Proposes the H-E-L-M-C-K-E hermeneutic to decode Historical, Extramusical, Linguistic, (intra)Musical, Correlational, Kingdom-of-Poland-related/Polish, and Era-specific meaning in Fryderyk Chopin's polonaises. Traces the origin of musical meaning-conveying signifiers on the musical surface via topical analysis to deeper recursive structures in the middleground via Schenkerian analysis (Ch. 1). Identifies and translates all known appearances of the polonaise/polonoise/alla polacca throughout the history of music theory from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century documents in German, Polish, French, and English (Ch. 2). Demonstrates the feasibility of the H-E-L-M-C-K-E methodology (Ch. 3). Applies the H-E-L-M-C-K-E methodology to produce close readings that correlate the intramusical causes (structures) of extramusical effects (meaning) (Ch. 4). Concludes with a quotation by Schenker and suggestions for possible applications to other repertoire and model composition (Ch. 5).