The Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 31 was composed and published in 1837. Schumann compared this scherzo to a Byronic poem, "so overflowing with tenderness, boldness, love and contempt." The renowned sotto voce opening was a question and the second phrase the answer. For Chopin it was never questioning enough, never soft enough, never vaulted enough. It must be a charnel-house. In popular culture, the piece is heard in the Woody Woodpecker episode "Musical Moments."
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