One of Chopin’s most radical compositions, the Scherzo in b minor, leaves very few listeners untouched. The main part, which is wild and full of brutal dissonances, frames an intimate Trio in which Chopin transcribes a Polish song for the piano with a magic touch. According to legend, the work was composed at the end of 1830 in Vienna, when Chopin had just left his homeland for good. The November uprising had broken out in Warsaw, and the composer alternated between wanting to revolt against fate and feeling inconsolably homesick. The revised edition of the Scherzo in b minor is available as a single edition in Henle Urtext for the first time – the Scherzi 2–4 are to follow, finally rounded off by the revised complete volume.
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Preface
The Scherzo in b minor op. 20 by Frédéric Chopin (1810 – 49) is the first work in the group of four Scherzi that the composer published in the years 1835 – 43. They are often linked to the four Ballades which were published more or less within the same timeframe (1836 – 43). The Scherzi and the Ballades are outstanding examples of Chopin’s striving to … more
Critical Commentary
About the composer

Frédéric Chopin
Pianist and composer. His work is concentrated around piano music that enjoys extraordinary popularity and has become an integral part of the concert repertoire. His music influenced subsequent generations in France (Franck, Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Debussy) as well as Smetana, Dvořák, Balakirev, Grieg, Albéniz.
1810 | Born in Żelazowa Wola near Warsaw on March 1. First compositions at age seven, his first public performance at eight. |
1822 | Private instruction in composition. |
1825 | Rondo in C minor, Op. 1, his first published work. |
1826–29 | Studies at the Institute of Music in Warsaw. |
1829 | “Fantaisie sur des airs nationaux polonaise” in A major, Op. 13; Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 8. Travels to Vienna, where he gives two concerts of his compositions and improvisations. |
1829–33 and 1835–37 | Etudes, Opp. 10 and 25 -- a new type of virtuosic etude that also makes aesthetic demands. |
1830 | Premieres in Warsaw of his two piano concerti, Op. 21 in F minor and Op. 11 in E minor. |
1831 | Unable to return to Warsaw due to the Polish uprising, he goes to Paris, where he will remain until the end of his life. |
1832 | Debut concert in Paris to great acclaim. |
1835/38 | “Trois valses brillantes,” Op. 34. |
1836/39 | “24 Preludes,” Op. 28, in a cyclic succession: compactly-designed short pieces. |
1835/39 | Piano Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35, with the funeral march. |
1842/43 | Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52; “Grande Polonaise brillante” in A-flat major, Op. 53; Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54. |
1844 | Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 58 |
1849 | Completion of the mazurkas in G minor and F minor. Death in Paris on October 17. |
About the authors
Norbert Müllemanns redactioneel commentaar bij deze Urtext is uitgebreid en zowel in Duits als Engels beschikbaar. (...) Layout en druk dragen bij tot een overzichtelijke en handzame uitgave - ideaal voor studie.