Étude Op. 25, No. 10, in

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: Changes need ...

is a solo

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 ...

study composed 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 ...

in 1835.

Structure

''Étude Op. 25, No. 10'' features many unique aspects not typically present in Chopin's ''études'', including a significant and distinctive

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 inclu ...

. The first theme is presented as a series of

eighth note 180px, Figure 1. An eighth note with stem extending up, an eighth note with stem extending down, and an eighth rest. 180px, Figure 2. Four eighth notes beamed together. An eighth note ( American) or a quaver ( British) is a musical note pla ...

- tuplets in cut time, but not in time, played at a very fast tempo of '' Allegro''. The second theme is in

's parallel major, B major, and in

triple metre Triple metre (or Am. triple meter, also known as triple time) is a musical metre characterized by a ''primary'' division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 (simple) or 9 ( compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with , a ...

. 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 In grammar, a phrasecalled expression in some contextsis a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English language, English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adject ...

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''.Palmer, W: Chopin Etudes for the Piano, page 108. Alfred Publishing Co., Inc., 1992

Structure

Notes

External links