Études, Op.25

Composer: CHOPIN, Frédéric

Quick Facts

  • A series of 12 “studies” written between 1832-36; published in 1837
  • Dedicated to the Comtesse d’Agoult
    • The Comtesse d’Agoult, Marie de Flavigny, was a French writer and romantic partner of Franz Liszt. Fun fact – Chopin’s first set of Études, Op. 10, was dedicated to Liszt.
  1. Étude in A-flat Major, ‘Aeolian Harp’
  2. Étude in f minor, ‘The Bees’
  3. Étude in F Major, ‘The Horseman’
  4. Étude in a minor, ‘Paganini’
  5. Étude in e minor, ‘Wrong Note’
  6. Étude in g-sharp minor, ‘Thirds’
  7. Étude in c-sharp minor, ‘Cello’
  8. Étude in D-flat Major, ‘Sixths’
  9. Étude in G-flat Major, ‘Butterfly’
  10. Étude in b minor, ‘Octave’
  11. Étude in a minor, ‘Winter Wind’
  12. Étude in c minor, ‘Ocean’1

About the Piece

  • One of the unique characteristics of Chopin’s Études is that, while still being a technical piece for practicing specific skills on the piano, they’re also virtuosic and full of musicality and emotion, making them popular works for the concert hall.2
    • “They teach and challenge the fingers as much as they enchant the ears.”3
  • Fun fact – the nickname for the first etude, “Aeolian Harp,” was coined by Robert Schumann in a music review.4

Sources

  1. “Études, Op.25 (Chopin, Frédéric),” IMSLP, accessed April 11, 2023, https://imslp.org/wiki/%C3%89tudes%2C_Op.25_(Chopin%2C_Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric).
  2. “Preface,” G. Henle Verlag, accessed April 11, 2023, https://www.henle.de/us/detail/?Title=Etudes_229.
  3. Grant Hiroshima, “12 Etudes, Op. 25,” Hollywood Bowl, accessed April 11, 2023, https://www.hollywoodbowl.com/musicdb/pieces/109/12-etudes-op-25.
  4. Mieczysław Tomaszewski, “Etude in A flat major, Op. 25 No. 1” The Fryderyk Chopin Institute, accessed April 11, 2023, https://chopin.nifc.pl/en/chopin/kompozycja/187_etude-in-a-flat-major.

Cut IDs

42151 18004 42152 20595 19394 24995 40032 42150 15176 13635 12468