Scherzo No. 1 is a composition for piano written by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. Ironically named “Scherzo”, which means “joke” in Italian, the piece was composed during a turbulent and strifeful period in Polish history, and was dedicated to a friend who convinced Chopin not to return to his native Poland during the 1830 November Uprising and to stay in Vienna for his own safety; the contents of the piece were just as stormy and dark, full of difficult and frantic musical outbursts and often built on diminished chordal harmony. Chopin began work on the piece in 1831, completed it in or around 1833, and published it in 1835 via a Parisian company. The Scherzo is structured in A-B-A form, with an elaborate coda appended to the end. The B section contains an allusion to the Polish Christmas song “Sleep, Little Jesus”, while surrounding it on both sides is the A section, itself nothing short of dramatic and desperate. As the B section concludes, the signature two introductory chords from the A section charge to the forefront to begin ringing (like a French knight at the Battle of Agincourt) before the lilting B section textures even had the chance to finish, as if one were to suddenly wake from a beautiful, sweet dream by the sounds of a civil defense siren.


Date: around 1833
Dedicatee: Thomas Albrecht
Catalogue: Op. 20
Performer: Cindy Elizondo on piano


Note: This channel does not own the score or audio, and they are used for non-commercial purposes.


Original audio: [ Ссылка ]


Original uploader’s channel: [ Ссылка ]

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