Thursday 4 June 2020

Chopin's Grand Valse Brillante (opus 18) Tutorials

Chopin's Grand Valse Brillante in Eb major, opus 18 - a great concert showstopper and encore! It was composed in 1833 and then  published in 1834. There are also Waltzes by the same name under Opus 34 if you want to explore more of these concert waltzes.

By far the most authoritative tutorial is in French - by Pianiste Magazine on Youtube. By authoritative, I mean that the instructor is a professional pianist at a high standard (concert pianist or even a professor at a music conservatoire). Now fear not that it is in French - if you can't understand, you can click the settings and turn the captions on and get it to translate into English.
This particular tutorial is run by Jean-Marc Luisada


Luisada describes the waltz as an encore piece that's an audience pleaser especially after a serious concert. And that's because it's delightful, energetic and beautiful. Luisada says it accompanied a Charlie Chaplin film at a fast tempo. Luisada also adds that this waltz wasn't designed to be danced at all. There are some useful technical tips in the video as well. Well worth checking out!


Other - tutorials on the Vales:
 Piano Secrets Youtuber has a tutorial - it's mainly on getting the best fingering, analysing what the harmonies (chords) are and the variations in the themes.