Waltzes Nos.1-14

in E flat major, Op.18

in A flat major, Op.34, No.2

in A minor, Op.34, No.2

in F major, Op.34, No.3

in A flat major, Op.42

in D flat major, Op.64, No.1

in C sharp major, op.64, No.2

in A flat major, Op.64, No.3

in A flat major, Op.69, No.1

in B minor, Op.69, No.2

in G flat major, Op.70, No.1

in F minor, Op.70, No.2

in D flat major, Op.70, No.3

in E minor, Op. Posth.

Including those which he is known to have written but which are now lost, Chopin completed at least 23 waltzes for piano. Only eight of them (Waltzes 1-8, written between 1831 and 1847) were published during his lifetime. Of the remaining seven of “Chopin’s Fifteen Waltzes,” five (Waltzes 9-13, written between 1829 and 1841) were published in the 1850s, as Op.69 and Op.70, and the early examples in E minor and E major (Waltzes 14 and 15) appeared in 1868 and 1871 respectively.

So neither the opus numbers nor the waltz numbers are a reliable guide to the chronology of the works. Waltz No.1 in E flat major, for example, written in 1831 and published as Grande Valse brillante in 1834, is the tenth in order of composition and is a sophisticated example of Chopin’s treatment of the medley form traditionally associated with the waltz. It contains no fewer than six main themes, four of them contained in an abundant middle section which ranges freely from D flat to G flat major. The ternary pattern, completed by the return of the fanfare which had opened the piece (and which finds a percussive echo in several of the themes) and the recapitulation of the first section, is no more than conventional. The witty allusion to the middle section and the vertiginous coda are two of the characteristics which distinguish a Chopin waltz from countless others written for the same salons at the same time.

By its nature, the waltz can achieve neither the grandeur associated with the polonaise nor the expressive intimacy associated with the mazurka. The first two waltzes of Op.34 - the A flat major, written in 1835, and the A minor, written in 1831 - come exceptionally close however. Op.34, No.1 is a remarkable creation, not least for its stature. The introduction, though not unlike that of Op.18, is four times as long and it is more closely integrated with the fabric of the piece. It reappears in a variant version at the beginning of the middle section, where it inspires a spontaneity, an improvisatory enterprise which transcends the limitations of the 4 by 4 phrasing and the 16-bar paragraphs endemic to the waltz. Op.34, No.2, though headed Valse brillante like the other two works in the set, has a distinctly melancholy Slavonic temperament, with its sombre first theme in the left hand and the abrupt changes from major to minor in the middle section. The eloquence of the left hand on the last page is worthy of comparison with the most poetic of the mazurkas. Op.34, No.3 in F major is known as the “Cat Waltz,” presumably because of the kittenish figuration in the middle section and its witty return at the end.

The solitary Waltz in A flat major, Op.42, written in 1840, has also attracted a nickname. This is known as the “Two-Four Waltz,” which is a reflection of the rhythmic interest created by sustaining the first and fourth of the six quavers in every bar of the main theme. It is an over-simplification but by no means as misleading as the “Minute Waltz” title unfortunately attached to Op.64, No.1. It is true, however, that the D flat major Waltz is short, like the other two works in the set. Though less ambitious than the Valses brillantes, these late waltzes - written and published in 1847 - represent a kind of purification of the form, with a more clearly defined ternary structure and an evident thematic economy.

The charmingly poignant C sharp minor Waltz - a not too distant relation of the mazurkas in the same key - has only three main themes. The expressive syncopations cutting across the bar lines in the D flat major middle section offer a valuable relief from metric regularity. As for the A flat major, the last of Chopin’s published waltzes, it is the most subtle construction of all. The outer sections are economically based on one theme and several variants in eight-bar periods, the last of which presents in the left hand an anticipation of the theme of the C major middle section.

The remaining waltzes were all published after Chopin’s death. The most familiar of them is the A flat major, Op.69, No.1, known as L’Adieu and reputedly written as Chopin’s farewell to Maria Wodzinska in 1835. However that may be, several other ladies received personal copies of it in later years. Op.69, No.2, which dates from 1829, is one of the earliest of the surviving waltzes, the fourth in order of composition, and a pretty example of the ternary waltz - with faintly melancholic melodies in B minor and D major in the outer sections and a bright B major middle section. Of the three Op.70 waltzes, which were published in 1855, No.1 in G flat major (1832) is the most brilliant, although it has a more intimately lyrical side to it in the middle section. The most interesting is No.2 in F minor (1841), not least because of its melancholy mazurka-like demeanour and its spontaneously motivated binary construction. The most romantic, on the other hand, is No.3 in D flat major, which was inspired by the young composer’s love for the singer Konstancja Gladkowska and which betrays a palpably erotic thrill in its chromatic harmonies. The E minor Waltz, written in 1830, adds little to what we known of Chopin from the E flat major Op.18 and the A flat major op.34, No.1, except that there is even more grace and charm here than in the more ambitious examples of the Valse brillante.