Very virtuoso-like, but not so intimate as
some of the others. Karasowski selects No. 2 in C as an
illustration. "It is as though the composer had sought for the
moment to divert himself with narcotic intoxication only to fall
back the more deeply into his original gloom." There is the
peasant in the first bars in C, but the A minor and what follows
soon disturb the air of bonhomie. Theoretical ease is in the
imitative passages; Chopin is now master of his tools. The third
Mazurka of op. 56 is in C minor. It is quite long and does not
give the impression of a whole. With the exception of a short
break in B major, it is composed with the head, not the heart,
nor yet the heels.
Not unlike, in its sturdy affirmation, the one in C sharp minor,
op. 41, is the next Mazurka, in A minor, op. 59. That Chopin did
not repeat himself is an artistic miracle. A subtle turn takes us
off the familiar road to some strange glade, wherein the flowers
are rare in scent and odor. This Mazurka, like the one that
follows, has a dim resemblance to others, yet there is always a
novel point of departure, a fresh harmony, a sudden melody or an
unexpected ending.
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