Please Help Me Name an Unknown Piece!

Hello everyone ,

I'm new here but I hope you can help me. I have been trying to find the name of a piece of music I heard as a teenager. I am pretty sure it was by Chopin (it sounds like his work to me...) but I could be wrong. It was in the key of D flat major. The unusual thing about this piece is the rhythm. The right hand was in 3/4 time, while the left hand was in 4/4 (or was it 2/4? I can't be sure!!). It wasn't very long, only about 2 minutes, and there was a key change in the middle to E major (I think...). It was beautiful. If this rings a bell to anyone out there, I would LOVE some help!!! I really want to learn this piece. Thanks so much!

Valerie

 

That is surely the Fantaisie Impromptu Op.66, one of Chopin's most popular pieces. Once you get the hang of the 3-against-4 it is not too difficult to play.

 

It could also be the raindrop prelude Op 28 No 15, because it begins in D flat major and changes to E major. Although it doesn't explain the rhythm. The fantasy impromptu is initially in C sharp Minor then changes to D flat major i think. Though both of these pieces are far longer than a couple of minutes. Perhaps the minute waltz, which is in D flat but has no key change. Does the piece sound very fast?

 

Some facts speak against the FI op. 66 and also against the prelude 28/15. Maybe only the middle part of FI is meant, it is in the key of D flat major, but there are only some spots with crossrhythm.

Maybe the first Nouvelle Etude, it has crossrhythm 3 right hand against 4 left hand (as opposite to the FI - there it is vice versa!), and is that short. However it is f minor and not D flat major :roll:

Pianolady23, you could listen to all of them, the FI, the prelude, the nouvelle etude - they are all available here, so why not check it out.

 

The second Nouvelle Etude also is 3 in the right hand against 2 in the left, or 6 against 4. In A-flat Major, with no key change.

I was just playing the 4th movement of the 3rd Sonata, in B Minor, which has a section with 3 in the right against 4 in the left. I have to practice the hands separately for stuff like that, and then throw them together at a semi-fast tempo once I'm intimately familiar with each hand.

And then there's the Prelude in F-sharp Minor, 28/2, which is 8 in the right against 6 in the left (essentially 4 against 3). This is definitely one of the most difficult Chopin pieces of similar length, if not the most difficult.

A length of 2 minutes or so would suggest a Prelude or an Etude, but I just can't think of any in D-flat Major with that particular rhythm, or anything similar.

 

thanks for the help

I am quite familiar with the Raindrop Prelude and Fantasy Impromptu - they are some of my favourite pieces (though I can't play the Fantasy yet). I knew it wasn't either of them. I will check out the other pieces and see if they are what I had in mind. Perhaps I've got the key wrong (rare for me, but not impossible!). Thanks guys!

 

AHA!!

Found it! It was the second Nouvelle Etude. I had no idea I had the key wrong....I was SO SURE it was D flat. Weird!! Oh well, at least now I can learn it. Thanks for your help!

Valerie

 

You are most welcome.