Deux Mazurkas Caracteristiques Op. 19 Vol. 21

Wieniawski composed nine mazurkas, publishing seven of them (Opp. 3, 12, 19 and two without opus number); the two unpublished works are lost. The mazurkas are among his early works, dating from the first half of the 1850s, with the exception of the Mazurkas, Op. 19, from 1860. The Mazurkas, Op. 19 (No. 1 Obertass, No. 2 Le ménétrier [The fiddler]) were not published until 1878,1 almost twenty years after their composition, by Schott of Mainz. Each of the Mazurkas, Op. 19 is furnished with a different dedication. No. 1, Obertass, is dedicated to Baroness Evelyne Reisky; No. 2, Le ménétrier, to Wanda Młodnicka, a writer and sculptress from Lviv. The separate dedications of the two works show that the composer did not treat Op. 19 as a cyclic whole. These mazurkas are distinguished by their simple harmonic writing. The composer employs mainly basic functional relations. The piano part merely accompanies, carrying the harmonic element and serving the stylisation of folk performance practice through the frequent use of mainly tonic fifth drones.