Étude Op. 10, No. 2 (Chopin)

Étude Op. 10, No. 2, in A minor, is a technical study composed by Frédéric Chopin for the piano. Composed in 1829, it was first published in 1833 in France,Germany, and England This étude is an exercise in developing the independence of the weaker fingers of the right hand by playing rapid chromatic scale figures with the third, fourth, and fifth fingers of the right hand. Meanwhile, the first two fingers of the right and the left hand play an accompaniment of short chords and single notes. Chopin indicated the fingering himself note by note for almost 800 notes.

The melody consists of rapid chromatic scale figures played by the outer right-hand fingers, accompanied by chord attacks. Like most of Chopin’s other études, this work is in ternary form A-B-A. The harmonic scheme of the A section is relatively simple, with A minor, E major, A minor, but the chromatic scale and the exotic clash of its C-sharps with the A minor chords tend to veil the clarity of A minor and create a mysterious sound effect further increased by the Neapolitan chord, bar 15. The middle section brings a dramatic increase with the dynamic climax exactly in the center of the piece, bar 25. This climax is approached by stepwise rising two-bar sequences from F major to A minor via G minor. The final dominant seventh chord of each sequence leads to the next one by means of a deceptive cadence. The longer and asymmetric second part of the B section, leading back to the restatement of the A section, uses a similar harmonic progression but shorter sequences. The final A section is a quite literal though shortened restatement of the first one ending with a Coda of a rising and falling scale into a Picardy ending.

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