Waltz Op

Waltz in F minor Op.70 No.2 (1841)

None of the three Waltzes that appeared in print as Op.70 in 1855 was actually intended for publication by the composer himself. The ones in G flat major and D flat major were written, or at least conceived, before the earliest waltzes that were published with his authority. As for the Waltz in F minor, while it is a product of Chopin’s high maturity -it was written in 1841 just after the great Fantasia in the same key - it was intended purely for private consumption. He seems to have reserved it as a gift for friends, like Mlle Marie de Krudner, Mme Oury and Mlle Élise Gavard, each of whom was presented with her own manuscript copy bearing a personal inscription. Certainly, it is entirely appropriate for that purpose in its relatively modest technical requirements, its intimately melancholy mazurka-like demeanour, and its spontaneously motivated binary construction.