Mazurka No. 2 in G minor, Op. 24

Composed in 1871. Vivace. The piece is based on the Mazur, with the middle section being a Kujawiak. It adopts an ABACA rondo-like form, featuring impressive repetitions of trills and successive unison chords, and exhibits a stronger national character than the first mazurka. This might be because the dedicatee, Countess Marie de Moukhanoff, was a Polish woman born in Warsaw. According to Paul Landormy, she studied under Chopin and Liszt, hosted a salon in Baden-Baden, and was a patron of Liszt's and Wagner's music. 1871 was the year of France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and the subsequent turmoil of the Paris Commune. During this period, albeit briefly, Saint-Saëns sought refuge in England, becoming an exile like Chopin. Although the exact composition date is unknown, it is conceivable that, depending on the timing, Saint-Saëns might have identified his own circumstances with Chopin's through the mazurka.