Op. 64 No 2, Waltz in C♯ minor

  b. 93-96

		As, first version
		As, 2nd version
		As, 3rd version & AI, contextual interpretation
		As, 4th version
		A (→FE→GE,EE)

Four versions of these bars written in As prove Chopin's intense work on the melodic, harmonic and emotional and dramatic shape of the ending of this section. The composer started from a simple repetition of the phrase from bars 77-80, changing only the last bar, having a nature of a connecting episode with the next phrase, based on the tonic chord, ending the cadence – major in bar 80 (return to bar 65) and minor in bar 96 (transition to the refrain). It is the only version in which the melody leads to a regular beginning of the refrain in bar 97, hence to g². The very transition is also of a slightly technical nature – the change of the mode is not a carrier of an additional emotional content, going beyond the load carried by the contrast of this section with the figurative refrain.

The situation is already different in the second version – the C minor key is already present three bars before the end of this section of the Waltz, in a chord in second inversion (D⁶₄), constituting a breakthrough in the cadence. At the same time, its resolution is delayed until the beginning of the refrain and preceded by a leading a-c-e-f chord (written as a-c-e-g), willingly used by Chopin (cf., e.g. the Concerto in F minor, op. 21, 2nd mov., bar 36 or the beginning of Lento con gran espressione WN 37), which may be interpreted as a seventh subdominant with raised prime (f-a-c-e) or a dominant to a dominant in the form of a ninth chord without prime and with lowered fifth. This procedure allows for a more careful preparation of the return of the main key and gives the modulation a sui generis expressive mood. In the melody, it is the resignation from quavers in bar 96 and the appearance of a characteristic interval of a descending diminished seventh f²-g¹ (written as e²-g¹) at the end of this section with a corresponding modification of the beginning of the refrain that draw attention.

The next, third version is identical to the text of AI, as far as the melody is concerned. There is only one chord written as the harmonic base, which, however, allows us to suspect that the part of the L.H. was to be the same as in AI according to Chopin (however, the versions differ in the accompaniment in bars 92-93). Chopin restored – permanently – the quavers in the last bar and resigned from the accompaniment in the last two bars, so the last chord, on which the harmonic course is suspended, is a diminished seventh chord, g-b-d-e. Previously, this chord had led to the D⁶₄ chord; omitting this and the next chords, Chopin leaves the listener uncertain as to the harmonic continuation, in particular considering the fact that in the melody we hear an equally imprecise, homogeneous chromatic progression.

In the last of the versions written in As, the melodic line is already in its final form. The notation of the draft does not suggest, however, that Chopin modified also the harmonic base, which, therefore, probably remained unchanged with respect to the previous version. One can admire Chopin's craft, who, using elements of the previous ideas – the descending direction of the melodic line to g¹, a quaver in the last bar, the f²-g¹ seventh – created a coherent whole, both elegant and expressive. In particular, a balance between the harmonic uncertainty of the third version and the determination of a new key, D(C) minor, in the second one was reached – the progression in which sounds of the diminished seventh chord (b²-g²-f²-d²) and the target dominant chord (a²-g²-e²-c²) alternate suggests a new key, but it does not determine it completely, which creates a distinct emotion related to the anticipation of the fulfillment of a premonition.

Due to the lack of indication of the conclusive version, we assume the earliest version to be the text of As.
In the second of the given variants, we take into account two slurs in the L.H., which, due to major differences between particular editions of the accompanying part, are to be applied only in this version.     

Compare the passage in the sources »

category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations

issues: Chopin's hesitations, Accompaniment changes, Main-line changes

notation: Pitch

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