Waltz in B minor, Op. 69, No. 2 (Posthumous)

Basic Work Information

Year of Composition: 1829 Year of Publication: 1852 (Krakow), 1853 (London), 1855 (Paris, Berlin)

Dedication: (Wilhelm Kolberg)

Score Information

• Paderewski Edition: No. 10 (Fontana Edition), No. 10bis (Oxford Edition, taken from manuscript)
• Ekier Edition: WN19, [SeriesB]-2a, [B]-2b, [B]-App. (Addendum) 2a, [B]-App. 2b
• Cortot Edition: No. 10
• Henle Edition: No. 10a, No. 10b
• Peters Edition (Urtext): (No. 9a, No. 9b, No. 9c)

Composed in 1829, this is the earliest of Chopin's extant waltzes. During his Polish period, between 1829 and 1830, Chopin composed five waltzes. These pieces were included by his sister Ludwika in a “List of Unpublished Works” after Chopin's death and were subsequently published. Although the existence of multiple autographs for the B minor Waltz is presumed, all of them are lost.

The variety of first editions published in Krakow, London, Paris (Fontana Edition), and Berlin (Fontana Edition), as well as the surviving manuscripts by unknown copyists, indicate that Chopin experimented with various forms. While the structure of all versions is a simple ternary form, if the early manuscripts and the Polish first edition follow an A-A'-B-A pattern, the Fontana Edition extends the recapitulation to A-A'-B-A-A', thereby correcting Chopin's characteristic asymmetrical balance. Another difference between the manuscripts and the various first editions lies in the treatment of the opening F-sharp. Specifically, in the first editions, this note, which begins one beat early as an anacrusis, is tied to the next measure. However, in editions based on early manuscripts, there is a variety of treatments, such as re-striking the note or accenting the anacrusis. This suggests the importance he placed on the very first note.

In 1829, when his early waltzes were composed intensively, the 19-year-old Chopin experienced his first love with Konstancja Gładkowska, a singer at the Warsaw Conservatory. Upon returning from his trip to Vienna with his friend Tytus Woyciechowski on October 3rd, he confided in Tytus, “It may be unfortunate for me, but I have already found my ideal.” The eight songs composed between 1829 and 1830 all express the anxieties and yearnings of love, and the troubled “song” of a young man caught in the throes of love also pulsates within this B minor Waltz.