Waltzes, Op.34
Waltz · Op. 34
Frédéric Chopin 1810–1849
Waltz
Form
Op. 34
Catalogue
Score
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Themes & character
Trois valses brillantes·Contains the A minor·Contrasting moods·Published 1838
At a glance
- Catalogue
- Op. 34
- Form
- Waltz
Movements
1
Valse in A♭ majorA♭ major
Brilliant and extroverted, opening with a flourish before its whirling main theme.
2
Valse in A minorA minor
Slow and melancholy, the least dance-like of the three. Chopin reportedly named it his own favorite among his waltzes.
3
Valse in F majorF major
Quick and light, built on a spinning perpetual-motion figure.
About the piece
Three waltzes published together in 1838 under the title Trois valses brillantes, though the label fits only two of them. The set shows how far Chopin had taken the waltz from its ballroom function.
The second, in A minor, is the outlier and the most loved: slow, inward and shadowed, closer to a lament than a dance. Chopin is said to have called it his own favorite of all his waltzes, and it stands apart from the glitter of its companions.
The composer
Frédéric Chopin
1810–1849
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the early Romantic period who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading composer of his era whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation".
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