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The etudes

No. 1 in A-flat major

Excerpt from the Étude Op. 25, No. 1

Étude Op. 25, No. in A-flat major is a solo piano work composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1836, and published in 1837. Its romanticized names are "Aeolian Harp," for Schumann's description of it, and "The Shepherd Boy," for Chopin's advice to a pupil to picture a shepherd boy refuging in a grotto to avoid a storm playing the melody on his flute. This work consists entirely of rapid arpeggios and harmonic modulations based on A-flat major. Robert Schumann famously praised this work in a dissertation on the Études. Stating that the arpeggios were "fantastic", and the melody "wondrous", Schumann coined the alternate name "Aeolian Harp" for this étude.

This étude comprises a right-hand melody and supportive bass line, the accompaniment consisting of broken chords, provided by the inner voices of both hands, usually in semiquaver-tuplets. The left hand introduces polyrhythyms from time to time. The principal melody is presented by the fifth finger of the right hand, falling on the first note of each group of sextuplets, with occasional counter-melodies provided by the inner voices.

The distinctive theme is presented in A-flat major. Through metamorphic modulations to closely related keys, it eventually arrives at a brief episode in the remote key of A major, but culminates with an intense climax in the home key, and a momentary reference to the original thematic material, which flows easily into the coda.

As a technical work, this piece requires considerable dexterity and velocity if played at the appropriate tempo. It also requires exceptional delicacy of touch and makes great demands on both hands in terms of spreading the fingers to accommodate very wide ranging arpeggios. The inner voice figures consist of repeated figures of arpeggiated chords. One difficulty this étude presents is the voicing of the inner counter-melodies. Schumann once commented on Chopin's subtle emphasis on certain melodies throughout this piece.

No. 2 in F minor

Excerpt from the beginning of the Étude Op. 25 No. 2

Étude Op. 25, No. 2, in F minor, is an étude composed by Frédéric Chopin. It is based on a polyrhythm, with pairs of eighth-note (quaver) triplets in the right hand against quarter-note (crotchet) triplets in the left. The étude is sometimes known as "The Bees".

No. 3 in F major

Excerpt from the beginning of the Étude Op. 25 No. 3

Étude Op. 25, No. 3, in F major, is a technical study composed by Frédéric Chopin. The romanticized nickname of this piece (not given by Chopin, who thought that idea was repulsive) is "The Horseman" or "The Knight", probably because of its "galloping" style. It is mostly a study in rhythm. The study has four different voices that must be brought out by the performer. The technical figure consists of lateral movements of the hand that must be played with flourish and refinement.

No. 4 in A minor

Excerpt from the beginning of the Étude Op. 25 No. 4

Étude Op. 25, No. 4 in A minor is a technical study composed by Frédéric Chopin. It is marked Agitato at the head. The technique explored in this piece is the performance of off-beat staccato chords set against a regular on-beat bass. This is an example of syncopation. The left hand leaps intervals of up to a tenth (octave plus a third) between the bass and the lowest note of the following chord (and back): this requires a very strong left hand 5th finger. Very often, the performer is required to hold the uppermost note of the right hand in legato while continuing to play the rest of the chord in that hand (and in the left hand) as staccato: this requires a very strong right hand 5th finger. The ending is marked Lento and pianissimo and the chords are all on beat in stark contrast with the rest of the piece.

No. 5 in E minor

Excerpt from the beginning of the Étude Op. 25, No. 5

Étude Op. 25, No. 5, in E minor, is a technical study composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1837. Marking a serious departure in the expected technique developed previously, Chopin wrote this étude with a series of quick minor seconds that produce slightly dissonant sounds. The effect has earned the étude the nickname "Wrong Note".

After the first theme of 'minor seconds' closes, Chopin introduces a Più Lento section in which a new melody is played in the parallel key, E major. This section is played consonantly, without dismelodious sounds such as the minor second. The final section of the piece starts with a recapitulation of the first theme, with climaxes in a coda played in E Major.

The second section is marked as Più Lento (It. More Slow) despite Chopin's metronome mark of ♩=168, a very quick tempo.

Étude Op. 25, No. 5 features an unusual overall structure, surrounding a major second theme, with the minor main theme. This idea appears only one other time in Chopin's set, in Étude Op. 25, No. 10. Styling the études in this fashion further emphasizes Chopin's deviation from the standard set before him by composers such as Carl Czerny. Both are structured much like the sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven, in which Beethoven set apart three movements in this same structure.

No. 6 in G-sharp minor

Excerpt from the beginning of the Étude Op. 25 No. 6

Étude Op. 25, No. 6, in G-sharp minor, is a technical study composed by Frédéric Chopin focusing on thirds, trilling them at a high speed. At one point, both hands play a chromatic-third scale. One of the most difficult études by Chopin, it is also one of the more lyrical of Op.25.

No. 7 in C-sharp minor

Beginning of the Étude Op. 25, No. 7

Étude Op. 25, No. 7 in C-sharp minor is a solo piano technical study composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1834. Markedly different from Chopin's overall scheme of technical virtuosity, this étude focuses instead on perfect sound and phrasing, particularly for the left hand.

Étude Op. 25, No. 7 is alternatively known as the "Cello" due to the prominent melody played in the left hand. It is at a Lento tempo, 66 BPM according to the German first edition. Excepting measures 26, 27, and 52, which contain a rapid passage for the left hand, the étude is very straightforward and elementary in rhythm, but not in harmony. The theme is repeated four times throughout the piece, interspersed between are modulated variations of other melodies and cadences.

No. 8 in D-flat major

Excerpt from the beginning of the Étude Op. 25 No. 8

Étude Op. 25, No. 8, in D-flat major, is a technical piano study composed by Frédéric Chopin.

No. 9 in G-flat minor

Excerpt from the beginning of the Étude Op. 25 No. 9

Étude Op. 25, No. 9, in G-flat major, "Butterfly" is an étude by Frédéric Chopin.

Étude Op. 25, No. 9 is a study of staccato - marcato alternations, marked throughout the piece. It is the shortest of the twenty-four, and lasts under a minute played at the indicated tempo. The melody is created by playing a detached octave, then two non-detached octaves. This makes a four-note group, the structure of which is used during the whole piece to convey the melody. This structure of rapid octaves can pose a challenge to the less technically experienced. Another difficulty is in the constant switching of solid octaves to detached octaves. It is much more straightforward to simply play one or the other for the whole piece.

No. 10 in B minor

Excerpt from the Étude Op. 25, No. 10

Étude Op. 25, No. 10 in B minor is a solo piano study in B minor, composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1835.

Étude Op. 25, No. 10 features many unique aspects not present in most Chopin's études, including a significant and distinctive ternary form. The first theme is presented as a series of eighth note-tuplets in cut time, played at a very fast rate of Allegro. The second theme is in B minor's parallel major, B major, and in triple metre. The second theme is repeated four times, and develops into a variation of the first theme, returning to cut time and B minor.

Copious pedal point notes and phrase markings are present in the second theme, but the entire étude lacks any pedal indications. Similar to the Op. 10, No. 4 étude, Chopin emphasizes legato playing through the phrasing and (lack of) pedal marking. Throughout the entire work, Chopin marks only five dynamic markings; the entire first theme is to be played forte to fortissimo, and the whole second theme is piano.

No. 11 in A minor

Excerpt from the Étude Op. 25, No. 11

Étude Op. 25, No. 11, in A minor, is a solo piano technical study composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1836. It was first published together with all études of Opus 25 in 1837, in France, Germany, and England. The first French edition indicates a common time time signature, but the manuscript and the first German edition both feature cut time. The first four bars that characterize the melody were added just before publication at the advice of Charles A. Hoffmann, a friend.

The characteristic semiquaver-tuplets that make up most of this étude.

Étude Op. 25, No. 11 is a study for developing stamina, dexterity, and technique - essential skills for any concert pianist. It begins with a piano introduction of the main melody. The first theme follows, consisting of tumultuous cascades of semiquaver-tuplets (sixteenth-note-tuplets) and a leaping figure for the left hand in the relative major, C major, which shortly segues into a repetition of the first theme. It finishes with a short development into a fortissimo coda, and ends with one final statement of the theme.

Étude Op. 25, No. 11 is an epic study of right hand dexterity and left hand flexibility. Both hands play an important role throughout the piece; the melody is sung through the heavy left hand, and the right hand contributes the étude's namesake with rapid scales and arpeggios. This study must be navigated with polyphonic mindset, treating both hands as separate melodies that work together, in a duet for one performer.

One dissertation stresses the importance of implied melodic structure throughout the right-hand figures. Meaning, the following passage (measure 10, 11):

Should be played thus:

accentuating those notes indicated by additional quaver (eighth note) tails. This serves to emphasize the underlying quartal rhythm to further accentuate the march-like theme of the left-hand. Although this analysis may be sound, the performance of this without the aforementioned implications detracts nothing from the rhythmic undulations of the chromatic scales. Abby Whiteside agreed with this subdivision, calling them "tonal patterns which have to be solved before this Etude is playable." Citing her usual procedures of promoting arm strength, she emphasized two key points exemplified by this étude: "notewise procedure does not further bravura playing" and "finger technique is simply not adequate for brilliance and speed." Her dissertation states that this work is impossible without the aforementioned subdivision, and simultaneously advocates her arm technique.

No. 12 in C minor

Excerpt from the Étude Op. 25, No. 12

Étude Op. 25, No. 12 in C minor is the last of Frédéric Chopin's formal studies for the Piano, opus 25, dedicated À Madame la Comtesse d'Agoult. It was first published in 1837 in French, German, and English. In the first French edition, the time signature is 4/4, but most modern editions follow the manuscript and German editions, which indicate cut time. This work is a series of rising and falling arpeggios in various Chord progressions from C minor. In addition, its opening bars recall the chord structure of the opening bars of the second prelude of the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach.

The entire work, except the coda, consists wholly of semiquaver (sixteenth note) arpeggios, spanning large lengths of the keyboard in the space of one bar. The initial theme is expounded upon and changes to many different keys. The climax resolves to C major, and the piece ends in a broad arpeggio crossing five octaves.

External links

• Analysis of Chopin Etudes at Chopin: the poet of the piano
• Études Op. 25: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Sheet music available in .pdf or LilyPond format, from Mutopia.