Chopin revolutionized the etude – but he ennobled the waltz. He spent much time on this genre throughout his life and created a wide spectrum of forms, from virtuosic showpieces – the Grandes Valses Brillantes – to deeply melancholic atmospheric pictures. All these works have one thing in common: one cannot and should not dance to them! Our volume contains all of the waltzes that were published during Chopin’s lifetime, or posthumously, including popular masterpieces such as the so-called “Minute Waltz” (op. 64 no. 1). In cases where two authentic versions of the same waltz have been transmitted, we naturally give the Urtext of both versions.
