Polka is dead! Long live Mazurka!
What do I mean, the polka is dead? History of a treasure from the archives.
Sometimes, one find some marvels rummaging through the archives. Sometimes the marvels comes to you!
Sorting her grandfather’s belongings, a friend of mine found this document, and thought of me. Have a look:
RIP
The late MINUET, the late GAVOTTE, the GALOP, the COUNTRY DANCE and the WALTZ have the honour of informing you of the painful loss they have just suffered in the person of their Granddaughter, Daughter, Niece and Cousin, the late Polka, treacherously murdered at the ball at the Royal Theater, in the second year of her age, by her unnatural Sister, the Mazurka.
A brilliant Funeral Service, with music by BURGMULLER, will be danced in all the Brussels balls throughout Carnival, for the rest of the soul of the deceased.
You are invited to attend her funeral, armed with a certain magnificent booklet which is on sale, with engravings, text and music, in all the booksellers in the kingdom, under the title : La Mazurka.
De profundis !
Here’s a very curious text that I’d like to decode with you. After a first reading, I date it from the mid-nineteenth century.
Being a French native speaker, I write in English as good as I can. Please let me know if you sot any error. thank you!
The dance family tree
The author draws for us a family tree of dances from 18th and 19th century. It’s funny to see which dances made their mark on the collective imagination in the mid-nineteenth century.
Minuet, polka’s grandfather
The minuet is born during the second half of ther 17th century. Its name would come from the little steps it is mafe of (menuet, from the French menu meaning small). The minuet knew a great success during 18th century. Its practice stopped abruptly in France due to the French revolution.. The dance lasted a bit longer in the other countries.
I already spoke about that dance and how it symbolises the Age of Enlightment at the end of 19th century.
Gavotte, polka’s grandmother
French dance in 2/2 or 2/4, the gavotte was one of the highlights of 17th-century balls.
Like the minuet, it left a mark on the 19th-century choreographers, who tried to bring it back up to date. We know dozens of examples, from The Gavotte Quadrille (Thomas Wilson, 1852), up to The Castle gavotte (Vernon and Irene Castle, 1914).
Auntie Country dance
Mid-19th century, the country dance disappears slowly but surely from the balls. It survives in the traditional repertoire.
In the 1840s, the advertising for ball at Théâtre royal de la Monnaie still regularly announce some “contredanses”. The titles of those didn’t make it to us.
Daddy Galop
That couple dance in closed position is born in the 1820s. As its name suggests, the galop is usually fast: 144 beats a minute in general.
The death annoucement suggests that the galop is out of fashion. However, the advertisement for the ball at Théâtre royal de la Monnaie in February 1846 states that only « les quadrilles, galops, valses, polkas, etc. les plus nouveaux » (the newest quadrilles, galops, waltzes, polkas, etc.) will be danced.
Cousin Waltz
The waltz, valse or walse caused some turmoil when it arrived in Paris around 1800. The good society saw it as indecent, and only the cheekiest women from the Directoire danced it. However, the swirling couple dance managed to settle on the dance floors. By the middle of the 19th century, it had become a dance as any other one.
The late Polka
Originated from Czechia or Poland, the polka washes over Europe during the year 1844. That fad was called “polkamania”.
According to the death annoucement, Mazurka assassinated Polka “en la deuxième année de son âge” ( in the second year of her age), we can assume that the document dates from 1846. I’ll verify that hypothesis later.
But first, when did the polka arrive in Brussels?
– Sergent de ville… vous m’affligez… vous voyez bien que nous polkons!
Charles Vernier, La polka des bals publics, Chez Aubert et cie, Paris, 1844.
Translation: ” – Young man! Say, young man! You are dancing here a dance as incoherent as discordants with the constitutional authorities of your homeland! – Town sergeant, you distress me… You see well that we are polking!“.
Arrival of the polka in Brussels
On March 5th 1844, the Belgian press announces that a new dance is all the rage in Paris.
« Pour finir agréablement la soirée, on a dansé la polka ; il faut vous dire que la danse à la mode cet hiver ; est la polka ; c’est une sorte de danse nationale originaire de Bohême, où là même elle est prohibée, c’est la danse des paysans. Ici tout le monde veut l’apprendre ; et Cellarius ne peut suffire au nombre toujours croissant de ses élèves. (…) ». Vicomte Charles de Launay, “Courrier de Paris”, dans L’indépendance belge, 3 mars 1844, Bruxelles, p.2
“To round off the evening pleasantly, we danced the polka; I must tell you that the dance in fashion that winter, is the polka; it’s a kind of national dance that originated in Bohemia, where it is even forbidden; it’s the dance of the peasants. Everyone here wants to learn it, and Cellarius cannot keep up with the ever-growing number of his pupils.”
Hereunder, you can read (in French, lazy me) the saucy anecdote that the journalist tells. What you need to remember, is that the whole of Paris was vibrating to the rhythm of the polka in the spring of 1844
Vicomte Charles de Launay, “Courrier de Paris”, in L’indépendance belge, March 3 1844, Brussels, p.2
From the next month, the same newpaper publishes an advertisement for polka lessons in Brussels.
We see that the novelties travel quickly from Paris to Brussels. And that, even if the train doesn’t connect the two cities yet: the line would only open on June 14th 1846.
But rapidly, gossips from Paris announce the arrival of another polka. Another dancing fad is ready to catch up.
“During that party, in the big rooms, one dances the Polka; but in the more mysterious rooms, one tried another polka, whose name is still unknown, but that already offers the nature of a threatening fashion. Teachers and hobbyists, take note!
Vicomte Charles de Lauray, “Courrier de Paris”, in L’indépendance belge, June 10 1844, Brussels, p.2
Could these be the beginnings of the mazurka craze? There’s no way of knowing for sure.
Mazurka, the killer sister
The Mazurka arrived in Western Europe shortly after the Polka. The mazurka is a dance from Poland, in 3/4. Very typical at first, nearly acrobatic, it will quickly become softer.
In Brussels, the music of the mazurka already appeared in 1837 (cf. L’Indépendance Belge, March 18 1837, p.4), and was danced on stage in September 1844 (Ibidem, September 23 1844). But it is only in October 1844 that the mazurka made it. It was only 6 months after the first polka lesson in Brussels, and the dancers already rushed on another novelty.
The arrival of the Mazurka in the Brussels ballrooms
From the beginning of October 1844, M. Sacré proposes lessons of “polka, mazurkas et valse” in Brussels. We see that both dances coexist peacefully.
L’Indépendance Belge, 3 octobre 1844, p.4.
By the end of 1844, mazurka’s reign has begun. The
A la fin de l’année 1844, le règne de la mazurka est reconnu. The new year’s greetings of the newspaper L’Indépendance Belge for the year 1845 read:
L’indépendance belge,1er janvier 1845, p.1.
« Aux demoiselles nous souhaitons un bal par jour pendant la saison des bals et des soirées ; nous souhaitons qu’elles usent chacune quarante calepins à écrire des quadrilles, des polkas et des mazurkas. La mazurka, toutes les femmes en rêvent ; quand on se respecte, on ne danse plus la polka, dont le règne est passé. Aux demoiselles, nous souhaiton de rester roses et fraîches après la saison d’hiver. La polka a causé bien de ces petites toux d’irritation que l’été et ses chaleurs suffisent à peine à guérir. Que j’en ai vu mourir, hélas! de jeunes filles pour avoir trop dansé.»
L’indépendance belge,1er janvier 1845, p.1.
To the damsels we wish a ball a day during the season of balls and parties; we wish that each of them wear 40 notebooks out, writing down quadrilles, polkas and mazurkas. The mazurka, all women dream of it, when you respect yourself, you don’t dance the polka anymore, whose reign has faded out. To the damsels, we wish to stay pink and fresh after the winter season. The polka caused many of those little irritation coughs that summer and warmth struggle to heal. That I’ve seen young girls die, unfortunately, for dancing too much.
Despite what the pamphlet says: « Polka, (…) assassinée (…) en la deuxième année de son âge, par (…) la Mazurka » (polka, murdered in her second year of age, by the mazurka)… Polka and mazurka have arrived on the dancefloors only 6 months apart. I don’t understand why the text mentions 2 years.
Also, there is no true opposition between the dances. Mazurka sure benefits from its novelty amongst the most fashionable dancers. But they also continue to dance the polka after the arrival of the mazurka, and both cohabits peacefully.
extracted from A. Perroux et et A. Robert, La Mazurka, Chez Aubert, Paris, 1844.
Now that I’ve introduced all the dances mentionned in the pamphlet, let’s have a look at a place: the Théâtre royal (Royal Theater), that the Belgians know better under its current name, La Monnaie.
Maintenant que j’ai présenté toutes les danses citées dans le feuillet, intéressons-nous à un lieu : le Théâtre royal, que les Belges connaissent mieux sous le nom actuel de « La Monnaie ».
The Royal Theater
Three successive building have hosted the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie. The first one was built in 1700. It was seen as one of the most beautiful theater in Europe. This Italian-style theatre had fallen into disrepair and was demolished and rebuilt in 1819.
The theater is famous for the performance of La Muette de Portici on August 25th 1830: this event was to kick-start the Belgian Revolution.
It is also that building that hosts, since at least 1841, great masked balls. For the ball, the velvet seats are covered with a wooden floor, sitting on trestles.
Unfortunately, the fame isn’t flame-proof. A fire destroys the theater in 1855. A new, nearly identical building is built the following year. The balls tradition goes on until the 1930s.
The posters for balls at Théâtre Royal
Is there any trace of the mazurka’s triumph at a ball held at the Théâtre Royal?
The KBR (Royal Library of Belgium) holds some of the programmes of the Théâtre royal de la Monnaie between 1840 and 1846. As it comes just at the time of the polka frenzy, it’s a good opportunity to check out what they have to say about the repertoire.
The analysis of the posters for the Royal Theater ball show this. From 1841 to 1844 (14 balls), they danced:
- Quadrilles ;
- Galops.
Those are the only mentionned dance, with some waltzes – quite rarely included on the posters, by the way.
But everything changes for the « Grand bal paré, masqué et travesti » of January 23, 1845. First of all, it is the only ball that has two separate posters. The first annouces the usual quadrilles and galops. But the second proudly announces that the orchestra will play three (3!) new dances:
- La Sirène ;
- La Polka ;
- Le Galop du Juif errant.
La Sirène (The Mermaid) must have been washed away by the wave of ennthusiasm for Polka (pun intended): it will never be mentionned ever again. Le Galop du Juif errant (The Wandering Jew Galop) is performed several time after that. But the most important: it is the first mention of the polka in that serie! The ball welcomes the new dance, that had arrived in Belgiuem 9 months earlier.
From the next ball, on January 30, two polkas are mentionned: la Reddowa (sic) et la Nationale. All the following posters will have those two names.
And what about mazurka?
I showed hereabove that the mazurka arrived in Brussels during October 1844. Surprisingly, the dance did not get the same royal welcome at the Royal Theater as the polka. There is no mention of the mazurka on the poster in the corpus – that runs up to 1846.
The news papers don’t relate any incident, rumour or any peculiar event during the balls in 1844, 1845 and 1846. I must then conclude that the events told by the pamphlet are fictional. I suppose that the author wanted to build up on the fame of the balls at the Royal Theater.
Burgmüller
The author does not only build up on a famous Belgian location to add authority in their text. They speak about « Un brillant Service funèbre, musique de Burgmuller » (A brilliant Funeral Service, with music by Burgmuller).
Friedrich Burgmüller (Ratisbon, 1806 – Marolles-en-Hurepoix, 1874) is a Bavarian composer. Established in Paris from 1832, he published mostly salon music. He was notably responsible for a ‘new mazurka’ in 1844.
Here again, the pamphlet author uses the authority argument to sell their message. But what is the message?
What is the objective of the death announcement?
Finally, what is the objective of that strange folio? It seems that it is just a humorous advertisement for a little book. Indeed, the death announcement calls the reader to provide oneself with « certaine magnifique Brochure qui se vend, ornée de gravures, de texte et de musique, chez tous les libraires du royaume, sous le titre : La Mazurka. » (a certain magnificent booklet which is on sale, with engravings, text and music, in all the booksellers in the kingdom, under the title : La Mazurka)
Did I search for that booklet? Yes, and I found it!
It is « La Mazurka » by A. Perroux and A. Robert; music by F. Burgmuller; illustrations by Saint-Germain, Chez Aubert, Paris, 1844.
The date (1844) and the music composer Burgmuller match the pamphlet.
The Brussels newspapers contain an advertisement for it, several times between February and April 1845.
Mentionned in that ad are Périchon, a Brussels bookseller, and Eugène Landoy (Oct 17, 1816 – Mar 1890), a Franch-Belgian publisher. I suspect Landoy to be the author of the pamphlet.
La Mazurka, by Perroux & Robert
If you still have a doubt about the matching of the pamphlet and the book, forget them by reading the introduction to the book. This part indeed contains a kind of family tree of the social dances. See page 1:
Galop, country dance, minuet, polka, nearly all the dances of the pamphlet are here!
On the next page, the author praises the resugence of interest for the dance, created by the polka.
![« La Mazurka »,That restoration [of dancing], following us, the polka initiated it; as for the mazurka, it is only a step further in the same direction (...) In a word, all announce for the mazurka an impact at least equal to the one of its famous predecessor, but in a much more compromising range for the country dance, for which we make no attempt whatsoever to disguise the extent of our hatred (...)](https://www.histoiredebal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Mazurka1844-p2.png)
That restoration [of dancing], following us, the polka initiated it; as for the mazurka, it is only a step further in the same direction (…) In a word, all announce for the mazurka an impact at least equal to the one of its famous predecessor, but in a much more compromising range for the country dance, for which we make no attempt whatsoever to disguise the extent of our hatred (…)
Now, it’s no longer a question of murdering the polka, but of delivering the coup de grâce to the country dance (why so much hatred, I ask you!).
Conclusions
This inventive announcement is nothing more than a humorous advertisement for a little book devoted to the Mazurka. It shows what a publisher is willing to do to promote a book. The form is humorous and sensational. The author of the text also relies on authoritative sources: the Théâtre Royal, the composer Burgmüller.
Generally speaking, I like to think of it as storytelling before its time. Who wouldn’t be curious to discover the identity of a deceased person from such a prestigious lineage? Who doesn’t want to know the name of the murderer?
And you, what do you think about that method of advertising? Would you rather dance a quadrille or a polka? Tell me!
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