Polka in the United States Polka in the United States Polka in the United States refers to polka—a music and dance style that originated in Europe in the 1830s and came to American society when people immigrated from Eastern Europe. A fast style in 2/4 time, and often associated with the pre–World War II era, polka remains a dynamic "niche" music in America. Several polka genres exist in the United States, each with its own unique characteristics and performers. Though these polka genres vary, all are unified in the expression of ethnicity by performers and participants. Polka enthusiasts gather to enjoy their love of the
Polonaise-Fantaisie (Chopin) and Vladimir Horowitz had been including it in their programs some decades earlier. It is intimately indebted to the polonaise for its metre, much of its rhythm, and some of its melodic character, but the fantaisie is the operative formal paradigm (Samson, 1988), and Chopin is said to have referred initially to the piece only as a Fantasy. Parallels with the Fantaisie in F minor include the work's overall tonality, A-flat, the key of its slower middle section, B major, and the motive of the descending fourth. Jeffrey Kallberg has suggested that the Polonaise-Fantaisie represents a change in Chopin's style