This rousing Polonaise, which is preceded by a nocturne-like Andante, was originally a work for piano and orchestra. It was written at the same time as Chopin’s two piano concertos in e minor and f minor, and breathes the same fresh, youthful spirit. Since the orchestral part is subordinate and fulfills only an accompanying function, the Polonaise lends itself brilliantly to performance as a solo piano piece, and indeed is almost always performed as such in today’s concert halls. In this spirit and following the first editions our Urtext edition is laid out not as a piano reduction (with two piano systems), but contains only the solo part, at those few passages where thesolo piano rests, the orchestral accompaniment is reproduced in small print.