Polonaise

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The polonaise (Polish: polonez, chodzony; Italian: polacca) is a rather slow dance of Polish origin, in 3/4 time. Its name is French for "Polish." The notation alla polacca on a 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 has this instruction).

Before Frédéric Chopin, 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. From Chopin onward, the polonaise developed a very solemn style, and has in that version become very popular in the classical music of several countries.

One fine example of a polonaise is the well-known 'Heroic' Polonaise in A flat major, Op.53. A masterpiece with exceptional pianistic demands, the paragon of such a piece can only be achieved by those with virtuosic skill. Chopin composed this polonaise as the dream of a powerful, victorious and prosperous Poland.

Polonaise is a wide-spread dance on carnival parties. There is also a German song, called "Polonäse Blankenese" from Gottlieb Wendehals alias Werner Böhm, which is often played on carnival festivals in Germany about this dance. Polonaise is always a first dance at a studniówka (means: "hundred-days"), the Polish equivalent of the senior prom, which is ca. 100 days before exams.