Étude in A minor “Winter Wind”, Op. 25 No. 11

Frédéric Chopin (1,810–1,849)

First published: 1837
Key: A minor
Style: Studies
Level: Fellowship and Concert
Roughly: ABRSM FRSM · Trinity FTCL · Henle 9
Lesson: C.4 Keep a theme audible beneath a storm of figuration
Musicianship: C.4 A recurring cell
Focus: Project the left-hand theme through continuous right-hand figuration; preserve rhythmic hierarchy, controlled stamina, harmonic direction and the complete introduction-to-coda narrative.

What its lesson teaches

C.4 Keep a theme audible beneath a storm of figuration

Prepare Chopin’s complete A-minor Étude, Op. 25 No. 11, including its Lento introduction, Allegro con brio and coda. Trace the theme in the right hand in the Lento introduction, then in the left hand in the Allegro. First play the Allegro’s left-hand thematic route and essential bass; then restore the right-hand figuration without allowing its volume to erase the theme. Judge the complete arc as well as the velocity. The C-major voicing model isolates balance before applying it to the A-minor score.

Ideas: Character pieces and genres
Voicing and balance
Virtuoso figuration
Making a form map
Theory cards: Finding the line in figuration
An interpretation you can test
Technique: A harmonic minor scale, hands together, 4 octaves
C major moving top voice above held chordal voices, hands together (faster: Concert tempo)

Edition and licence

Score: Paris: Henry Lemoine, December 1842, plate 2776 H.L.; early French reissue in the first-editions corpus.

Encoding source: https://rism.online/sources/1001002277

Digital encoding source: https://github.com/pl-wnifc/humdrum-chopin-first-editions/blob/95dfb105c1669c72d10b04088566154f12d3dc1c/kern/025-1b-LE-011.krn

First Editions of Fryderyk Chopin's Music

Website: https://chopinscores.org

Digital scores: https://github.com/pl-wnifc/humdrum-chopin-first-editions

Digital licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ · CC BY 4.0

Étude in A minor, Op. 25 No. 11

Edition: Paris: Henry Lemoine, December 1842, plate 2776 H.L.; early French reissue in the first-editions corpus.

Published: 1842

Source: https://rism.online/sources/1001002277

Paris: Henry Lemoine, December 1842, plate 2776 H.L.; early French reissue in the first-editions corpus.

Digital licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

CC-BY-4.0

Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Adapted by Musalea: converted to MusicXML and prepared for interactive practice.

The other lesson pieces of Fellowship and Concert

Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 — complete cycle, Johann Sebastian Bach
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111: I. Maestoso – Allegro con brio ed appassionato, Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35 — complete, Frédéric Chopin
Prélude, choral et fugue, FWV 21, FWV 21; CFF 24, César Franck
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58 — complete, Frédéric Chopin
Étude in C minor, Op. 25 No. 12, Frédéric Chopin
24 Preludes, Op. 28 — complete cycle, Frédéric Chopin
Toccata in C major, Op. 92, Carl Czerny
Gaspard de la nuit, M. 55: III. Scarbo, Maurice Ravel
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 — complete, Frédéric Chopin

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