Waltz in D flat, op. 64, no. 1 : piano
Waltz · in D♭ major · Op. 64 No. 1
Frédéric Chopin 1810–1849
D♭ major
Key
Waltz
Form
Molto vivace
Tempo
Op. 64 No. 1
Catalogue
Score
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Difficulty
Our estimate Intermediate
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Themes & character
Perpetual motion·Playful nickname·Ballroom brilliance·Dedicated to Delfina Potocka
At a glance
- Catalogue
- Op. 64 No. 1
- Key
- D♭ major
- Tempo / character
- Molto vivace
- Form
- Waltz
About the piece
The famous "Minute" waltz, composed in 1847 and dedicated to Countess Delfina Potocka, one of Chopin's closest friends. The nickname means small rather than sixty seconds, a fact that has tripped up players for generations chasing an impossible tempo.
Its restless spinning figure is often said to picture a small dog chasing its own tail. The tender middle section slows to a singing melody before the whirl returns, and the piece has become one of the most recognizable of all Chopin's waltzes.
The composer
Frédéric Chopin
1810–1849
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the early Romantic period who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading composer of his era whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation".
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