Étude Op. 10, No. 2 (Chopin)
Étude Op. 10, No. 2, in A minor, is a technical study composed by Frédéric Chopin for the piano. It was preceded by a relative major key. Composed in November 1829,[1] it was first published in 1833 in France,[2] Germany,[3] and England.[4] This étude is an exercise in developing the independence of the weaker fingers of the right hand by playing rapid chromatic scale figures with the third, fourth, and fifth fingers of the right hand. Meanwhile, the first two fingers of the right and the left hand play an accompaniment of short intervals and single notes. Chopin indicated the fingering himself note by note for almost 800 notes.[5]
Structure and stylistic traits
The melody consists of rapid chromatic scale figures played by the outer right-hand fingers, accompanied by
Chopin demanded that the chromatic scale be played sempre legato, a direction mentioned seven times throughout the score. This contrasts with the staccato chords played as accompaniment.
A copy by Józef Linowski of Chopin's
Character
Musicologist Hugo Leichtentritt (1874–1951) calls the étude a "moto perpetuo".[10] The transparent texture of nonstop semiquavers accompanied by a light "dancing" bass has its forerunners in Bach's Prelude No. 5 in D major (BWV 850) from the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier and resembles other virtuoso pieces from around 1830 such as Paganini's Moto Perpetuo for violin and piano. In Robert Schumann's substantial 1836 Neue Zeitschrift für Musik article on piano études,[11] all Chopin Études Op. 10 are awarded an asterisk (*) for "poetic character" except No. 2. But Leichtentritt describes its sound effect as the "murmuring and blowing of a gentle wind",[10] French pianist Alfred Cortot (1877–1962) mentions its "gliding and vaporous character"[12] and Alfredo Casella talks about a "character of swift, aerial and unsubstantial mysteriousness".[13] The American music critic James Huneker (1857–1921) writes that "the entire composition, with its murmuring, meandering, chromatic character, is a forerunner to the whispering, weaving, moonlit effects in some of [Chopin's] later studies".[9]
Technical difficulties
The technical novelty of this étude is the chromatic scale to be played by the three outer fingers of the right hand together with short semiquaver notes to be played by the first and second fingers of the same hand and the difficulty is to do this evenly in piano and legato at the required tempo of
Cortot (1877–1962) states that the first difficulty to overcome is the "crossings of the 3rd, 4th and 5th fingers" and the "strain resulting from the continuous action of the said fingers".[16] Preparatory exercises introduced by Cortot, Gottfried Galston (1879–1950)[17] and Casella[13] always commence with the chromatic scale (top voice) alone without the filling voice. Cortot divides the hand into an "active element" and an "accompanying element". He first insists on practicing chromatic scales with the three outer fingers in all permutations. Galston recommends to hold and press a little object with the thumb and index finger while playing the chromatic semiquavers with the other fingers. Cortot recommends the "pizzicato" notes to be "plucked rather than struck" and Casella wittily compares the three outer fingers to a "motorcycle dragging along its own sidecar [the first two fingers]". Australian pianist Alan Kogosowski (born 1952) recommends keeping 1 and 2 completely relaxed while playing the top voice alone: The "little two-note chords on each beat in the right hand" should be released "as soon as they've been played". The thumb should not be operated vertically to avoid strain and "play its notes extremely lightly –becoming as light as a feather, almost as if it is hardly there at all".[18] Von Bülow orders "the middle harmonies to be played throughout distinctly, and yet transiently [flüchtig]".[9] Galston suggests to accentuate all the upper notes of the two-note chords (played by the 2nd finger) while practicing the right hand.
It is a particular physical and psychological challenge to perform this étude in public and especially after the
Paraphrases and arrangements
Three years after the publication of Chopin's Études Op. 10
The étude has been transcribed for clarinet and piano by Ivan Butirsky.[23]
Notes
- ISBN 978-0-374-71437-6.
The first two Studies were indeed written first, in November 1829
- ^ ("French edition"). Paris: M. Schlesinger, June 1833.
- ^ ("German edition"). Leipzig: Fr. Kistner, August 1833 .
- ^ ("English edition"). London: Wessel & Co, August 1833.
- ^ Below that of Chopin, an alternative fingering by Paderewski is given in the edition published in Cracow by the Instytut Fryderyka Chopina Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne.
- ^ Leichtentritt 1922, p. 92.
- ^ Ekier, Jan, ed. (National Edition). "Source Commentary." Chopin Etudes. Warsaw: Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, 1999.
- ^ Palmer, W: Chopin Etudes for the Piano, page 10. Alfred Publishing Co., Inc., 1992
- ^ a b c Huneker, James. "The Studies—Titanic Experiments." In Chopin: The Man and His Music. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1900.
- ^ a b Leichtentritt 1922, p. [page needed]
- ^ Schumann, Robert. "Die Pianoforte-Etuden [sic], ihren Zwecken nach geordnet" ["The Pianoforte Études, Categorized According to their Purposes"]. Neue Zeitschrift für Musik No. 11, February 6, 1836, p. 45.
- ^ Cortot 1915, p. [page needed].
- ^ a b Casella, Alfredo. F. Chopin. Studi per pianoforte. Milano: Edizioni Curci, 1946.
- ^ Moscheles, Ignaz. Studien für das Pianoforte zur höheren Vollendung bereits ausgebildeter Klavierspieler, bestehend aus 24 charakteristischen Tonstücken in verschiedenen Dur- und Molltonarten. Leipzig: H. A. Probst, 1827, reprint Kistner, 1860, No. 3, G major, p. 20.
- ^ Leichtentritt 1922, p. 90.
- ^ Cortot 1915, p. 14.
- ^ a b Galston, Gottfried . Studienbuch [Study Book]. III. Abend [3rd Recital] (Frédéric Chopin). Berlin: Bruno Cassirer, 1910, p. 15.
- ^ a b Kogosowski, Alan. "Mastering the Chopin Études." A compendium to Chopin: Genius of the Piano. E-Book, 2010.
- ^ Czerny, Carl. Schule des Virtuosen ["School of Virtuosity"]. Vienna: Haslinger, 1836, No. 19.
- ^ Busoni, Ferruccio. Klavierübung in zehn Büchern [Keyboard Study in Ten Books], zweite umgestaltete und bereicherte Ausgabe. Buch 8 (Variationen und Varianten nach Chopin). Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1925.
- ^ Wührer, Friedrich. Achtzehn Studien zu Frederic Chopins Etuden [sic] [18 Studies on Chopin's Etudes]. In Motu Contrario [In Contrary Motion]. Heidelberg: Willy Müller, Süddeutscher Musikverlag, 1958.
- ^ Hamelin, Marc-André. "Triple Étude nach Chopin" in 12 Études in allen Moll-Tonarten ["12 Etudes in all the Minor Keys"]. Edition Peters (EP68235).
- ^ Chopin, Frédéric. Etude Op. 10 No. 2 "chromatic" . Transcription of I. Butirsky. Moscow: Muzgiz [state Music Publishing House].
Sources
- Cortot, Alfred (1915). Frédéric Chopin. 12 Études, op. 10. Édition de travail des oeuvres de Chopin (in French). Paris: Éditions Salabert.
- Leichtentritt, Hugo (1922). "Die Etüden". Analyse der Chopin'schen Klavierwerke [Analysis of Chopin's Piano Works] (in German). Vol. II. Berlin: Max Hesses Verlag.
External links
- Études, Op. 10: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- Sheet music in .pdf or Mutopia
- Étude Op. 10, No. 2 on YouTube, played by Wilhelm Backhaus
- Étude Op. 10, No. 2 on YouTube, played by Alfred Cortot
- Étude Op. 10, No. 2 on YouTube, played by Claudio Arrau
- Étude Op. 10, No. 2 on YouTube, played by Vladimir Ashkenazy
- Étude Op. 10, No. 2 on YouTube, played by Maurizio Pollini
- Étude Op. 10, No. 2 and Chopin-Godowsky 2nd version on YouTube, played by David Saperton
- Chopin-Godowsky – Étude Op. 10, No. 2 (2nd version "Ignis Fatuus") on YouTube, played by Marc-André Hamelin
- Chopin-Godowsky – Étude Op. 10, No. 2 (2nd version "Ignis Fatuus") on YouTube, played by Francesco Libetta