Minute Waltz Opus 64 No. 1

The Anacrouse collection offers pianists, beginners and advanced alike, a wide choice of classical works from the Renaissance to the present day. It brings together major works of the repertoire as well as rarer pieces, and also offers transcriptions for piano solo or four hands, selected for their musical and educational interest. Each score, available individually, benefits from careful editorial work: a rigorously established musical text, clear and legible engraving, accompanied by a short biography of the composer and a note on the work.

The “Waltz in D flat major, Op. 64 No. 1”, universally known as the “Minute Waltz”, is a jewel of velocity and lightness. For the pianist, this work is an excellent exercise for working on the fluidity of the right hand in rapid, circular runs, as well as the rhythmic precision of the left hand. The pedagogical challenge lies in the ability to maintain absolute clarity of playing and elegant phrasing despite the liveliness of the required tempo.

Composed in 1847, this waltz owes its nickname not to a one-minute performance time — which would be a musical misreading — but to the word “minute” meaning “small” or “tiny”. It is said that Chopin improvised it while watching George Sand’s little dog, Marquis, chasing its tail, which explains the whirling motion of the main theme. A true concentrate of Parisian wit and Romantic refinement, it remains one of the most played and best-loved pieces by the Polish composer.