Waltz, op 64 #2

I've decided to continue with romantic era piano pieces, and that means it's time for Chopin. With so many admirers of his unique style, we couldn't forget about him. Even one who has heard very little classical music will have come across a Chopin nocturne or waltz at some point. "Favorite" or "most influential" composer lists can never be proven "right," but whenever one is made, he is usually in the top 5.

Somehow, I didn't know much about Chopin for my first, say, 5 years playing the piano. At that point, I had not learned any of his compositions yet. I remember having little to say when my teacher made a pun regarding a "Chopin board." Granted, I was very young during those years. This was the time when I didn't know how to pronounce Liszt and all I knew of Rachmaninoff was that he had big hands. As I noticed from my folders of sheet music, I have played a lot of Chopin since then.

Listen to the song here
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Working with Frederic Chopin's naming conventions can be difficult sometimes. He rarely chose a name for his pieces that had a meaning of its own (like, for example, Vivaldi's "Spring Concerto" or Debussy's "Girl with Flaxen Hair"). Rather, he simply identified them according to the style and what order they were written in, producing a title like this one.

Over the years, other musicians and publishers have come up with nicknames for Chopin's pieces, such as the "Revolutionary Etude" and the "Raindrop Prelude." However, there is little evidence to show what ideas Chopin had in mind when he composed.

When I recorded this, I knew that the numbering was part of the title, but I only labelled my recording as "Chopin waltz C sharp minor." Although I find the key to be a better way of identifying a piece (since, of course, I need to know the key while playing it), I decided that I should include the number on my post in case I play another waltz in C sharp minor one day.

To my disappointment, I had completely forgotten it. To know whether I had played op 64, no 2 or op 64, no 3, the only thing I could do was to find and re-read my sheet music. 

If I wanted to talk to someone about this waltz and I didn't have a recording with me (or a piano in front of me), I would run into problems. To use the etude as an example, which title would you be more likely to remember and look for -- "Chopin's Revolutionary Etude," or "Chopin's op. 10, no 12"?

Unfortunately, no one ever invented a nickname for this waltz. I first heard it at a student recital, but I no longer remember how it was introduced there. 

Perhaps Chopin had a good reason for his titles which seem meaningless at first glance. By avoiding the attachment of external ideas to the composition, he left it up to the listener to discern the meaning. Maybe you will understand what Chopin was trying to "say" here, or maybe you will come up with something completely different.

Keep filling your teacup with music!
~Liya