ALL ABOUT CHOPIN WALTZES

[sjeon]

CAN SOMEONE GIVE ME A LIST OF CHOPIN WALTZES EASIEST TO HARDEST?
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE/LEAST FAVORITE WALTZ?
CAN SOMEONE TELL ME THE CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH WALTZS?

[pianisten1989]

yea.. uhm... There is no easy way to say this but... You probably should look that up yourself.

Easiest to hardest - everyone has got different difficulties, though the first ones are pretty difficult.

And you can find out the charachter yourself, I know some ppl who thinks the minute waltz is very sad, so everyone feels differently about them.

I don't have any favourite or least favourite, they're all good imo.

And plz, turn off caps lock

[stevebob]

I think the waltzes are probably Chopin's least demanding category of pieces overall.  While there are mazurkas that are technically simpler, they are, in my opinion, more challenging interpretively.

Here's how Eleanor Bailie classifies the waltzes according to difficulty in Chopin:  A Graded Practical Guide (a very worthwhile investment for any aficionado of Chopin's music, and especially valuable to the self-teaching amateur):

Op. 18:  Grade 8
Op. 34/1:  Grade 8+
Op. 34/2:  Grade 6
Op. 34/3:  Grade 8
Op. 42:  Grade 8+
Op. 64/1:  Grade 7
Op. 64/2:  Grade 7
Op. 64/3:  Grade 7

Posthumous

Op. 69/1:  Grade 7
Op. 69/2:  Grade 6
Op. 70/1:  Grade 8+
Op. 70/2:  Grade 6
Op. 70/3:  Grade 7

Posthumous without opus number (in order of publication)

e minor:  Grade 8
E major:  Grade 6
A♭ major:  Grade 6
E♭ major (considered spurious):  Grade 8
E♭ major (a/k/a Sostenuto):  Grade 4-5
a minor:  Grade 4-5

(Bailie doesn't mention the "Valse mélancolique" in F-sharp minor.)

Personally, I'm drawn to those few waltzes that seem relatively underexposed.  They happen to be the final pieces in the opus numbers comprising sets of three:  34/3, 64/3, 70/3.

The posthumous waltz in e minor tends to be well-regarded (among the posthumous compositions) by scholars, but it has always seemed oddly un-Chopinesque to me.

[quantum]

What is probably the most difficult element of the waltzes is not the technical but the interpretational.  While one can get the notes in one's fingers fairly easily, being able to convey the elegance, grace, melancholy, exuberance, humor - but most of all the refined emotion takes much work.  

[kevonthegreatpianist]

Early Intermediate:
-Waltz in Eb Major (1840)
-Waltz in a minor (1841)

Intermediate:
-Op.34 No.2
-Waltz in E Major (1829, I think)

Late Intermediate:
-Op.64 No.2
-Op.64 No.3
-Waltz in Ab Major (1827)

Early Advanced:
-Op.18
-Op.34 No.1
-Op.64 No.1
-Waltz in Eb Major (1830)
-Waltz in e minor (1830)

Advanced:
-Op.34 No.3
-Op.42

[kevonthegreatpianist]

Early Intermediate:
-Waltz in Eb Major (1840)
-Waltz in a minor (1841)

Intermediate:
-Op.34 No.2
-Op.70 No.2
-Waltz in E Major (1829, I think)

Late Intermediate:
-Op.64 No.2
-Op.64 No.3
-Op.69 No.1
-Op.69 No.2
-Op.70 No.3
-Waltz in Ab Major (1827)

Early Advanced:
-Op.18
-Op.34 No.1
-Op.64 No.1
-Op.70 No.1
-Waltz in Eb Major (1830)
-Waltz in e minor (1830)

Advanced:
-Op.34 No.3
-Op.42

[briansaddleback]

I love the waltzes by Chopin. However, I don't get why so many people claim that the Minute Waltz is so easy.

I learned that one and even though I can perform it, it takes a ton of stable finger/hand technique and focus throughout to play it evenly and cleanly. The pedaling on that one is deceptively hard to do correctly as well. You don't want to wash it in pedal. And the accents...yes, the accents....you dont get those right, you miss the entirety of the running melody.
and please
do not play it too fast.

[kevonthegreatpianist]

I love the waltzes by Chopin. However, I don't get why so many people claim that the Minute Waltz is so easy.

I learned that one and even though I can perform it, it takes a ton of stable finger/hand technique and focus throughout to play it evenly and cleanly. The pedaling on that one is deceptively hard to do correctly as well. You don't want to wash it in pedal. And the accents...yes, the accents....you dont get those right, you miss the entirety of the running melody.
and please
do not play it too fast.

AND WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE THINK 10/5 and 25/9 are easy?!!!!!

[briansaddleback]

AND WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE THINK 10/5 and 25/9 are easy?!!!!!

I don't know why.  I also agree that 10 5 is very difficult to manage crisply or even just playing the keys correctly at any speed greater than half of written tempo. 
I had to put that piece away twice due to its difficulty and always become disheartened whenever I read someone on a piano forum stating how easy it is or how that should be the first learnt étude.


I am polishing use 10 4 torrent now and it is much easier on my hands than the former. Also another weird thing is people say how difficult this one is compared to most his other etudes.  I don't agree. I find it hard yes, but I got it up to speed quicker than I have w 10 5. And I started 10 5 way earlier.


I don't know too much about 25 9. I'm sure it is hard.

[kypiano]

AND WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE THINK 10/5 and 25/9 are easy?!!!!!

Because they were written by Chopin. lol. DON"T TELL ANYONE I WROTE THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!