In the summer of 1840, the singular family formed by Chopin, the writer George Sand and her children, Solange and Maurice, could not repeat what had happened the previous year when they packed their belongings and left to enjoy three months of well-deserved rest in the summer house that Sand kept in Nohant, 200 km south of Paris. This time there was no budget, since the last work of the tireless and prolific writer had turned out to be a failure, and there was no way to pay for the three-month stay at the summer house, at four thousand francs a month, not counting travel expenses.
Summer in Paris
So they remained in Paris. George Sand would edit and rewrite her works, and Chopin, who had already begun to get used to composing only in Nohant, would have to readjust his routine and work in Paris during the summer. Otherwise, he had no pupils during those months. And despite the unusual circumstances, 1840 was a fruitful year, a year of uninterrupted work at 16 Rue Pigalle. For example, the Fantasia in F minor, and the sinuous Waltz in A flat, opus 42, published that same year without a dedication, date from that date.
Waltz in A flat, opus 42
Robert Schumann, an enthusiastic admirer of Chopin and who had already spoken highly of the Etude opus 25 No. 1, wrote of this waltz that "if it were ever to be danced, only the countesses would have to do it". We do not understand what he really meant, perhaps that it required extreme elegance to do so.
The superimposition of a binary rhythm in the right hand and a ternary rhythm in the left hand in the main theme, together with the speed here infused by Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky, make the dance impracticable even for the countesses. A scintillating coda (2:37) brings the little piece to a close, crowned by vigorous unison notes in the low register.
