“Minute” Waltz in D-flat major, Op. 64 No. 1

The piece

Chopin did not give it the “Minute” nickname, and the word does not mean playing the piece in sixty seconds: “minute” here means “tiny”. The waltz is dedicated to Countess Delfina Potocka. It begins with the right hand alone, on a four-note figure in eighth notes that circles around A-flat, Molto vivace and leggiero. A central sostenuto section changes character and brings a broader melody, before the circling figure comes back.

At its fastest the right hand strings together eight and a half attacks per second, and more than seven on average: lightness matters far more than strength. Play the circling figure with your fingers close to the keys and a supple wrist, without leaning on the downbeats. Against it, the waltz accompaniment accounts for half of the notes: keep its chords light. The mordents and trills must stay clean at this speed; work on them at a reduced tempo before building up gradually. The tempo used here, 210, leaves little margin: a clear waltz is better than a fast one.