Waltz in B flat minor "Appoggiatura"

With this waltz I return to the form that I initially used when I started writing music in 1979. So this waltz, dating from 2024, was written 45 years after my first waltz, the F-sharp minor waltz. This B-flat minor waltz is a study of the appoggiatura, a non-chord note (i.e., a “wrong” note) that is accented, and then resolves quickly to a chord tone. Opening with a triplet, the initial descending phrase employs appoggiaturas, which are quickly answered by a Chopin-esque series of jumps in the melody. Once this phrase is repeated, it is answered by a phrase in the subdominant (E-flat minor) which is arpeggiated upward, providing a musical contrast. After pivoting on the dominant chord (F7), the initial phrase begins again with its opening triplet, only this time it is an octave lower and the appoggiatura phrase climbs upward instead of descending. Similarly, the answering phrase in E-flat minor is arpeggiated downward, completing the contrast. A quick modulation into G-flat Major introduces the brief, lyrical middle section, which offers some leaps and chromatic chords which meander back to the opening triplet. At last, we are back at the beginning, only this time the opening descending phrase appears again but is not repeated. Instead, it is followed by the ascending appoggiatura phrase. Two brief lyrical phrases, pivoting on the dominant, lead to the end of the piece.
This piece is dedicated to my beautiful wife of almost 30 years, someone who has been my biggest fan and my best friend.