Chopin: Polonaises

The roots of the polonaise dance reach back to 16th-century Poland, where it was originally a dignified, unhurried opening number at royal festivities, performed by stepping in a regular processional formation. Although, like the waltz and the mazurka, it is invariably in 3/4 time, its accent falls on the second beat, giving the dance its distinctive, majestic and military tread. In the 18th century, the polonaise broke away from the court tradition to become concert entertainment, and composers such as J.S. Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Carl Maria von Weber used it as a splendid expression of dignified revelry.

For no composer, however, was the polonaise as close to the heart as it was for the Polish Fryderyk Chopin (1810–1849), for whom it represented the sounding roots of his own family tree rather than an exotic import from the East. Chopin’s first compositions were polonaises, and his early published works, such as Grande polonaise brillante op. 22, were conceived as light entertainment and calling-card pieces for the metropolises of Europe. Yet the news of the Warsaw uprising against the Russians, which reached him in Vienna in the autumn of 1830, and the subsequent fall of the city transformed Chopin’s planned concert tour into permanent exile in Paris.

In the mature polonaises (1835–1846) born of this awakened longing and loss, the voice is no longer that of an introverted Romantic enraptured by his own emotions, but of a political thinker and eloquent agitator. The works trace a clear progression from darkness to light, from the confines of form to complete freedom, and from the realism of life to timeless idealism.

"Pride in the past, sorrow for the present and hope for the future." – Arthur Hedley, scholar and Chopin biographer

The album now being released presents this dramatic transformation in its entirety:  

• Two Polonaises op. 26 (1836): The first (C sharp minor) begins with a series of fierce outbursts and a fateful descent , while the second (E flat minor) is described as a "rebellion against fate", its figures rising out of the shadows and hurtling skywards with compulsive determination.  

• Two Polonaises op. 40 (1838): Form a pair of stark contrasts. The proud Military Polonaise in A major, which remains forte throughout, represents the splendour of Poland , while the C minor polonaise published as its companion is an inward-looking meditation and a symbol of Poland’s tragedy.  

• Polonaise in F sharp minor op. 44: Tests established forms as a "fantasy in the form of a polonaise". The work’s warlike principal section and octave struggle are interrupted by a swaying mazurka section in A major.  

• Heroic Polonaise in A flat major op. 53 (1842): One of Poland’s national symbols, exuding unwavering majesty from beginning to end. The work’s familiar epithet was coined by the writer George Sand.  

• Polonaise-Fantaisie op. 61 (1846): Stretches the boundaries of form and, with its dreamlike logic, releases the elements from their traditional structure, leading the listener deep into the abyss of melancholy and introspection.

An internationally acclaimed interpreter of Chopin: Janne Mertanen

Pianist Janne Mertanen began his studies at the age of 12 under Sakari Vilpponen and continued them at the Joensuu Conservatory in the class of Matti Haapasalo and at masterclasses. At the Sibelius Academy, his teachers were Erik T. Tawaststjerna and Dmitri Bashkirov. Mertanen completed his studies under Lazar Berman at the renowned Accademia Pianistica in Imola, Italy, in 1993–1995.  

Mertanen came to the attention of the wider public in 1992 by winning the International Chopin Competition in Darmstadt, Germany, and the Nordic competition in Nyborg, Denmark. He has performed extensively throughout Europe, South and North America, Asia and Australia. He made his debut at London’s Wigmore Hall with a Chopin programme in 1994. In 1991, he was selected as the young artist of the first Espoo International Piano Week.  

Since 1998, Mertanen has recorded a wide repertoire for Alba, including music by Chopin, Satie, Rota, Grieg, Schumann, Kokkonen, Palmgren and Kaski. His recording Chopin Nocturnes vol 1–2 received the prestigious "Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin" award in Warsaw in 2005. Mertanen is a distinguished Steinway Artist and is the founder and Artistic Director of the Joensuu Music Festival. He was awarded the Birthplace Medal of the Hämeenlinna Sibelius Society in 2017 and 2022, and the Karjala Cultural Award in 2020.