Chopin Waltz in B Minor Amplified
Perspectives for Adult Piano Students

Catherine Shefski’s Recording of the Chopin Waltz in B Minor for the Go Play Project
Two weeks after my mother died in September 2012, I decided on this music for my Go Play Project, for which I was recording one piece of classical piano music a week throughout the year. I chose the waltz because it was easy, and I’d played it many times as a teen. It wasn’t necessary to practice it much before recording.
That Sunday evening, as I first practiced and then recorded the waltz, every note seemed to me to be full of memories and meaning. I noticed a heightened sense of awareness while I was recording, a sense of being present and engaged in the moment. Perhaps that was because I hadn’t played the piece in a few years, or maybe it was because I was in a fragile emotional state. I’m not exactly sure.
But I do know that sense of awareness, of being fully present, has been my main goal during my practice sessions ever since. I’m sure I’ll associate that particular waltz with my mother from now on.
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The Joy of Chopin (Piano Solo). By Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). Edited by Denes Agay. For Piano. Yorktown. Romantic. Softcover. 80 pages. Yorktown Music Press #YK20998. Published by Yorktown Music Press (HL.14001232)…more info |