Etüde a-moll
Étude · in A minor · Op. 10, No. 2
Frédéric Chopin 1810–1849
A minor
Key
Étude
Form
Allegro
Tempo
Op. 10, No. 2
Catalogue
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Difficulty
Our estimate Virtuoso
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Themes & character
Chromatic scales·Weakest fingers·Notoriously awkward·Published 1833
At a glance
- Catalogue
- Op. 10, No. 2
- Key
- A minor
- Tempo / character
- Allegro
- Form
- Étude
About the piece
The second of Chopin's Op. 10 etudes and one of the hardest in the entire set, though it makes almost no noise. The right hand plays a continuous chromatic scale using only the third, fourth and fifth fingers, the weakest of the hand, while the thumb and index finger simultaneously hold down chords beneath.
The demand is unnatural by design. Chopin's etudes routinely ask the hand to do the thing it least wants to do, and this one has defeated pianists for nearly two centuries.
The composer
Frédéric Chopin
1810–1849
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the early Romantic period who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading composer of his era whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation".
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