The Chopin Etudes – Opus 10, Opus 25 and Trois Nouvelles
One of the most popular Romantic composers, especially for the piano, is Frédéric Chopin. Chopin’s compositions for the piano are somewhat patriotic and contain beautiful melodies throughout. Furthermore, many of Chopin’s piano pieces are of a high technical standard which often requires the performer to be of a certain proficient standard. Within the multitude of Chopin’s piano pieces, his Études are some of the most popular pieces to learn and perform.
The Études come in 3 sets and are composed for solo piano. The word Études translates to studies, of which there are 27 made up in 2 collections of 12 and 1 set of 3. The 2 collections are referenced Opus 10 and 25, with the other set without an Opus number.
As the word Études suggests, the pieces are essentially pieces for the training of technique with many of the Études requiring some of the most challenging piano technique to play. The popularity of the Études has resulted in many being given nicknames although these nicknames were not given by Chopin himself when he composed the respective Études. For example, one of the Études in the Opus 10 colleciton, Étude number 12, is referred to as the Revolutionary Étude. Many of the nicknames for the Études come from the atmosphere that the Étude creates when listened to.
The first group of Études, Opus 10, were composed by Chopin when he was still in his teenage years. Comparisons of the Opus 10 Études have been made to piano compositions by Mendelssohn as many of the Études in this collection appear very youthful and often vibrant in their performance.
All of the Études written by Chopin were published whilst Chopin was alive. The first collection of Études, Opus 10, are believed to have been composed between 1829 and 1832, ultimately being published in 1833. Of the Opus 25 Études, these are considered to have been composed from 1832 to 1836, being published in 1837. The final 3 Études which aren’t referenced with an Opus number were composed in 1839 and are often referred to as Méthode des méthodes de piano, being published between 1840 and 1841.
One of the underlying reasons for the popularity of Chopin’s Études in addition to the beautiful melodies contained within the Études as well the technical demands for the performer, is the acceptance that the Études took musical studies and technical exercises to another performance level. Many of the Études are accepted as pieces in their own right and are without doubt often thought of as masterpieces. Chopin’s Études showed that piano exercises could also be masterpieces.