tansman composed a collection of Mazurkas for solo piano, comprising 36 pieces across four volumes. Additionally, many shorter pieces titled "Mazurka," "Mazur," or "Oberek" were incorporated into collections, including works for learners. In the history of piano music, Tansman can be positioned as a master of the mazurka, following in the lineage of Chopin, Scriabin, and Szymanowski. Tansman was succeeded by Roman Maciejewski (1910-1998), also from Poland, whose works have recently been experiencing a significant re-evaluation.

Among Tansman's many celebrated mazurkas, this particular work stands out as its original version was for guitar. Tansman met the renowned guitarist Andrés Segovia (1893-1987) in 1924, and the following year, in 1925, he dedicated this Mazurka to Segovia. This marked the beginning of a friendship between Tansman and Segovia that spanned over 60 years. Following its premiere on May 6, 1925, at the old Paris Conservatoire auditorium, Segovia made the Mazurka a lifelong repertoire piece, and the work quickly established its status as a "modern classic." It holds significant importance as one of the first successful guitar compositions by a non-Latin and non-guitarist composer.

Tansman wrote the piano version in Paris in 1925, the same year as the guitar version. Marked Moderato and in 3/4 time, the piano version is transposed up a fifth from the guitar version. Omitting repeats shortens the performance time by approximately two minutes. While preserving the modern and delicate character of the guitar version, this is an ambitious arrangement that also showcases the composer's unique and free ideas, such as harmonic enrichment, the addition of obligato lines aiming for the effects of sympathetic strings, overtones, and harmonics, and hand crossing. Melodies skillfully interwoven with modal movements express an Eastern mystery and melancholy, while sophisticated harmony adds a French flavor. This elegant, unidentifiable national character is Tansman's true essence. Like its guitar counterpart, it can be considered a masterpiece that deserves to be as widely appreciated.