Chopin Waltzes
15 waltzes, free to read, hear and print, in the composer's own order.
Open the sheet music libraryChopin published only eight waltzes in his lifetime; the rest were found among his papers or in friends' albums and printed after his death, which is why the numbering runs past twenty. None of them is for dancing. They are salon pieces, written for the drawing rooms of Paris where Chopin preferred to play rather than the concert hall.
They are in opus order here, with the posthumous waltzes at the end. The Minute Waltz (which takes nearer two minutes) and the C sharp minor waltz of the same opus are the famous pair, and the little A minor waltz is one of the gentlest pieces Chopin wrote.
About the pieces
Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 34 No. 1
The first of the three Grandes valses brillantes published in 1838, a bright ballroom waltz with a fanfare introduction and a sparkling coda.
Waltz in A minor, Op. 34 No. 2
A slow, melancholy waltz that opens with the melody in the left hand. Chopin is said to have told a friend it was his favourite of his waltzes.
Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 42
Published in 1840, this waltz begins with a long trill and then sets a melody that moves in twos against the left hand's threes, so the tune seems to float over the dance.
Minute Waltz in D♭ Major Op. 64 No. 1
Op. 64 No.
Waltz in C♯ minor
Published beside the Minute Waltz and its melancholy twin: a waltz that keeps trying to dance and keeps remembering something instead.
Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 69 No. 1 "L'adieu"
Chopin wrote this waltz in 1835 for Maria Wodzińska, a young woman he hoped to marry; it was published only after his death and became known as the Farewell Waltz.
Waltz in G-flat major, Op. 70 No. 1
A lively waltz that Chopin did not publish; his friend Julian Fontana issued it in 1855. It is short, bright and full of leaps in the right hand.
Waltz in D-flat major, Op. 70 No. 3
An early waltz from 1829, when Chopin was nineteen and in love with the singer Konstancja Gładkowska; it was published after his death. The melody often moves in two voices in the right hand.
Waltz in A minor
A late, small waltz found among Chopin's papers, unpublished in his lifetime: a salon piece for friends rather than the concert hall. It is the gentlest possible introduction to his world: melancholy in the tune, courtesy in the accompaniment.