Waltz in F minor Opus 70 No. 2

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 F minor” (Opus 70 No. 2) is a lesson in half-tones and sensitivity. For the pianist, the technical work focuses on inner polyphony: the right hand must often carry a two-voice melody while the left hand provides a rhythmic foundation of extreme lightness. The challenge lies in the art of rubato, that sway specific to Chopin which allows the phrase to be stretched without ever breaking the waltz metre. It is an ideal work for deepening the handling of soft dynamics and the search for a muted, nostalgic sonority.

Composed in 1841, this waltz was only published in 1855, after the death of Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849). Although he gave it to several of his friends and students, he no doubt did not consider it “brilliant” enough for the Parisian salons, preferring its confidential character. Far from the bravura waltzes, this piece in F minor expresses an elegant sadness, almost a confidence, interspersed with brighter moments of resignation. It remains one of the purest examples of Chopin’s genius for transforming a ballroom dance into a poem of the soul.