, Op. 61. The three early
polonaises posthumously-published by Fontana as Op. 71 have already been
discussed in Chapter VIII. Other posthumously-published polonaises--such
as the Polonaise in G sharp minor, to be found in Mikuli's edition, and
one in B flat minor of the year 1826, first published in the supplement
of the journal "Echo Muzyczne"--need not be considered by us. [FOOTNOTE:
Both polonaises are included in the Breitkopf and Hartel edition, where
the one in G sharp minor bears the unlikely date 1822. The internal
evidence speaks against this statement.]

Chopin's Polonaises Op. 26, 40, 53, and 61 are pre-eminently political,
they are the composer's expression of his patriotic feelings. It is not
difficult to recognise in them proud memories of past splendours,
sad broodings over present humiliations, bright visions of a future
resurrection. They are full of martial chivalry, of wailing
dejection, of conspiracy and sedition, of glorious victories. The
poetically-inferior Polonaise, Op. 22, on the other hand, while
unquestionably Polish in spirit, is not political. Chopin played this
work, which was probably composed, or at least sketched, in 1830,
[FOOTNOTE: See Vol. I., Chapter xiii., pp. 201, 202.] and certainly
published in July, 1836, for the first time in public at a Paris
Conservatoire concert for the benefit of Habeneck on April 26, 1835;
and this was the only occasion on which he played it with orchestral
accompaniments. The introductory Andante (in G major, and 6/8 time), as
the accompanying adjective indicates, is smooth and even. It makes one
think of a lake on a calm, bright summer day. A boat glides over the
pellucid, unruffled surface of the water, by-and-by halts at a shady
spot by the shore, or by the side of some island (3/4 time), then
continues its course (f time), and finally returns to its moorings
(3/4). I can perceive no connection between the Andante and the
following Polonaise (in E flat major) except the factitious one of a
formal and forced transition, with which the orchestra enters on the
scene of action (Allegro molto, 3/4). After sixteen bars of tutti, the
pianoforte commences, unaccompanied, the polonaise. Barring the short
and in no way attractive and remarkable test's, the orchestra plays a
very subordinate and often silent role, being, indeed, hardly missed
when the pianoforte part is played alone. The pronounced bravura
character of the piece would warrant the supposition tha