Chopin Waltzes

1.  E major, Op. Posth.   2.  B minor, Op. Posth. 69, No. 2   3.  D flat major, Op. Posth. 70, No. 3   4.  E minor, Op. Posth.   5.  E flat major, Op. 18   6.  G flat major, Op. Posth. 70, No. 1   7.  A minor, Op. 34, No. 2   8.  A flat major, Op. 34, No. 1   9.  A flat major, Op. Posth. 69, No. 1 10.  F major, Op. 34, No. 3 11.  A flat major, Op. 42 12.  F minor, Op. Posth. 70, No. 2 13.  D flat major, Op. 64, No. 1 14.  C sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2 15.  A flat major, Op. 64, No. 3

   While most waltzes were composed for actual physical dancing, Chopin wrote his for the salon, and are intended more for listening than for actual dancing.  Yet, as evidenced particularly in the Op. 18, some of his waltzes suggest a room filled with many dance couples.  This waltz, as well as his Op. 34, No. 1; Op. 42; and a few others are, in the words of Ates Orga, author of the book Chopin, "...to some extent gestures to attract the dance loving Viennese public."  Some of Chopin’s waltzes, such as the Op. 69, No. 1, seem rather to speak to a single couple, while others such as the Op. 34, No. 2 Valse brillante, seem to speak in a very personal way to the human soul.  On the occasion marking the publication of Chopin’s Op. 34, Robert Schumann wrote, "It is above all the three waltzes, however, that are bound to please: they strike a different note from ordinary waltzes and are such as could be found only with Chopin, whom one can almost imagine casting his great artist’s eye over the dancing crowd (whom his very playing fires with enthusiasm), while all the time he is thinking of other things than what they are dancing.  So iridescent a life invests these pieces that they seem positively improvised in the midst of the dance floor."

   Many interpreters and scholars have described the waltzes of Chopin as either dances for the body or dances for the soul.  In the dances for the body, Chopin seems to suggest a most elaborate grand ballroom resplendent with crystal chandeliers, gilt mirrors, and elegantly dressed dancers sparkling in their many jewels.  The dances for the soul, on the other hand, seem simply an expression of Chopin’s quiet reflections and emotions - musical love poems, if you will.  Chopin’s waltzes express his sometimes high spirits, his moments of utter longing and despair, and his strong nationalistic pride, often all in the same waltz.  However, he never considered his compositions to be "program music" (a style of music written to tell a story), but rather as music for music’s sake.

   While some of his waltzes have traditionally carried nicknames given by those to whom the waltz was dedicated, Chopin himself did not title his compositions.  Yet the strong tradition of the nicknames lives on, and today a number of the waltzes still carry their nicknames such as L’Adieu, The Cat Waltz, The Farewell Waltz, and The Little Dog Waltz.  The latter is perhaps better known as The Minute Waltz, a title that refers to the length of the composition, as in "diminutive", rather than to a prescribed playing time.

Chopin’s Music

    Throughout his life, Chopin remained interested in all art forms.  As a young boy, he shared in many an evening with the poets, writers, and painters that gathered in his parent’s home.  As an adult, Chopin belonged to the Polish Literary Society, and kept abreast of current political and social movements.  In letters written to family and friends, he often expressed his deep concerns regarding the plight of Poland, where a civil war and Russian invasion were being waged.  This strong surge of nationalism is one of the unique elements evident throughout all of Chopin’s music, and quite remarkably, in each of the waltzes.  Chopin was the first composer to successfully incorporate Slavic expression into the music of the Western world. Throughout Europe at this time, romanticism became closely tied to national interests and characteristics.  While the majority of his compositions, 169 works in all, were written for the piano, he also wrote other instrumental and vocal works.

    Chopin's Polish heritage provided him with an innate musical and emotional disposition that is inherent throughout his music, a prediliction the Poles refer to as "zal". Interpreted by some as "the heart is sad, the mind is gay",  zal is a certain psychological and emotional amalgam which is at once ironic, sad, bitter, sweet, joyous, and dreamy.  It has often been said that only musical artists of Slavic or Hungarian descent can fully communicate this confounding musical element in their performances.

   Additional information about Frederic Chopin's life and music can be found at the following sites:    

The Frederic Chopin Society in Warsaw extends a cordial invitation to visit their Web Site - Chopin: Life-Works-Tradition. Expected to be completed in 1999 - the 150th anniversary of Chopin's death - the site will be a multi-media collaboration by authors, editors, graphic artists, and IT specialist, who are all experts in their field.

The Chopin Foundation of the United States is a national non-profit organization dedicated to the support, financial and professional, of young talented musicians.  The programs of the Foundation are directed toward the encouragement of America's future master musicians while servicing the communities that support them, and propagate the name of Chopin and his music.