Scherzo No.3 in C sharp minor Op.39 (1839)

Chopin’s work in scherzo form was complementary and parallel to his work in ballade form. The first Ballade and the first Scherzo were both written in about 1835 and - after what seems like far more than a seven years of development in style and temper­ament - the fourth and last of each set was completed in 1842. It is true that, whereas the ballade was something he more or less invented, the scherzo had a long history and had already developed something of the macabre element which is such a prominent feature of Chopin’s treatment of the form. Even so, the demonic character of his First Scherzo 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. When it first came onto the market in this country the indefatigable Wessel thought it expedient to ignore Chopin’s title and call it “The Infernal Banquet.”

The scherzos became gradually less infernal, however. Although to begin with, the Third Scherzo in C sharp minor is recognisably related in temperament to the First in B minor, it later achieves a radiance not so very far from the happy mood of the Fourth in E major, which he was to write three years later. After the passionate first section in C sharp minor, in anticipation of the conventional ternary form the ear easily accepts the D flat chorale (with its quiet cascades of quavers at the end of each line) as the contrasting major-key middle section. In fact, the opening section is only briefly recalled and the chorale makes a long and mostly radiant reappearance in E major before the final acceleration into the coda and the not obviously predictable C sharp minor ending.

Gerald Larner©

Scherzo No.4 in E major Op.54 (1842-3)

“If a joke dresses in mourning what does a serious piece have to wear?” asked Robert Schumann on encountering Chopin’s demonic Scherzo No.1 in B minor. We don’t know what Schumann thought of the three subsequent works in the series but in fact, over the course of eleven years, they do shed their weeds, assuming brighter harmonies and a less tragic, eventually even cheerful demeanour.

    The beginning of the Scherzo No.3 in C sharp minor    is no less dramatic than that of either No.1 in B minor or No.2 in B flat minor but, in contrast to events in the two earlier works, the growling opening gestures are never heard again. It is true that the angry main theme, pacing purposefully down the scale of C sharp minor in double octaves, is quite strong enough to sustain the stormy atmosphere unaided. It gives way, however, to a second theme, a serene chorale punctuated by quiet cascades of D flat major arpeggios, which changes the course of the whole work. Nothing - neither the recall of the main theme in C sharp minor nor the application of minor harmonies to the chorale, nor even a desperately anxious coda - can deny the work its C sharp major ending, long delayed though it is.

    Written for the most part during a fruitful summer at Nohant in 1842, the Scherzo No.4 in E major reflects something of the atmosphere described by Delacroix on his first visit there: “Through the open window you get whiffs of music from Chopin working on the other side of the garden; it mingles with the song of the nightingales and the scent of the roses.” If life in George Sand’s château wasn’t actually as idyllic as that for the composer, little if any of the anguish shows through in the Scherzo in E major, not even in the nostalgic C sharp minor middle section. The outer sections are inspired by a capricious fantasy that teases the harmonies no less entertainingly than the rhythms and is so resourceful in melodic terms that a particularly engaging duple-time variant of the triple-time opening theme scarcely has time to register its presence.