Waltz in E minor (Chopin)

The Waltz in E minor is a waltz for solo piano by Frédéric Chopin. It was composed circa 1830 and published in May 1851.^[1]

It was the first of Chopin's posthumously published waltzes not to be given an opus number. It appears in Brown's catalogue as B. 56, in Kobylańska's catalogue as KK IVa/15, in Chomiński's as P1/15, and in the Chopin National Edition as WN 29. It was composed shortly before Chopin left Poland at the age of 20.^[2] Although this is the final (fourteenth) waltz in the older editions of Chopin (other waltzes being included in more recent editions), it is believed to have been composed before any of the waltzes published in Chopin's lifetime.

In a typical performance, this waltz lasts just under three minutes.^[2]

In 1956, Jerome Robbins choreographed his ballet The Concert (or, The Perils of Everybody) which uses, among other works by Chopin, the Waltz in E minor for the portion known as the "Mistake Waltz".^[3]

Structure

This E minor waltz is in a modified rondo form as "Introduction–A–B–A–B–A–C–A'–coda". The "C" is in E major with temporary modulations to G-sharp minor.

References

1. Szulc, Tad (1998). Chopin in Paris: The Life and Times of the Romantic Composer. New York: Scribner. p. 416. ISBN 0684824582.
2. Cummings, Robert. Waltz for piano in E minor, KK IVa/15, CT. 222 (B. 56) at AllMusic. Retrieved 12 March 2006.
3. "Dance; Such Serious Music, So Why Not Have Fun?" by Jack Anderson, The New York Times, 7 April 2002. Accessed March 18, 2021.

External links

• Waltz in E minor, B. 56: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• 2009 recital in Oslo on YouTube, Iskra Mantcheva
• "Waltz in E minor, Op. posth". Fryderyk Chopin Institute.