AB II-17

Description

Albert Brussee

VALSE CHOPINESQUE
for piano

This little piece is intentionally a pastiche in which various elements of familiar Chopin waltzes are integrated, especially that in B-minor, opus 69, No. 2. The overall atmosphere is ‘Chopinesque’, but in terms of style you find yourself in the early decennia of the 20th century, in the world of pianos with candelabras on both sides and a book of Chopin waltzes in between, on the music stand. Even so, it was never my intention to poke fun with this trifle. What I wished to capture was on the one hand the melancholy emanating from various waltzes by the Polish master, on the other hand the charm and pianistic finesse of this excellent music, all of this seen through the rose-tinted glasses of French salon music at the fin de siècle.

Level of difficulty: Grade VI-VII (on a scale of XII grades).

REVIEWS
“The Valse Chopinesque is a short piece of 4 pages that intentionally refers to existing waltzes by Chopin – the composer himself quotes opus 69 No. 2 in his preface, but opus 64, No. 2 (in C-sharp minor) also comes to mind. We have here to do with a tender pastiche, reflecting stylistically the salon music from just after 1900. (…) It is a charming piece, lightly melancholic in character, that employs many clichés of a late-Romantic pianism without descending into cheap kitsch. A humorous feature is the extra bar in the consequent phrase of the first theme, interrupting briefly the regularity of the time structure. Concerning the level of difficulty it is to be compared with the simpler waltzes of Chopin.”
Bert Mooiman, Piano Bulletin 2011-1. (Translated from the Dutch)

The Valse chopinesque is a short piece of just four pages that, melodically and stylistically, resembles several well-known Chopin waltzes (for example the 1829 B-minor waltz). The waltzes Op. 69.2 and 64.2 are even quoted. Here we are dealing with a form of pastiche that identifies with ‘fin de siècle’ salon music. A charming piece that, with a mischievous mixture of melancholy and humour, approaches Late-Romantic piano music without, however, lapsing into cliché.
Anonymous, Piano News 2013-3. (Translated from the German)

PRACTICAL INFORMATION
© 2010 AB Music Productions & Editions, The Hague.
8 pages, with a short preface in Dutch and English.
Available through the usual music channels (distribution for Holland an Belgium by Hal Leonard) or direct from AB Music Productions & Editions.