I heard this piece when I was a kid, but only recently got the music and decided to learn it.
Turns out that I love it, but I can't get my head around the speed. It's marked 'Lento', but the metronome mark is 138, which however you look at it, is more like Allegro.

I realise that the Italian terms are a bit subjective, but still...
Looking at the rest of the book, only the posthumous waltzes have metronome marks - but not in brackets as is more usual for editorial suggestions.
The notes at the front say "Play it with a wistful cantabile..." Maybe it's just me, but at 138 crotchets per minute, wistful it ain't!

Anyone have any ideas/suggestions, or should I just stop complaining...?



Like the way I checked all the spelling in the post, but managed walitz in the heading? Idiot...

This waltz is often known as L'Adieu, and was the first one I learned, always a favourite of mine...such a heart rending melody. i would say 138 is a fair bit quicker than I play it, however the second section of the piece is usually played a bit faster, i have three recordings of the waltzes and the tempo of this one is not excactly the same in any of them. I'd be more inclined to observe the Lento than the metronome marking, but that's just me. Though when you listen to it, it sounds more like an andante.

Just timed myself. Works out at 120 crotchets/min