Etudes

Etudes. Fryderyk Chopin. , 'His etudes for piano are masterpieces' , , Hector Berlioz, Chopin's twenty-four Etudes contained in opuses 10 and 25, gathered into cohesively composed cycles of twelve pieces, and the Trois nouvelles études constitute a new chapter in our understanding of the genre. They impressed their stamp on the outfit of his contemporaries and of later composes., Before Chopin, the etude (usually called an 'exercise') served mainly to improve technical proficiency, although compositions of greater artistic value did occasionally appear. Chopin's etudes went beyond the convention of the genre – its strictly practical, didactic function. As self-contained miniatures, each of Chopin's etudes gained its own distinctive character. Common technical formulas such as scales, passages and figurations became means of musical expression. Each of the etudes was devoted on one hand to practicing a specific technical problem and on the other bore a separate category of expression., Chopin dedicated the 12 Etudes, Op. 10 to Ferenc Liszt, who was the first to perform them. Liszt confessed with regard to the Etude, Op. 10 No. 4: 'I'd give up four years of my life to have composed this etude'.