Polonaise in A-flat Major, Op. 53

Along with the beautiful facsimile edition of the autograph score to be published on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Frédéric Chopin’s birth (HN 3221), Henle is also publishing a completely revised Urtext edition of this popular work. Norbert Müllemann, who was responsible for the revisions of the Préludes and Ballades, closely examined the musical text using the currently available sources and provided an informative preface and added footnotes to the musical text which contain possible performance alternatives. The Polonaise, also known as the Heroic due to its proudly pacing theme, is amongst Chopin’s most forceful bravura pieces, in particular on account of its breakneck ostinato octaves in the middle section.