Minute Waltz

The "Waltz in D flat major", opus 64, No. 1, popularly known as the "Minute Waltz" is a waltz for solo piano by Frédéric Chopin.

The piece is given the tempo marking "Molto vivace". He wrote it in 1847 and published it in Leipzig the same year, as the first of the opus 64 Trois Valses, dedicating it to "To Mme. la Comtesse Delphine Potocka". Since the second waltz is in the key of C-sharp minor, the "Minute" waltz contrasts by being in the enharmonic parallel major key (D-flat major).

Despite its nickname, a typical performance of the work will last between one and a half and two and a half minutes; this is because Chopin's publisher, who coined the nickname, intended the "minute" to mean "small"^{[citation needed]}. The piece is a total of 140 measures long if repeats are included, and thus the waltz must be played at 420 quarter notes per minute in order to finish the piece in one minute, and attempting to play the piece as fast as possible is still a feat some pianists attempt. The waltz, though considered by many to be brilliant, is not grand or long. It is more playful than many of the other waltzes. Camille Bourniquel, one of Chopin's biographers, reminds the reader that Chopin, with this waltz, was trying to depict a dog chasing its tail; indeed, Chopin originally named the piece "Petit chien" (Little Dog).

The opening section of the Minute Waltz

Minute Waltz in popular culture

• The piece is used as the theme tune to the BBC radio show Just a Minute.
• It was used to comic effect in the 1955 Warner Brothers cartoon "Hyde and Hare", in which Bugs Bunny refers to it as the "my-NOOT Waltz by Choppin".
• Doctor Doom, the Marvel Comics villain, once atomized his personal orchestra after they failed to perform the Minute Waltz in exactly one minute.
• Ventriloquist Shari Lewis added lyrics to the waltz as part of her repertoire. To show off her abilities, Lewis and her puppet Lamb Chop would take turns singing the lines in rapid succession with the goal of finishing the song in a minute's time.
• Barbra Streisand also did a similar Minute Waltz song from her 1966 special "Color Me Barbra", in which she tried to finish the waltz in exactly one minute. Lan O'Kun wrote specialty lyrics to the tune, which Streisand sang.^[1]
• The Minute Waltz can also be heard playing in the 1969 film, "The Desperados", during a scene in which Jack Palance and his son, George Maharis team up to murder the wife of Vince Edwards and kidnap his son.
• It appears in an episode of I Dream of Jeannie, where it is played in less than a minute.
• Victor Borge and his musical side kick, Leonid Hambro, performed the waltz with two pianos and a single piano stool on which they sat back to back.
• This piece was featured in episode four of the anime series Kiniro no Corda, performed by character Ryoutarou Tsuchiura.
• The middle excerpt of this piece was played by the young Chopin in the fictionalised movie A Song to Remember.
• A portion of the waltz is played in the opening sequence of the Olsen Twins film It Takes Two (1995 film) [1].
• In Episode 64 ("Food, Lies and Videotape") of the television show Family Matters, when Eddie Winslow discovers Waldo's cooking ability for the first time, the Minute Waltz is heard.
• Fictional character Olga Pataki from the Hey Arnold! TV series is able to play the waltz in one exact minute.
• This piece was used in the PlayStation 3 version of the video game, "Eternal Sonata".
• In American television comedy/drama "Desperate Housewives", Betty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard) plays the opening of the piece in episode 31 ("The sun won't set").
• In the game MySims Kingdom, if you unlock and play the piano, Minute Waltz can be heard.

Media

	Valse in D-flat major "Minute Waltz" - Op. 64 No. 1 Muriel Nguyen Xuan Valse in D-flat major "Minute Waltz" - Op. 64 No. 1 performed by Peter Gerwinski
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

References

External links

Sheet Music

• Minute Waltz: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.
• Minute Waltz sheet music available at Musopen.com
• Quatre Mains version for Piano Duet.

Audio

• Free recording of Minute Waltz