One of Chopin’s most radical compositions, the Scherzo in b minor, leaves very few listeners untouched. The main part, which is wild and full of brutal dissonances, frames an intimate Trio in which Chopin transcribes a Polish song for the piano with a magic touch.

According to legend, the work was composed at the end of 1830 in Vienna, when Chopin had just left his homeland for good. The November uprising had broken out in Warsaw, and the composer alternated between wanting to revolt against ...