Waltz No. 9 in A‑Flat Major

The Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 69, No. 1 is popularly known by the sentimental nickname “L’Adieu”, which Chopin himself would not have recognised. It was composed in 1835 and presented to Maria Wodzińska, a friend nine years Chopin’s junior with whom he shared a brief attraction. Later manuscripts of the waltz exist, with various alternatives and different dedications, but it remained unpublished until 1855, six years after Chopin’s death, when Julian Fontana included it in a posthumous collection of Chopin’s works. Fontana marked the tempo as “Lento” rather than Chopin’s rather vague “Tempo di valse”, which is well suited to the music’s nostalgic quality—this is a slow dance in three rather than conveying the swirling bustle of many Chopin waltzes. The opening theme’s melancholy character is offset by subsequent episodes that bring fleeting glimpses of greater animation. Technically, this is one of the more straightforward of Chopin’s waltzes, and is consequently popular with students and amateurs. About Chopin's Waltzes By the time Chopin wrote his first waltzes, the dance was an international phenomenon, a refined offshoot of the Austrian ländler with a familiar triple-time sway. Chopin contributed to this popular craze, building on examples by Schubert and Weber in creating some of the best-loved waltzes of the 19th century, with swirling piano figurations and subtle cross-rhythms adding layers of sophistication. Chopin composed eight waltzes intended for publication (Op. 18; three waltzes, Op. 34; Op. 42; and three waltzes, Op. 64), and a further nine examples—mostly early works, some left in manuscripts he had presented as gifts—were published after he died. In addition, there are further pieces in a waltz style that Chopin didn’t explicitly title as such, and yet more that are dubiously attributed to him.