Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 64, No. 3

Basic Information on the Work

Year of Composition: 1846–47

Year of Publication: 1847 (Paris, Leipzig)

Dedication: A Mademoiselle la Comtesse Catherine Branicka

Score Information

• Paderewski Edition: No. 8
• Ekier Edition: No. 8
• Cortot Edition: No. 8
• Henle Edition: No. 8
• Peters Edition (Urtext): (No. 8)

The key of A-flat major seems to be the optimal choice for considering these Three Waltzes, Op. 64, as a unified set. As previously mentioned (see Op. 64, No. 2), Op. 64, No. 1 and Op. 64, No. 2 each begin with a common tone (A-flat and G-sharp) corresponding to the dominant; this impressive note becoming the tonic of Op. 64, No. 3 creates a sense of tonal unity. If one were to return to the other pieces after Op. 64, No. 3, which ends on a prolonged A-flat, it could literally form an endless waltz.

It begins with a seemingly calm Moderato theme, but the transitional section leading to the middle part, which employs chromaticism to freely modulate and includes trills, displays an intensity akin to anger. However, this is short-lived; in the C major middle section, starting from measure 73, the melody is entrusted to the left hand, beginning calmly again, and through repeated modulations, it leads to the recapitulation. This middle section, with its left-hand melody reminiscent of a cello's sound, combined with the polyphonic structure in the right hand, evokes chamber music. Chopin had a cellist friend named Auguste-Joseph Franchomme (1808–1884), to whom he dedicated his Cello Sonata, Op. 65, published around the same time. Given that he performed the same work with Franchomme at his last Paris concert in 1848, it is possible that there was some indirect influence. The piece concludes with an accelerando, gradually increasing in speed, and with wave-like repetitions of crescendos and diminuendos, culminating in a rush towards the low A-flat. (Tomoko Yasukawa, February 2010; revised July 2014)