Chopin – Waltzes and other works

Description

Waltzes and other works

Waltzes belong to those Chopin works that became famous at the very beginning of their existence. They represent the trend, which consists in unique symbiosis of drawing-room mass aesthetics and unquestionable artistry of Chopin’s genius.Our album includes the works that were created between 1833 and 1847. They are usually described as dance poems: works that seem to be just a draft of applied waltz to be further developed into a form free from any patterns of applied art. The waltzes originate from a stylised model created by Karl Maria Weber, but they gain virtuoso character due to addition of introduction and coda, both tightly related to main body of the composition. Simple arranging segments and their recapitulations is replaced by the overall treatment of a composition. There are two main patterns of discussed works. The first one includes a fanfare introduction leading to a climax and a strong whirling conclusion (E flat major Op. 12, A flat major and F major Op. 34), whereas in the second pattern an introduction gently rises to a climax and finally turns into a subdued conclusion. This classification is complemented by the division into the valse lente pattern, which in Chopin takes the form of a separate lyrical miniature in minor key (A minor Op. 34, C sharp minor Op. 64); and into the virtuoso pattern in major key.Waltzes in question were dedicated to the Parisian drawing-rooms ladies. They were inspired by the specific society and they assimilated its colour and charming beauty. Therefore, they are fully described only by means of expressions depicting this colour, such as: sprightliness, airiness, velocity, spin, intensity, movement, brillance, eroticism, aristocracy from the very first till the very last note (Schumann), fascination with sham paradises (Iwaszkiewicz), and an introduction into a different world (Chomiński).