Two years after the publication of the three Waltzes, Op. 34, Chopin matured into publishing a new waltz - one that might be termed a waltz supreme! It is published as a separate work, the Waltz in A flat major, Op. 42, and it has the character of a dance poem.
The five intertwining themes are dramatically structured into a coherent and intriguing whole. A listener who has been successfully lured by the opening bars simply has to go on till the end. The invitation to listen is delivered by a trill lasting a full eight bars. The first theme shocks: though the left hand beats out a distinct triple-time waltz rhythm, the right hand simultaneously plays a little melody that proceeds in a duple rhythm (bars 9-20). The second theme brings pure figuration. It takes on the function of a ritornel, returning a moment later as the refrain in a rondo (bars (39)40-48), of which the next two themes resemble episodes. The first of these episodes brings a burst of lively amusement (bars (57)58-64). The second marks its presence with the harmonious swaying of chords that carry a quite dramatic melody (bars 97-104). The character of the last of the themes - the fifth - is predictable. The sostenuto in C minor arises right in the middle of the poem, blooming with one of those melodies that is hard to forget (bars 121-139).
This is the waltz about which Schumann wrote, in his own imitable way: ‘if it were played for dancers […] at least half of the ladies should be young countesses’.
Robert Schumann, On Music and Musicians, tr. Paul Rosenfeld, ed. Konrad Wolff (London, 1947), 143.
Author: Mieczysław Tomaszewski
[Cykl audycji "Fryderyka Chopina Dzieła Wszystkie"]
Polish Radio, program II
Негізгі бет Frédéric Chopin - Waltz in A flat Major, Op. 42
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