12 Études

Chopin’s 12 Etudes, Op. 25—most likely composed between 1833 and their publication in 1837—consolidate and advance the achievements of his earlier set of Etudes, Op. 10 (1833). Each Etude is built on a single technical issue, often distilled into a repeating figurative pattern. These include staccato articulation (No. 4, and to some extent No. 9), thirds (No. 6), sixths (No. 8), octaves (No. 10) and arpeggios (No. 12)—although these studies based on such familiar technical building blocks serve only to highlight Chopin’s virtuosity and imagination. The opening Etude, nicknamed “Aeolian Harp” or “Harp Study”, sings its melody over shimmering arpeggio figures that evoke the sound of strings resonating in the wind, a magical effect. The second is a study of cross-rhythms, while the third focuses on the articulation of a distinctive and evolving rhythmic shape. No. 5 is a miniature tone poem with a glorious central section, where a left-hand melody is overlaid by delicate right-hand decoration. Left-hand melody also forms the basis of the expressive No. 7, the only slow study in the set. The penultimate Etude, the popular “Winter Wind”, has a march-like left-hand theme supporting strongly characterised right-hand passagework that sweeps across the keyboard to monumental effect. The increased involvement of the left hand in Op. 25 over Op. 10 is illustrated by the No. 12, which recalls the opening study of Op. 10, but with the arpeggios now in both hands.