This mazurka was published posthumously in Berlin in 1855. Its higher numbering would suggest it was written in the late 1840s, but it dates from 1835, like the third mazurka from the set (No. 44, in C major). To make matters a bit confusing, the other two works in the Op. 67 set (Nos. 43, in G minor, and 45 in A minor) were composed in 1849 and 1846 respectively. It was the publisher who lumped them together and fashioned an order heedless to chronology.
The G major mazurka under examination here is a joyous piece whose graceful manner is often counterbalanced by a robustness when the playing veers downward from the upper register of the keyboard. The main theme is playful in its bliss, and Chopin's writing, as usual, is brilliant and colorful. This mazurka is really a glittering confection, bubbly and effervescent, but a little short on depth. The piece was written for a Polish friend of the composer, Anna Mlokosiewicz, but apparently never given to, or performed before, her. This mazurka, which lasts just over a minute in a typical performance, is attractive and reveals the composer in purely high spirits, not a common mood for him in his works.
