Frédéric Chopin’s waltzes are pieces of moderate length adhering to the traditional 3/4 waltz time, but are remarkably different from the earlier Viennese waltzes in that they were not designed for dancing but for concert performance. Some of them are accessible by pianists of moderate capabilities, but the more difficult of them require an advanced technique. Carl Maria von Weber's Invitation to the Dance was an early model for Chopin's waltzes.

Chopin started writing waltzes in 1824, when he was fourteen, and continued until the year of his death, 1849.

Probably the most famous is the so-called Minute Waltz in D-flat major of 1847, part of the last set of waltzes Chopin published (Op. 64).

Background

There are thirty-six separate compositions that are of interest to students of the Chopin waltzes.

Chopin published eight waltzes in his lifetime. A further five were published with posthumous opus numbers in the decade following his death, and since then a further seven have been published, without opus numbers. Of these, two are considered doubtful. This brings the total to eighteen canonic waltzes, although often these are not numbered past the first fourteen.

The eighteen waltzes include a piece that was untitled; it is in 3/4 time with the tempo indication Sostenuto, and it has some of the characteristics of a waltz, so it is often (but not universally) catalogued with the waltzes.

In addition, there remain:

• 2 extant waltzes in private hands and unavailable to researchers
• 6 waltzes believed destroyed
• 3 waltzes believed lost
• 5 waltzes of which documentary evidence exists but the MSS are not known to be extant.

List of waltzes by or attributed to Chopin

Series number	Key	Composed	Published	Opus Number	Brown	Kobylańska	Chominski	Dedication	Notes
1	E-flat major	1831–32	1834 (June)	Op. 18	B.62			Laura Horsford	Grande valse brillante; used in Les Sylphides
2	A-flat major	1835	1838	Op. 34/1	B.94			Josefine von Thun-Hohenstein	The three waltzes opus 34 were also published as Grandes valses brillantes, but this title is usually reserved for the Waltz in E-flat major, Op. 18
3	A minor	1834	1838	Op. 34/2	B.64			Baroness C. d'Ivry
4	F major	1838	1838	Op. 34/3	B.118			Mlle. A. d'Eichthal
5	A-flat major	1840	1840	Op. 42	B.131				Grande valse; sometimes called the 2/4 waltz since the main melody sounds as if in 2/4 time against a 3/4 bass.
6	D-flat major	1847	1847	Op. 64/1	B.164/1			Countess Delfina Potocka	Valse du petit chien is the title Chopin gave this waltz, which is popularly known as Minute Waltz
7	C-sharp minor	1847	1847	Op. 64/2	B.164/2			Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (= Charlotte de Rothschild)	Used in Les Sylphides and Secret
8	A-flat major	1847	1847	Op. 64/3	B.164/3			Countess Katarzyna Branicka (or Bronicka)
9	A-flat major	1835 (24 September)	1852	Op. posth. 69/1	B.95			Charlotte de Rothschild, Mme Peruzzi and Maria Wodzińska	L'adieu
10	B minor	1829	1852	Op. posth. 69/2	B.35			Wilhelm Kolberg
11	G-flat major	1832	1855	Op. posth. 70/1	B.92				Used in Les Sylphides
12	F minor/A-flat major	1841 (June)	1855	Op. posth. 70/2	B.138			Marie de Krudner, Mme. Oury, Élise Gavard & Countess Esterházy
13	D-flat major	1829 (3 October)	1855	Op. posth. 70/3	B.40
14	E minor	1829 (? 1830–35)	1868	-	B.56	KK IVa/15	P1/15
15	E major	1829–30	1871–72	-	B.44	KK IVa/12	P1/12
16	A-flat major	1827–30	1902	-	B.21	KK IVa/13	P1/13	Emily Elsner
17	E-flat major	1827–30	1902	-	B.46	KK IVa/14	P1/14	Emily Elsner	Spurious
18	E-flat major	1840	1955	-	B.133	KK IVb/10		Émile Gaillard	Headed "Sostenuto"; not always classified as a waltz
19	A minor	1847–49	1955, 1958	-	B.150	KK IVb/11	P2/11		Unedited edition pub. Paris 1955; ed. Jack Werner 1958
20	F-sharp minor	1838 (?)	1932	-		KK Ib/7	A1/7		Valse mélancolique; spurious
-	C major	1824 (?)	-	-		KK Vb/8			Lost
-	A minor	1824	-	-	-	KK Vf		Countess Lubienska	Lost
-	C major	1826	-	-		KK Vb/3			MS destroyed; copy of first line made by Chopin's sister Ludwika is extant
-	A-flat major	1827	-	-		KK Vb/4			MS destroyed; copy of first line made by Chopin's sister Ludwika is extant
-	D minor	1828	-	-		KK Vb/6			La Partenza; MS destroyed; copy of first line made by Chopin's sister Ludwika is extant
-	A minor	1829	-	-					Discovered 1937; was in possession of H. Hinterberger of Vienna, but now believed destroyed
-	A minor	1829 (?)	-	-	-	-			Sketches for a brief prelude and main theme
-	A-flat major	1829–30 (by 21 December 1830)	-	-		KK Vb/5			Mentioned in a letter from Chopin to his family, 21 December 1830; MS destroyed; copy of first line made by Chopin's sister Ludwika is extant
-	E-flat major	1829–30	-	-		KK Vb/7			MS destroyed; copy of first line made by Chopin's sister Ludwika is extant
-	C major	1831	-	-					MS destroyed; copy of first line made by Chopin's sister Ludwika is extant
-	?	1845 (by)	-	-	-	KK Ve/12			Mentioned in diary of L. Niedźwiecki
-	B major	1848 (12 October)	-	-	B.166	KK Va/3		Mrs Erskine	MS in private hands and unavailable
-	B-flat major	1849	-	-					Discovered 1952; in possession of Arthur Hedley
-	E-flat major	1829-30	-	-		KK Vb/7			Mentioned in letters from Breitkopf to Izabela Barcińska in 1878
-	?	?	-	-	-	KK Ve/10			Listed in auction catalogue, Paris, March 1906
-	?	?	-	-	-	KK Ve/11			Mentioned in letters from Breitkopf to Izabela Barcińska in 1878
-	?	?	-	-	-	KK Vf			Several waltzes; lost