This valse is a
favorite, and who need wonder? The F major Valse, the last of
this series, is a whirling, wild dance of atoms. It has the
perpetuum mobile quality, and older masters would have prolonged
its giddy arabesques into pages of senseless spinning. It is
quite long enough as it is. The second theme is better, but the
appoggiatures are flippant. It buzzes to the finish. Of it is
related that Chopin's cat sprang upon his keyboard and in its
feline flight gave him the idea of the first measures. I suppose
as there is a dog valse, there had to be one for the cat.
But as Rossini would have said, "Ca sent de Scarlatti!"
The A minor Valse was, of the three, Chopin's favorite. When
Stephen Heller told him this too was his beloved valse, Chopin
was greatly pleased, inviting the Hungarian composer, Niecks
relates, to luncheon at the Cafe Riche.
Not improvised in the ballroom as the preceding, yet a marvellous
epitome is the A flat Valse, op. 42, published July, 1840. It is
the best rounded specimen of Chopin's experimenting with the
form.
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