At age 21 in September of 1831,
Frederic Chopin decided that Vienna was not for him, so he boarded the stagecoach for Paris to try his luck. Poland’s luck turned sour that month: the Russians crushed the rebellion. Fred entered a string of obscenities in the Polish language diary he secretly kept to the end of his days. His anger and his fear for his family’s safety produced this amazing early masterpiece. The rage is palpable, and the middle section of the scherzo, known as a “trio”, provides only a short sense of peace. I tried this piece as a teenager, and I can attest that it is extremely difficult.
Chopin: Scherzo #1 in B minor, Op. 20
