Description
The opening study of Op. 10, from the early 1830s. Chopin's études were decisively new in that, where earlier studies existed only to train the fingers, these achieve a technical objective and a finished musical work at the same time. This first one stands almost as the declaration of that principle.
In C major and common time, the right hand runs up and down widely spread broken chords from one end of the keyboard to the other, while the left does no more than place the harmonic frame in octaves beneath. The span reaches seven octaves, and the right hand stays open almost throughout.
The task is explicit: extension and travel in the right hand. Moving fast with the hand held open, any excess effort exhausts it within a few bars. Keep the distance between thumb and fifth finger and let the whole arm carry the position. Ahead of speed comes checking by ear that every note sounds at the same volume. Listening to the harmonic changes is what raises the study into music.
A collection of études by various composers, including Chopin's famous "Revolutionary" Étude, designed to build finger independence and expressive technique.
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Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Frederic Chopin was born in Poland and made his career in Paris, remaining unusual among great composers for writing almost exclusively for piano. He poured his longing for his homeland into mazurkas and polonaises, while his ballades and etudes combine poetic melody with harmonic innovation. This site includes the "Revolutionary" and other etudes, Ballades No. 1 and No. 4, nocturnes, and the Preludes, Op. 28.
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