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Chopin Waltzes

Chopin wrote seventeen waltzes. Only about half of them were published during his lifetime, but these were among his most popular compositions. The remaining waltzes were published only after his death, some with a posthumous opus number (opp. 69, 70) and the others without. The works without opus number are generally identified with their numbering in the Kobylaήska catalogue (KK number with a roman-numeral prefix).

After the death of the composer, Julian Fontana, his friend and collaborator, published a number of Chopin's posthumous works. Fontana's versions, however, even when several autographs of a waltz are available, do not appear exactly to follow the text of any one of the primary sources (e.g. op. 69 and op. 70). For a complete list of Chopin Waltzes, please visit Chopin Waltzes: Complete List.

Selections:

Due to restraints in resources and time, the collection of piano waltzes of Chopin used in this website has been limited to the following four waltzes, which have been chosen for their differences in style and difficulty. Please click on the title to learn more about each of them. For each of the pieces, you will find the following information:

	Background and Description: musicological information that may help teachers/students understand the piece further.
	Editions: information about the original editions and autographs, as well as a guide for choosing a current edition.
	Discography: current recordings are examined and compared based on particular musical aspects.
	Audio and Video: clips of specific passages (if applicable) that will demonstrate technical or musical issues addressed.
	Technical Issues: discussion of common issues to many students or to certain types of students (e.g. those with small hands), as well as how to approach the issues and prepare students to successfully perform the piece.
	Etudes and Exercises: scores (if available) and information on etudes and exercises for each technical issue, ranging from small exercise sequences prepared specifically for a particular passage to published etudes by composers such as Czerny.
	Preparatory Pieces: suggestions of pieces to be studied prior to learning a particular Chopin waltz to address certain technical or musical issues.

TITLE	TEMPO	LEVEL
Waltz in a minor, op. 34, no. 2	Lento	10
Waltz in D-flat major, op. 64, no. 1 "Minute Waltz"	Molto vivace	9
Waltz in c-sharp minor, op. 64, no. 2	Tempo giusto	10
Waltz in b minor, op. post. 69, no. 2	Moderato	8

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Last updated: October, 2010