Frédéric Chopin: Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2

Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2

Composer: Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849)


Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of his era, one whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation.

The Waltz in C# minor is a piano waltz composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1847, the second work of his opus 64 and the companion to the "Minute Waltz" (Op. 64, No. 1). Chopin dedicated this Waltz to Madame Nathaniel de Rothschild.

It consists of three main themes:

Theme A tempo giusto chordal with a walking pace feel;
Theme B più mosso (faster) — theme stated in running eighth notes, with all harmony in the left hand.
Theme C più lento (slower) — a sostenuto in the parallel key of C# minor (D♭ major, enharmonic equivalent to C♯ major). Besides the slower general pace, the melody is in quarter notes except for a few flourishes in eighth notes, giving this section the quality of an interlude before the dramatic restatement of Theme B.
The overall layout of the piece is A B C B A B. In an orchestrated version, it forms part of the ballet Les Sylphides.

For this guitar arrangement, theme A and B are arranged in A minor, while theme C is in A major.