Chopin: Waltzes

Dances for the salon: Are his waltzes suitable for dancing? “Only for countesses,” Frédéric Chopin is said to have responded to Robert Schumann. The composer loved dance forms and was familiar from childhood with the waltz, which had gained acceptance in Warsaw in the early 19th century. However, Chopin's piano waltzes were created to be played in the salon, not the ballroom – poetic miniatures, ranging from virtuoso showpieces to enchantingly beautiful mood pictures full of melancholy.