Most of Frédéric Chopin's polonaises were written for solo piano. He wrote his first polonaise in 1817, when he was 7; his last was the Polonaise- Fantaisie of 1846, three years before his death. Among the best known polonaises are the “Military” Polonaise in A, Op. 40, No. 1, and the “Heroic” or “Drum” Polonaise in A♭, Op. 53.
There is also the Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante in E♭, Op.22, for piano and orchestra, which also exists in a solo piano version; and the Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major, Op. 3, for cello and piano.
Chopin wrote at least 23 polonaises for piano solo. Of these:
7, including the Polonaise-Fantaisie, were published in his lifetime
3 were published posthumously with opus numbers
6 were published posthumously without opus numbers
at least 7 are lost.
2 Polonaises, Op 26
2 Polonaises, Op 40
Polonaise, Op 44
Polonaise, Op 53
Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op 61
3 Polonaises, Op 71
