Waltz in A flat major, Op. 69, No. 1 by Frédéric Chopin
Chopin would complete this waltz in 1835, but the work would not be published until 1855, six years after the death of the composer.
By 1828 Chopin had established himself as a prominent com…
Waltz in A flat major, Op. 69, No. 1 by Frédéric Chopin
Chopin would complete this waltz in 1835, but the work would not be published until 1855, six years after the death of the composer.
By 1828 Chopin had established himself as a prominent composer and performer in Europe. He would spend much of the period between 1828 and 1830 making visits to Berlin and Vienna to perform his own music and also to attend concerts of other musicians such as Paganini, Zelter and Mendelssohn. During one of the periods when Chopin had returned to Warsaw between these trips across Europe, he would meet the Wodzińskis family.
Chopin became close friends with the Wodzińskis, and would stay at the Wodzińskis estate for a short period in 1835 and in 1836. During the stay in 1835, Maria Wodzińskis (the 17-year-old daughter of the Count Wincenty Wodziński and Countess Teresa Wodzińska) would make a sketch of the 25-year-old Chopin. This sketch is often considered one of the best likenesses of the young Chopin, and is the image you see during this video. It is at the end of his stay at the Wodzińskis estate in 1835 that Chopin would compose this waltz as a farewell gift for Maria which is why the waltz is sometimes also referred to as the “Farewell Waltz”.
Chopin would propose to Maria in 1836, and while Maria initially accepted the proposal, it would be called off in 1837. It is unclear why the engagement was ended, with some suggesting the Count disapproved of the marriage, or possibly concerns from Maria about ill health that had already begun to plague composer. Chopin would later re-dedicate the waltz to two other women, Eliza Peruzzi in 1837 and then Charlotte de Rothschild in 1842.
