Hyperion Records

Polonaise No 16 in G flat major dates from the first half of 1829, sometime before Chopin left Warsaw for Vienna. First engraved in 1870, it was a work known to Chopin’s sister Louise (who listed it in her manuscript catalogue of his compositions). Niecks, however, felt compelled to question its authenticity: ‘Nothing but the composer’s autograph [lost] would convince one of the genuineness of the piece.’ By comparison with Chopin’s earlier attempts at the form, its ideas seem relatively leisurely and less short-winded.

from notes by Ates Orga © 1992