Polka "Polka". Nejedlý also writes that Václav Vladivoj Tomek also claims the Hradec Králové roots of a Polka. OED also suggests that the name may have been derived from the Czech "Polka" meaning "Polish woman" (feminine form corresponding to "Polák", a Pole). The word was widely introduced into the major European languages in the early 1840s. It should not be confused with the "polska", a Swedish dance with Polish roots (cf. polka-mazurka). A related dance is the redowa. Polkas almost always have a time signature. Folk music of Polka style appeared in written music about 1800. The beginning of the propagation
Polonaise-Fantaisie (Chopin) Polonaise-Fantaisie (Chopin) The Polonaise-fantaisie in A-flat major, Op. 61, is a composition for piano by Frédéric Chopin. It was dedicated to Mme A. Veyret, written and published in 1846. It opens with "Allegro maestoso", 3/4 time. This work was slow to gain favor with musicians, due to its harmonic complexity and intricate form. Arthur Hedley was one of the first critics to speak positively of the work, writing in 1947 that it 'works on the hearer's imagination with a power of suggestion equaled only by the F minor Fantasy or the fourth Ballade', although Arthur Rubinstein, Leff Pouishnoff, Claudio Arrau