Polonaise instrumentation. Polonaise The polonaise (, ; ) is a dance of Polish origin, in time. Its name is French for "Polish." The polonaise has a rhythm quite close to that of the Swedish semiquaver or sixteenth-note polska, and the two dances have a common origin. The polonaise is a widespread dance in carnival parties. The polonaise is always a first dance at a "studniówka" ("hundred-days"), the Polish equivalent of the senior prom that occurs approximately 100 days before exams. The notation "alla polacca" ( means "polonaise") on a musical score indicates that the piece should be played with the rhythm
Polonaise include Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Ferdinand Ries, Michał Kleofas Ogiński, Karol Kurpiński, Józef Elsner, Niccolò Paganini, Maria Agata Szymanowska, Franz Schubert, Vincenzo Bellini, Louis Spohr, Carl Maria von Weber, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Henryk Wieniawski, David Popper, Wojciech Kilar, Johann Kaspar Mertz, Moritz Moszkowski, Friedrich Baumfelder, Ferdinando Carulli, Mauro Giuliani, Modest Mussorgsky, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Alexander Scriabin. Another more recent prolific polonaise composer was the American Edward Alexander MacDowell. John Philip Sousa wrote the "Presidential Polonaise", intended to keep visitors moving briskly