This Waltz was inspired by a dream I had of Chopin and Johann Strauss composing a waltz together. I was sitting at a dining room table, and to my right was Strauss, and to my left was Chopin. I sometimes imagine that this was oddly symbolic, as Chopin was the more democratic of the two, and his challenge was sticking to the rhythm Strauss had outlined, whereas Strauss struggled with the opposite, allowing Chopin to freely change his rhythm. They were not talking with any kind of human voice; they were talking through their own music. To my left I could hear an assortment of Chopin tones speaking as if in some sort of language, and Strauss tones to the right. They were both working on a specific sequence: a waltz in C# minor combining Chopin’s lyricism with Strauss’s powerful waltz rhythms. One of the main things which stood out to me was the difficulty in working together. From listening to the tones, Strauss wanted to ensure that his rhythm was a constant throughout the piece, whereas Chopin wanted to preserve his lyrical intentions. Eventually, they decided to make it so the beginning mostly consisted of Strauss’s rhythms, and another section was Chopin’s vocal lyricism.
Occasionally, I will post videos of my improvisations on YouTube. I keep a playlist of them all here.
Learn about my first album of piano compositions, published in 2018
Published in 2020, this is an album of one-shot, single take improvisations in a classical style.