The Études 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 Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

are three sets of

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

s (solo studies) for the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

published during the 1830s. There are twenty-seven compositions overall, comprising two separate collections of twelve, numbered Op. 10 and Op. 25, and a set of three without opus number.

History

Composition

Chopin's Études formed the foundation for what was then a revolutionary playing style for the piano. They are some of the most challenging and evocative pieces of all the works in concert piano repertoire. Because of this, the music remains popular and often performed in both concert and private stages. Some are so popular they have been given nicknames; among the most popular are Op. 10, No. 3, sometimes identified by the names ''Tristesse'' ("Sadness") or "Farewell" (''L'Adieu''), as well as the "Revolutionary Étude" ( Op. 10, No. 12), “Black Keys” ( Op. 10, No. 5), and "Winter Wind" ( Op. 25, No. 11). No nicknames are of Chopin's original creation. All twenty-seven études were published during Chopin's lifetime; Op. 10, the first group of twelve, were composed between 1829 and 1832, and were published in 1833, in France, Germany, and England. The twelve études of Op. 25 were composed at various times between 1832 and 1835, and were published in the same countries in 1837. The final three, part of a series called compiled by

Ignaz Moscheles Isaac Ignaz Moscheles (; 23 May 179410 March 1870) was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer. He was based initially in London and later at Leipzig, where he joined his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as professor of piano in the Co ...

and

François-Joseph Fétis François-Joseph Fétis (; 25 March 1784 – 26 March 1871) was a Belgian musicologist, critic, teacher and composer. He was among the most influential music intellectuals in continental Europe. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the ...

, were composed in 1839, without an assigned opus number. They appeared in Germany and France in November 1840, and England in January 1841. Accompanying copies of these important early editions, there are usually several manuscripts of a single étude in Chopin's own hand, and additional copies made by his close friend, Jules Fontana, along with editions of

Karol Mikuli Karol Mikuli, also known as Charles Mikuli ( or Կարոլ Պստիկյան; 22 October 1821 – 21 May 1897) was a Polish pianist, composer, conductor and teacher. His students included Moriz Rosenthal, Raoul Koczalski, Aleksander Michałows ...

, Chopin's student. The first études of the Opus 10 set were written when Chopin was a teenager. They rank alongside the early works of

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

as rare examples of extremely youthful compositions that are regarded as both innovative and worthy of inclusion in the standard canon. Chopin's études elevated the musical form from purely utilitarian exercises to great artistic masterpieces.

Impact

Although sets of exercises for piano had been common from the end of the 18th century (

Muzio Clementi Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian-British composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor (music), conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer, who was mostly ac ...

Johann Baptist Cramer Johann (sometimes John) Baptist Cramer (24 February 1771 – 16 April 1858) was an English pianist, composer and music publisher of German origin, born in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the son of Wilhelm Cramer, a famous London violinist and con ...

, and

Carl Czerny Carl Czerny (; ; 21 February 1791 – 15 July 1857) was an Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist of Czech origin whose music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works an ...

were composers of the most significant), Chopin's Études not only presented an entirely new set of technical challenges, but were the first to become a regular part of the concert repertoire. His études combine musical substance and technical challenge to form a complete artistic form. They are often held in high regard as the product of mastery of combining the two. His effect on contemporaries such as

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

was apparent, based on the revision Liszt made to his series of concert études after meeting Chopin. Other great composers after him, such as

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

, and

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

, wrote études in the same style as Chopin's. Contemporary Polish musicologist Tadeusz A. Zieliński wrote, on Op. 10, that "not only did they become an orderly demonstration of a new piano style and the formulas peculiar to it, but also an artistic ennoblement of this style." Chopin's Études are not without modern influence as well. Several of the études have lodged themselves in popular music, movies, or television shows.

List of Études

Études Op. 10

The first set of Études was published in 1833 (although some had been written as early as 1829). Chopin was twenty-three years old and already famous as a composer and pianist in the salons of Paris, where he made the acquaintance of

. Subsequently, Chopin dedicated the entire opus to him – "" (to my friend, Franz Liszt). The etudes 8, 9, 10 and 11 date from October/November 1829, nos. 5 and 6 probably from summer 1830, nos. 1 and 2 from November 2, 1830, no. 12 from September 1831 (?), no. 7 from spring 1832, no. 4 from August 6, 1832, and no. 3 from August 25, 1832 (Paris) (

Krystyna Kobylańska Krystyna Kobylańska (6 August 1925 in Brześć, Poland – 30 January 2009 in Milanówek, Poland) was a Polish musicologist, and former curator of the Fryderyk Chopin Society Museum in Warsaw. In 1977 (revised and translated to German in 1979) ...

Études Op. 25

Chopin's second set of Études was published in 1837, and dedicated to Franz Liszt's mistress,

Marie d'Agoult Marie Catherine Sophie, Comtesse d'Agoult (born de Flavigny; 31 December 18055 March 1876), was a French romanticism, romantic author and historian, known also by her pen name, Daniel Stern. Life Marie was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, w ...

, the reasons for which are a matter of speculation. The date of composition of all opus 25 Etudes is before June 30, 1835, the date of a contract between Chopin and

Breitkopf & Hartel Breitkopf may refer to: * Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf, (1695-1777) founder of Breitkopf & Härtel * Johann Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf, (1719-1794) son of Bernhard Cristoph Breitkopf * Michael Breitkopf, member of German band Die Toten Hosen * Breit ...

(awarding the publisher the rights for Germany) (Krystyna Kobylanska).

Trois nouvelles études Frédéric Chopin wrote his ''Trois nouvelles études'' ("three new studies") for piano in 1839, as a contribution to "Méthode des méthodes de piano", a piano instruction book by Ignaz Moscheles and François-Joseph Fétis. These études are ...

'' were written in 1839 as a contribution to , a piano instruction book by

and

, and were not given a separate

opus number In music, the opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a musical composition, or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's publication of that work. Opus numbers are used to distinguish among ...

. While less technically brilliant than those of Op. 10 and 25, these three études nevertheless retain Chopin's original formula for harmonic and structural balance.

Technical aspects and student guides

Chopin's ''Études'' are technically demanding, and require players to have significant experience with speed,

arpeggio An arpeggio () is a type of Chord (music), chord in which the Musical note, notes that compose a chord are individually sounded in a progressive rising or descending order. Arpeggios on keyboard instruments may be called rolled chords. Arpe ...

s, and trills even in weaker fingers. For all études * Casella, Alfredo. ''F. Chopin. Studi per pianoforte''. Milano: Edizioni Curci, 1946. * Cortot, Alfred. ''Frédéric Chopin. 12 Études, op. 10''. Édition de travail des oeuvres de Chopin. Paris: Éditions Salabert, 1915. * Cortot, Alfred. ''Frédéric Chopin. 12 Études, op. 25''. Édition de travail des oeuvres de Chopin. Paris: Éditions Salabert, 1915. * Galston, Gottfried. ''Studienbuch'' tudy Book III. Abend rd Recital(Frédéric Chopin). Berlin: Bruno Cassirer, 1910. For selected études * Busoni, Ferruccio. ''Klavierübung in zehn Büchern'' iano Tutorial in Ten Books zweite umgestaltete und bereicherte Ausgabe. Buch 8 (Variationen und Varianten nach Chopin). Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1925. * Godowsky, Leopold. ''Studien über die Etüden von Chopin'' (Studies on Chopin's Etudes). New York: G. Schirmer Inc., 1899 (Berlin: Schlesinger'sche Buch- und Musikhandlung, 1903). * Joseffy, Rafael. ''Etudes for the Piano''. Instructive Edition. New York: G. Schirmer, 1901.

Paraphrases

* Godowsky, Leopold. ''53 Studies on Chopin's Études''. New York: G. Schirmer Inc., 1899 (Berlin: Schlesinger'sche Buch- und Musikhandlung, 1903). * Wührer, Friedrich. ''Achtzehn Studien zu Frédéric Chopins Etuden'' ic 8 Studies on Chopin's Études In Motu Contrario

n Contrary Motion N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

Heidelberg: Willy Müller, Süddeutscher Musikverlag, 1958.

References

External links

Analysis and scores]
Études Op. 10Études Op. 25
a
Chopin Online

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

*
Free scores of the Etudes at Mutopia ProjectHans von Bülow's edition of the Études, Opp. 10 and 25
(Munich: J. Aibl, 1880) From Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection * Find entries on select Études and listen to on-demand performances a
''The Chopin Project''
site Performances * ,

Claudio Arrau Claudio Arrau León (; February 6, 1903June 9, 1991) was a Chilean and American pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning the baroque music, baroque to 20th-century classical music, 20th-century composers, especially B ...

* ,

Shura Cherkassky Shura Cherkassky (; 7 October 1909 – 27 December 1995) was a Russian-American concert pianist known for his performances of the romantic repertoire. His playing was characterized by a virtuoso technique and singing piano tone. For much of h ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Etudes (Chopin) 1833 compositions 1837 compositions Music dedicated to family or friends