Classical Music | Piano Music

Frédéric Chopin

Scherzo No. 2 in b-flat minor, Op. 31  Play

Victor Goldberg Piano

Recorded on 11/23/2011, uploaded on 04/13/2012

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

A quintessential Romantic composer, Robert Schumann's initial reaction to Chopin’s music was "Hats off, gentlemen, a genius." Chopin composed four of his greatest creations under the name scherzo, a word that means “joke.” However, the scherzi are epics among Chopin’s works, each of an unmatched instrumental brilliance. Schumann compared it to a poem by Byron, “so overflowing with tenderness, boldness, love, and contempt.” For Chopin, the soft sotto voce opening was a question, and the second louder phrase – the answer. The following gorgeous lyrical melody is repeated three times throughout the piece, the last time bringing us to the coda in a magnificent key change. The middle section is filled with longing.      Victor Goldberg