Waltz, Opus 64, No. 2: Piano Sheet

Chopin's second waltz in D-flat major is one of the most beloved works in the Romantic canon, and Allan Small's arrangement makes it genuinely accessible without sacrificing the piece's essential character. Late-intermediate students get to inhabit a genuine masterwork, complete with the rubato, pedaling, and interpretive sensitivity that define Romantic keyboard writing.

Elegant, introspective, and deeply expressive; a three-beat journey through contrasting moods that shift from gentle reverie to passionate eloquence. The piece breathes with the unhurried grace of a Romantic-era salon, inviting the performer to shape every phrase as if speaking confidentially to an intimate audience.

Late-intermediate pianists ready to experience an uncompromised masterwork without the technical barriers of the original score. This arrangement opens the door to Romantic repertoire and demands the interpretive maturity that distinguishes accomplished student pianists from merely competent ones.

• Shape the principal melody with the long breath of a vocalist; Chopin himself insisted his music should sing like a bel canto opera.
• Use the pedal to blur harmonies in the left hand, but change it with each chord change to avoid muddying the texture.
• Find the natural rubato in the waltz rhythm; this is not dance music meant for a ballroom floor, but rather a moment of poetic reflection.

Program this as a bridge between classical sonatina work and the full suite of Chopin's keyboard music. It works beautifully in a recital that pairs classical architecture with Romantic expression, or as a transition piece in a student showcase concert.

• Pedal control and harmonic blending in the left hand
• Singing melody lines with rubato and phrase shaping
• Reading extended harmonies characteristic of Romantic era writing
• Balancing lyrical right-hand expression with rhythmic accompaniment patterns