Valse

Description

Set in F minor and triple time, this waltz from 2002 is the earliest of Ravi Kumar's pieces on this site. The waltz, a dance in triple time that spread through the nineteenth century, has been taken up as a solo piano piece by many composers, Chopin among them. Nothing reliable has been found about the composer or how this piece came about, so the notes below rest on the score data.

Having a clearly stated key and metre already sets it a little apart from Kumar's other pieces here. Rated intermediate, it lasts just over two minutes with 453 notes, about three and a half a second on average. The range spans exactly four octaves, from B-flat 1 to B-flat 5.

Waltzes often give the left hand a bass note on the first beat and chords on the second and third, and where that happens, the contrast between a weighted first beat and light second and third beats is what makes the music dance. Use the hand colours to follow the left hand, lower the playback speed until the weight of the triple metre feels natural, then return to full speed. The lowest note, B-flat 1, falls just below a 61-key range, but an octave shift fits every note on 61 keys.

Waltzes in elegant triple time, including Chopin's concert waltzes alongside works by a range of other composers.