Description
Written in 1834 and never published by Chopin himself. It reached the world after his death, when Fontana brought it out from the manuscripts as Op. 66, and it is now among his most famous works. Why he withheld it is unknown; the resemblance to an impromptu by Moscheles has long been proposed as the reason.
In C-sharp minor and common time, the right hand runs in groups of four sixteenths against triplets in the left, and that three-against-four polyrhythm governs the outer sections. The middle turns to D-flat major — the same sounds read as a major key — and a singing melody takes over. At the close the opening figuration returns, and within its resonance the middle melody is recalled in the bass.
The advanced rating comes from holding three-against-four for nearly four minutes. Trying to count the hands together makes the playing rigid; feeling them as two separate streams and aligning only at the start of each bar is the practical approach. Make each hand perfectly even alone before combining them — and be ready to switch, in the middle section, entirely into song.
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About the Composer
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Frederic Chopin was born in Poland and made his career in Paris, remaining unusual among great composers for writing almost exclusively for piano. He poured his longing for his homeland into mazurkas and polonaises, while his ballades and etudes combine poetic melody with harmonic innovation. This site includes the "Revolutionary" and other etudes, Ballades No. 1 and No. 4, nocturnes, and the Preludes, Op. 28.
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