Chopin's GRAND WALTZ in Ab major, Op 42 - Analysis

[00:00:00]There are around 20 official waltzes by Shopopan, but only eight of them were published in his lifetime grouped in four opuses. This waltz in a flat major has the opus number 42 all to itself, which means that Shopopen consider it to be a significant composition. It's sometimes called grand waltz for the same reason. And it's simply a masterclass in both piano texture and integrated form all blended together in a beautiful exciting virtuosic dancing wa. Let's have a closer look at it.

[00:00:36]So it starts with this trill setting the scene which is a decorated ballroom before the dancing begins.

[00:00:46]basically like a format on the trail because you can't know the beat if you're listening to it. And then melody in the left hand.

[00:01:10]I mean, check out this texture. So, it's four things going on at the same time.

[00:01:14]Left hand has two. We have the bass and the accompanying chord in the walts.

[00:01:20]Typical walts accompaniment.

[00:01:30]So that's two things. Now the right hand has the melody which is this um it's in two basically. So going brushing against the triple time wall accompaniment, we get this really nice rhythmic tension with a melody in two.

[00:01:53]all the time. Some tension there. And then we have the fourth voice in the right hand in the middle. These chromatic notes that is the glue gluing it together everything. So, so it's actually even eighth notes. It's nothing weird poly rhythmic more than two against three, but these eighth notes glues it together.

[00:02:22]But it's just like how the register fits perfectly with the voices that Shopen writes here and legerro lightly. It has to be light feeling overall.

[00:02:36]Also very difficult to get all these levels right with the voices. Anyway, after this first round, we go up and we get the same melody one octave higher and pianisimo dolcho. So even sweeter.

[00:03:11]Now there's a fine nuance in difference in detail here. So when Shopopen writes the left hand part in the second time, it's roughly the same. It's the same harmony as the first time, but the first time we only have two notes in the chords because it's down here.

[00:03:36]So that's what you need in this register for a nice piano sound. But when he goes up here, it's always three notes in the chord.

[00:03:50]And that's because it's in the higher register. Here you need three voice to get a really nice piano sound because each note sounds a bit less. So that's just just an example of the the masterly control of piano texture shopen. Okay.

[00:04:06]After this we it resolves in a flat major. Now we get the second part which is this brilliant section.

[00:04:25]So I find this sounds like a playful game of tag or something. A lot of energy that needs to come out come out.

[00:04:32]It goes up and down over the register just between a flat major and E flat 7.

[00:04:38]So tonic and dominant here. Some diminished and then back and no rest for the right hand. Also a bit similar to the walts the other waults in a flat major in opus 34. It has a very similar part with a kind of same scale up and down but they're slightly different. This one has only eighth notes all the time. And in the end we go come down here.

[00:05:26]So this is a third new idea. This one feels more like a typical vault. So clear quarter notes in the accompaniment that you can rest on the heavy first beat and then or like one two three one two you can do a bit like that almost if you want to it's again only like a flat major and E flat seven, but Shopopen still manages to do a lot with it. Okay, after this is quite short, we get the same tag section again, but now it goes into another direction.

[00:06:28]And it's so cool because it's exactly the same runway down and into the same note, the E flat, but now so the first time it's like the E flat is part of an A major chord, which is like the tonic, but now the E E flat is part of an A flat 7 chord, which is points to D flat.

[00:06:58]And we get this section in D flat major and it's like a second episode. So the form here is we get this brilliante section like a chorus or a link between the episodes that feels more like Walt's section. So this has the same character as the first even if it's a new melody.

[00:07:16]It's a little bit more dotted rhythms here with two voices and some kind of trumpet signal maybe interrupting and same melody an octave higher and it interrupts again and then that brings back the brilliant section. And for a third time now, and guess now same runway, same E flat major, but now now it goes to a third point. And this is really cool thing about this piece.

[00:08:12]The same note, but it goes into three different direction. So here's the third episode. Pulento like a slightly it's a longer section.

[00:08:21]It's more legato, more lyrical, more heartfelt in a way. So more of a contrast to the quickness of the rest of the piece. So I'm going to play this whole Yeah. senuto as well and minor feeling.

[00:08:38]No.

[00:09:08]like just so beautiful. Again, we have this When it's low enough, it's only two notes in the left hand compliment for good piano texture. Higher up, you can have afford three notes. And uh yeah going between major and minor seamlessly. Basically typical shopopen brilliance like some development here. building towards something.

[00:09:52]Guess what? Well, it's the tag game.

[00:10:08]So, it's the fourth time we hear it. And now it doesn't go into a new episode rather it goes back to the first section again. This is the other thing the the big form integration that okay now we get repeat of this. So it takes all these different parts and puts them together. I don't need to play all this again, but when it comes higher up the second time like something happens here. It's like we lose our bearing on the dance floor for a moment and just this soul.

[00:10:53]But we quickly find them again with guess what?

[00:10:59]But so this is the fifth time. Now after four bars, we finally get something different. We get this.

[00:11:14]So like a big cadenza of a flurry of notes. And now we get another echo. So this material we've also heard before.

[00:11:29]So it's from the second episode although now it's in a flat major instead of D flat as before. Another detail here. So what Shopopen writes is this.

[00:11:48]So he adds an extra dotted rhythm in the first bar. If we compare to the first time, it's even eighth notes in the first bar when it's eighth notes. Here it's so it's it's not he adds the dotted rhythm the second time. And um play this one more time like that. And then with a dotted rhythm, it's supposed to be, but I kind of have an issue with this. I don't like it that much. this extra dotted rhythm. I find it stops the flow a lot. It might just be my technique that's not up to the task to play it clear rhythmically with flow, but I actually opted to play the even eighth notes instead of the dotted rhythm. I know it's technically wrong, but I think it's not that wrong because that's what Shopopen writes the first time. Now, he wants a little bit of extra variation, which I'm sorry to say I can't provide.

[00:13:05]Uh I still think the music works incredibly well even with even ace notes like for me even better. So but that's a controversial issue that's it sometimes happened when I play music.

[00:13:27]Get the trumpet signal back. Now it's more pressing like flips to another key.

[00:13:32]And then just a very playful scale like this distant key for a moment but then immediately back really with a smile on the face, you know. Uh are we in a major?

[00:13:48]No, just kidding.

[00:13:54]Now the bass starts to fill up and we get this great going down in the bass.

[00:14:02]Uh, so it keeps on modulating. I didn't play all of that right, but anyway, let's move on. Here we get for the final time the tag section, but with one different, one crucial difference.

[00:14:35]So it's the bass. We have an E flat pedal point is the dominant. So instead of all the other times it goes between E flat and A flat.

[00:14:46]Now we keep the E flat. So it keeps a lot of tension here.

[00:14:56]And for the second time, finally get a resolution to this theme basically.

[00:15:11]And for like a final device for the ending, it's like a stretto doing the same bar four times and a final flurry up and down.

[00:15:27]final chords and the final hooray in the bass. This one I actually simplify too. It's also because my technique I can't get it right in the left hand and I think it works if I so I play the left hand like this and together like I don't hear much difference. Uh but that's a bit cheating I know. But anyway, it's so much fun and joy in this music and especially in Shopan, it's always elegant, even when it's raving and thunderous, which is one thing I find so inspiring about it. Thanks for watching Sonal Secrets. The Patreon shout out goes to LB and Deline.