No.10 Tendre Fleur
Description
How beautifully can one sing at a quiet dynamic? That is the question "Tender Flower", the tenth study of Op. 100, asks. Placed directly after the vigour of "The Hunt," it shows how deliberately the set is ordered by contrast of volume and character.
The melody often thickens into double notes and moves gently while holding that soft weight. The D major, common-time writing is unhurried and sparse — around 270 notes in under forty seconds — and it stays within four octaves of the middle register, with no large leaps.
The study is about the quality of soft playing. A quiet note produced by merely relaxing loses its core and drops out of the line. Learning to take the key all the way to the bottom while slowing only the speed of the descent is what lets a melody carry at a whisper. And do not throw away the ends of phrases: support the sound through to the final note.
A set of beginner études by Burgmüller, each bearing an evocative title, offering a classic way to develop technique and musical expression together.
Browse all songs in 25 Easy and Progressive Studies Op.100 →Sheet Music
Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
What this piece teaches
"Tender Flower." A string of two-note slurs: the first note a little heavier, the second released lightly.
How to practise it
- Let the wrist rise a little as you release the second note, and it will lighten by itself.
- In slurred chords, listen that every note is released together.
About the Composer
Johann Friedrich Franz Burgmüller (1806-1874)
Johann Friedrich Franz Burgmuller was born in Germany and spent much of his career in Paris, where he composed the ballet La Peri. He is best remembered today for his pedagogical piano collections, especially the 25 Etudes faciles et progressives, Op. 100, whose accessible, tuneful pieces remain popular with beginning pianists. This site includes Nos. 1 to 18 of the 25 Etudes, Op. 100, beginning with "La Candeur" and "Arabesque."
View all works by Burgmüller →