Chopin Valse in b minor Op 69 No. 2. Valentina Lisitsa

Chopin Waltz No 10bis, Op 69 #2 Written by Chopin when he was not even 20 years old, this waltz was destined -- by Chopin himself- to be burned at a time of his death as an immature and unpolished piece. Luckily, music doesn’t burn :-) The interpretational problem with this waltz (and many other . pieces) is that we cannot be exactly sure what Chopin’s final intent would have been since he never had a chance, or desire, to prepare it for publication. There are no authoritative editions , no Urtext- just various manuscripts , often written on a stray piece of paper at some lady friend’s album, often varying to such a degree as to make pieces barely recognizable. Thus we have -- in some better modern editions -- countless versions “bis“ that vary from just a few notes to pages and pages... my “favorite“ is a middle part of F minor Waltz where the downbeat is moved by a whole quarter - becoming a third beat gives any performer a