Scherzo No.2 in B flat minor, Op.31

Although it would be a further six years before Chopin could approach the scherzo in the playful mood traditional to it, the Scherzo No.2 in B flat minor is nowhere near as demonic as its predecessor in B minor.

Written in 1837, five years after the First Scherzo, it begins with fiendishly threatening gestures ominously reminiscent of the earlier work. But in this case the relative major makes an early impression as a melodious second subject, its aspiring line carried high in the right hand over impulsive arpeggios in the left. The lyrical middle section, moreover, instead of being hermetically sealed off from the rest of the work like that of the Scherzo in B minor, integrates with it by absorbing a variant of the opening gesture into its contrapuntal texture. While this gives the demonic element an opportunity to return, by shaping the variant motif back to its original form, it also means that major-key ambitions are more realistic here than in the earlier work. So, although the demonic gesture is recalled once again after the recapitulation, D flat major most convincingly triumphs over B flat minor opposition in the final bars.

Although a macabre element was not unknown in the scherzo when Chopin adopted the form, the character of the First in B minor was still so unconventional that Schumann was moved by it to make his classic remark that if this is a joke he would like to know what serious music sounds like. It would be a further six years before Chopin could approach the scherzo in the playful mood traditional to it. The Scherzo No.2 in B flat minor is nowhere near as demonic, however, as its predecessor in B minor.

Written in 1837, five years after the First Scherzo, it begins with fiendishly threatening gestures ominously reminiscent of the earlier work. But in this case the relative major makes an early impression as a melodious second subject, its aspiring line carried high in the right hand over impulsive arpeggios in the left. The lyrical middle section, moreover, instead of being hermetically sealed off from the rest of the work like that of the Scherzo in B minor, integrates with it by absorbing a variant of the opening gesture into its contrapuntal texture. While this gives the demonic element an opportunity to return, by shaping the variant motif back to its original form, it also means that major-key ambitions are more realistic here than in the earlier work. So, although the demonic gesture is recalled once again after the recapitulation, D flat major most convincingly triumphs over B flat minor opposition in the final bars.