☰ Ostinato

Composed in 2009 for Emmanuel Ax, Thomas Adès’s Mazurkas listen to the Polish folk genre as it was listened to by Chopin, except that its rhythms and the heave of its shifting accents are now caught from further off, in a stranger world. A pianist of phenomenal talent himself, Adès writes for the instrument with fluency and intelligence, creating something both boldly original and deeply rooted in the tradition.