Studies on Chopin's Études

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Godowsky's arrangements of the Études are highly intricate and extremely difficult

The Studies on Chopin's Études are a set of 53 arrangements of Chopin's études by Leopold Godowsky, composed between 1894 and 1914. They are renowned for their technical difficulty: critic Harold C. Schonberg called them "the most impossibly difficult things ever written for the piano." Several of the studies (for example, the study "Ignis Fatuus" on Chopin's Étude in A minor, Op. 10, No. 2) put the original right-hand part into the left hand; several others are for the left hand alone (for example, the study on the "Revolutionary" Étude, transposed to C♯ minor). Two of the studies even combine two études; the most well known of these, called "Badinage," combines both the G♭ (the "Black Key" Étude of Op. 10 and the "Butterfly" étude of Op. 25).

The Studies[]

The number of studies is often given as 54, with Op. 25, No. 2 having one study written as a considerably different ossia of another; a similar ossia also exists for one of the studies on Op. 25, No. 3, so the total number of studies can be taken to be 55. In contrast, Godowsky's original numbering scheme runs only to 48.

Opus 10[]

Opus 10 No. 1
  • 1st Study in C major
  • 2nd Study in D♭ major (left hand only)
Opus 10 No. 2
  • 1st Study in A minor (left hand only)
  • 2nd Study in A minor ("Ignis Fatuus")
Opus 10 No. 3
  • Study in D♭ major (left hand only)
Opus 10 No. 4
  • Study in C♯ minor (left hand only)
Opus 10 No. 5
  • 1st Study in G♭ major
  • 2nd Study in C major
  • 3rd Study in A minor ("Tarantella")
  • 4th Study in A major ("Capriccio")
  • 5th Study in G♭ major
  • 6th Study in G♭ major
  • 7th Study in G♭ major (left hand only)
  • This étude was also combined with the Opus 25 No. 9 étude in the "Badinage" composition.
Opus 10 No. 6
  • Study in E♭ minor (left hand only)
Opus 10 No. 7
  • 1st Study in C major ("Toccata")
  • 2nd Study in G♭ major ("Nocturne")
  • 3rd Study in E♭ major (left hand only)
Opus 10 No. 8
  • 1st Study in F major
  • 2nd Study in G♭ major (left hand only)
Opus 10 No. 9
  • 1st Study in C♯ minor
  • 2nd Study in F minor (imitation of Opus 25 No. 2)
  • 3rd Study in F♯ minor (left hand only)
Opus 10 No. 10
  • 1st Study in D major
  • 2nd Study in A♭ major (left hand only)
Opus 10 No. 11
  • Study in A major (left hand only)
  • This étude was also combined with the Opus 25 No. 3 étude.
Opus 10 No. 12
  • Study in C♯ minor (left hand only)

Opus 25[]

Opus 25 No. 1
  • 1st Study in A♭ major (left hand only)
  • 2nd Study in A♭ major (Like a piece for four hands)
  • 3rd Study in A♭ major
Opus 25 No. 2
  • 1st Study in F minor
  • 2nd Study in F minor ("Waltz")
  • 3rd Study (A) in F minor
  • 3rd Study (B) in F minor
  • 4th Study in F♯ minor (left hand only)
  • This étude was also imitated in one of the Opus 10 No. 9 studies.
Opus 25 No. 3
  • 1st Study in F major
  • 2nd Study in F major (left hand only)
  • This étude was also combined with the Opus 10 No. 11 étude
Opus 25 No. 4
  • 1st Study in A minor (left hand only)
  • 2nd Study in F minor ("Polonaise")
Opus 25 No. 5
  • 1st Study in E minor
  • 2nd Study in C♯ minor ("Mazurka")
  • 3rd Study in B♭ minor (left hand only)
Opus 25 No. 6
  • Study in G♯ minor
Opus 25 No. 7

There are no studies of this étude in the collection.

Opus 25 No. 8
  • Study in D♭ major
Opus 25 No. 9
  • 1st Study in G♭ major
  • 2nd Study in G♭ major (left hand only)
  • This étude was also combined with the Opus 10 No. 5 étude in the "Badinage" composition.
Opus 25 No. 10
  • Study in B minor (left hand only)
Opus 25 No. 11
  • Study in A minor
Opus 25 No. 12
  • Study in C♯ minor (left hand only)

Trois Nouvelles Études[]

Nouvelle Étude No. 1
  • Study in F minor (left hand only)
Nouvelle Étude No. 2
  • 1st Study in E major
  • 2nd Study in D♭ major (left hand only)
Nouvelle Étude No. 3
  • Study in G major ("Menuetto")

Recordings[]

Only four pianists, Geoffrey Douglas Madge, Carlo Grante, Marc-André Hamelin, and have recorded the entire set of the studies. Francesco Libetta (1994, 1995, 2018), Carlo Grante (1995) and (2018) have performed the complete set in concert, but only Libetta has done so from memory. Francesco Libetta performed them again in Miami on July 7, 2018, in two recitals in the same day, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, also all of them by memory.[1] Ivan Ilić has made a speciality of the 22 études for the left hand alone.

Only a few other pianists have ventured to record selected studies. The first was Vladimir de Pachmann, who recorded the Study on Op. 10, No. 12 in 1912.[2] Others include Boris Berezovsky, Michel Beroff, Jorge Bolet, Ian Hobson,[3] Ivan Ilić, David Saperton, Victor Schiøler, , and .[4]

References[]

  1. ^ ArtistDomain.Net (2000-02-27). "Libetta". Vaimusic.com. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  2. ^ "A Multitude of Pianists CD". International Piano Archives at Maryland. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  3. ^ "Hobson". Itunes.apple.com. 2006-01-01. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  4. ^ "Godowsky: Studies on Chopin Op. 10 - Emanuele Delucchi | Songs, Reviews, Credits".

External links[]

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