Étude Op. 10, No. 12 in C minor, known as the "Revolutionary Étude" or the "Étude on the Bombardment of Warsaw", is a solo piano work by

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

written , and the last in his first set, Etudes, Op. 10, dedicated "''à son ami Franz Liszt''" ("to his friend

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

"). The autograph is located in the archive of Stiftelsen Musikkulturens Främjande (The Nydahl Collection) in Stockholm.

History

The 12th Étude appeared around the same time as the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...

in 1831. Upon the conclusion of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

's failed revolution against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, he cried, "All this has caused me much pain. Who could have foreseen it?" Unlike

étude An étude (; ) or study is an instrumental musical composition, usually short, designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapidl ...

s of prior periods, works designed to emphasize and develop particular aspects of musical technique, the

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

études of composers such as Chopin and Liszt are fully developed musical concert pieces, while still continuing the goal of developing stronger technique.

Technique

In the case of Op. 10, No. 12, the technique required in the opening bars is playing long, loud descending runs, which form a

dominant minor ninth chord In music theory, a ninth chord is a chord that encompasses the interval of a ninth when arranged in close position with the root in the bass. Heinrich Schenker and also Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov allowed the substitution of the dominant seventh, ...

introductory build-up to the main

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...

. The length and repetition of these rapid passages are distinctive. The rest of the passage focuses on the left hand fingering

scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number w ...

and

arpeggios A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...

. The opening theme, in the right hand, is notable for its powerful chordal basis. The challenge lies with the relentless left hand

semiquavers Figure 1. A 16th note with stem facing up, a 16th note with stem facing down, and a 16th rest. Figure 2. Four 16th notes beamed together. In music, a 1/16, sixteenth note (American) or semiquaver (British) is a note played for half the dura ...

while the RH shapes widely distributed

octaves In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

into legato melodic shapes. The left hand technique in this piece involves evenly played semiquavers throughout. The structure is in Chopin's usual

ternary form Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form consisting of an opening section (A), a following section (B) and then a repetition of the first section (A). It is usually schematized as A–B–A. Prominent examples includ ...

(A–B–A–coda). The opening arresting figuration transitions into the main '' appassionato''

melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

. The octave melody's upward ascending forte dotted

rhythms Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recur ...

and the continuous tumultuous LH accompaniment provide great drama with few moments of respite. The piece ends by recalling the opening in a final descending sweep (with both hands) descending to an

F major F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consis ...

chord Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

, eventually cadencing on

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

( tierce de Picardie).

In popular culture

Parts of it are heard in The Abbott and Costello Show episode, ''The Music Lover'', aired on March 13, 1953. The étude was used at the beginning of the

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...

short ''

Snowbody Loves Me ''Snowbody Loves Me'' is a 1964 Tom and Jerry short produced and directed by Chuck Jones (third made but fifth released). It contains music from familiar Chopin pieces; notably, the Revolutionary Étude; the Grande Valse Brillante in E-flat ma ...

''. It was adapted (under the title "Rock Revolution") as the theme music to the British game show ''

Interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Vehicles * Interceptor aircraft (or simply "interceptor"), a type of point defense fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft * Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a police car * ...

''. The song is also featured in the 2003 game '' The King of Fighters 2003'', alongside the 2011 game ''Catherine''. In the anime and manga series '' Your Lie in April'', it is performed during a piano competition by the character Takeshi.

References

External links

Mutopia Project
- A public domain engraving of the score using

GNU LilyPond LilyPond is a computer program and file format for music engraving. One of LilyPond's major goals is to produce scores that are engraved with traditional layout rules, reflecting the era when scores were engraved by hand. LilyPond is cross-pla ...

, available in several formats. *
''Op. 10, No. 12''
played by Ignaz Friedman
''Op. 10, No. 12''
played by

Alfred Cortot Alfred Denis Cortot (; 26 September 187715 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his poeti ...

''Op. 10, No. 12''
played by

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

''Op. 10, No. 12''
played by Claudio Arrau
''Op. 10, No. 12''
played by Vladimir Horowitz
''Op. 10, No. 12''
played by Sviatoslav Richter
''Op. 10, No. 12''
played by

Tamás Vásáry Tamás Vásáry (; born 11 August 1933) is a Hungarian concert pianist and conductor. Biography and career Vásáry was born in Debrecen, Hungary, and made his stage debut at the age of 8, performing Mozart's Piano Concerto in D major, K.107 ...

''Op. 10, No. 12''
played by Adam Harasiewicz
''Op. 10, No. 12''
played by

Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович Ашкена́зи, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is an internationally recognized solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. He ...

''Op. 10, No. 12''
played by

Maurizio Pollini Maurizio Pollini (born 5 January 1942) is an Italian pianist. He is known for performances of compositions by Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy, among others. He has also championed and performed works by contemporary composers such as Pierre Boulez ...

''Chopin-Godowsky - Etude op. 10, No. 12''
played by

Francesco Libetta Francesco Libetta (born 16 October 1968) is an Italian pianist, composer and conductor. Biography Born in Galatone, Southern Italy, Francesco Libetta studied music in Italy (piano with Vittoria De Donno; contrapoint with Cosimo Colazzo and ...

(YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Etude Op. 10, No. 12 (Chopin) 10 12 November Uprising 1831 compositions Compositions in C minor