#19: Thai Food, Chopin and Mazurkas.. Say what?!
Apr 02, 2020Thai food and the Mazurka.. say what?
A mazurka is an interesting thing..it's full of flavour and excitement. It hits lively and quick but zips away before you can settle down with it. It's like the hit of spice in Thai food.. smacks you, it's zippy, but it's so freakin' good that you just keep wanting more!
We're in the depths of Covid-19 and I am getting tired of my own cooking.. can you tell? lol. I'd LOVE a good serving of Thai green curry with chicken, and cashews.. sigh. Ah well, back to the mazurka!
Mazovia, Poland, Chopin and the Mazurka
So, the mazurka dance and music originates in the the lovely province of Mazovia, in Poland. Mazovia is the province in which Warsaw is located. It has a lot of rivers, castles, cathedrals and palaces.
It looks amazing, I'd love to visit!
So, the mazurka music was the music composed for the mazurka dance. The mazurka dance began in the 1600's by the Mazurs and was enjoyed thoroughly throughout Poland and eventually spread to Russia and Germany prior the more formal mazurka music being composed in the 1800's. When Poland began the November Uprising against the tsar of Russia in 1830-1831, Chopin began to get serious about mazurkas. He became singularly focused in creating mazurkas that were less folk sounding and more classical in nature. He used counterpoint and fugue in many of his compositions.
Counterpoint is the act of multiple voices having their own melodies at the same time and fugue is where you have melody reflected in one voice and after it has already begun, another voice sings the same melody in a different place, often followed by yet a third that starts even later. It's crazy clever and brilliant.
Chopin actually composed mazurkas with the intention of them being remarkably different that the traditional mazurkas of the past. Often Chopin's mazurkas, though very common these days, are not always very user friendly for ballet class.. this is why.
What is the Rhythmical Magic of a Mazurka?
The mazurka is a triple meter, in fact a basic 3/4, meaning 3 beats of quarter notes in each measure. Within those 3 beats, it's got something extra special that you need to know about, in order to really use this music well. It has a little bit of flirty charm to it right between beat 1 and beat 2.
1 a2 3 is the basic rhythm. Strangely, beat one is actually inconsequential (rare in music of historical nature) compared to beat 2 or beat 3 (depending on the mazurka). Some mazurkas are about the beat 2 like I counted above; 1 a2 3 while others are about the beat 3. 1 a2 3, 1 a2 3.
Counting it can be fairly standard or may take a little bit of thought, it depends on the music you're using. Mazurkas can be counted as I did above, 1 a2 3| 2 a2 3| 3 a2 3| 4 a2 3| etc. OR, depending on the mazurka you're using, you may find that it's more sensible to count it as a 6 count phrase. 1 a2 3, 4 a5 6| 2 a2 3, 4 a5 6| 3 a2 3, 4 a5 6, etc. This counting dilemma should boil down to your mazurka choice and your exercise structure. If you're counting it as a 3, use 8 count phrases. If you're counting it as 6 count phrase, design your exercise in 4 or 8 sets of 6 counts.
If you're thinking, "Well that's all really nice, but what would I use it for?", let's talk shop a bit longer.. What kind of exercise would be supported by a strong 2nd beat out of 3? Perhaps another way of thinking about it is, what kind of movement doesn't need to be strong on the 1 but an accent shortly after, would be brilliant? Throw those questions around in your head and I think that you'll be able to come up with some great places to use this music!
Stay connected with news and updates!
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.
Don't worry, your information will not be shared.
We hate SPAM. We will never sell your information, for any reason.
