Frédéric Chopin
Etude
in E Major, Op. 10 No. 3

Chopin famously said about this etude, nicknamed Tristesse: “In all my life I have never again been able to find such a beautiful melody.”

ID: 118
Frédéric Chopin - Etudes:

Etude
Op. 10 No. 3

Key: E Major
Year: 1832
Level: 8
Period: Early Romantic
piano sheet music Piano score: PS Urtext Download
piano sheet music Piano score: Scholtz edition Download
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Tristesse

Chopin called the theme of the Etude, Op. 10, No. 3 to be the most beautiful he ever composed. The piece is charming and simple, lacking the fiery pyrotechnics of the other etudes. It is somewhat similar in scope, style and atmosphere to the second movement of Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata. Others have called the piece "Tristesse", but rather than just “sadness” it seems to express a kind of warm nostalgia and love for the homeland.

Background

Chopin famously said about this etude, nicknamed Tristesse: “In all my life I have never again been able to find such a beautiful melody.” When he played the piece for a student once, he reportedly burst into tears and cried "Oh, my homeland!" It's interesting to note that Chopin marked it at 100 beats per minute, which is quite a lot faster than most people play it nowadays.


Forum posts about this piece:

Did Liszt pull a Kathy Perry? by amc252
Hello everybody, today I was listening to Claudio Arrau playing Transcendental Étude No. 9 in A-flat "Ricordanza" by Liszt, and ...

How can I study Chopin's "Waterfall", Etude op 10 no 1 without getting hurt? by faa2010
I have started to play this Etude, this will be my second one, the first one has been Chopin's Etude op 10 no 3, "Tristesse", ...

What piano piece should I learn next? by pianoperson2008
Recently I have learned Chopin's Étude 10 no. 3, Étude 25 no. 7, and his Waltz 64 no. 2 (which took much less time to learn than the o...

Difficulty in Chopin's Étude op 10 no 3 by faa2010
The middle section is pretty a challenge, specially if you want to play faster the parts of the third and sixth intervals. Do you have any a...

How to improve in the middle section of Chopin's Etude op 10 no 3? by faa2010
Hi, since last year, I started to learn, practice and play Chopin's Etude op 10 no 3. My advance was great, but after I took out the met...

What do you learn by studying and playing Chopin's Etude op 10 no 3 "Tristesse"? by faa2010
Hi, I am learning Chopin's Etude op 10 no 3 since September (or July, I just can't remember when I began because I was also keeping...

Fingering in Tristesse “von bravura” section by thepianolad
Hi I’m currently learning op 10 no 3 Chopin Etude, and I am in the process of learning the poco piu animato section. I’ve now made my wa...

Learning Chopin Nocturne or Etude by thepianolad
I’ve been playing piano for quite a while now (9 years) and I want to improve my repertoire by an Etude or a harder Nocturne. The two that...

Some problems in Chopin Etudes Op10 no 2,3 and 5 by ssssass
Hi, I am an amateurish piano player with small hands. I can more or less reach a 9th, but a 10th is almost impossible. Also due to to small...

What to learn after Rach C# Minor? by sparoz
I have just finished the prelude - not quite at concert standard yet and a bit of polishing to do, but my teacher wants a new piece.  S...

Learning Chopin Etude op 10 no 3 by zipnix
Hey everyone Might consider asking my teacher if I could learn this Chopin etude. Even though I have faced harder pieces before in terms of ...

help with memorizing a run by pianodude1
i'm playing chopin op 10 no 3 in a competition in a month and a half and there's one run i can not memorize. the parallel 6ths mea...

First piano competition. help! by pianodude1
i'll be performing in the first annual steinway and sons washington piano competition and the repertories is two pieces of contrasting ...

Chopin's Etude op.10 no.3 by pianoviolin
Hey guys :) I've been working on this Etude, and I must say, its a beautiful piece but it is a sort of challenging piece (especially th...

Chopin's Etude Op. 10 No. 3 by vincentl
I was wondering how everybody else plays this etude, I read somewhere that you should use as little pedal as possible, but it's a littl...

Chopin - Etude Op.10 No.3 by chopianist123
Hi all ! I have a question about Chopin's Etude No.3.  In bar 30, I believe the first two notes played by the right hand would be...


Member's recordings of piece:

Chopin Etude Op.10 No 3. by vincenzo
Looking for some criticisms. Please excuse the terrible recording quality - I'm not sure if a good recording is possible with my phone....

Chopin - Étude Op.10 No.3 by throwawaynotreally
I was invited to perform at a concert (organised biannually) which took place earlier this month showcasing 5 young classical musicians from...

Chopin Etude Opus 10, No. 3 by ninjapianist
Ive been working on this piece for a few months, and I'd like some feedback.  I seem to be constantly finding things I could impro...

Chopin etude op. 10 no. 3 by njalli
here it is :P Chopin etude op. 10 no. 3 sorry about low quiality. i know i made about 1-2 mistakes.. PLEASE COMMENT.. or.. or... next su...

Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 3 by kevin2006
I messed up at about bar 50. I welcome any comments...

Chopin - Etude op.10 no.3 by el nino
Hey! i'm planning to play this as an encore at my recital (in friday) so please leave a comment if you have one. thank you rapidshare....

(Update: more added) - chopin op. 10, no.3 by lagin
s131.photobucket.com/albums/p298/laginn/?action=view&current=MVI_0251-1.flv Okay, here are the "notes" meaning, that's a...

Chopin Etude Op 10 No 3 by Aragonaise
Hi all. This is my virgin recording. Please feel free to offer your harshest criticisms. Thank you for listening. www.savefile.com/files...

Chopin Studies and Schubert Impromptu by mr89
Hi! I'm an italian piano student, I'm 16 years old and I'm new here!  :) My English is quite horrible, so excuse me!  :-[ I...


Members who like this piece have also downloaded:

Early Romantic piano sheet music by Frédéric Chopin to download and print instantly: Etude Op. 10 No. 3 in the key of . Level 8, compositional type: Study (published in 1832)
Etude in E Major, Op. 10 No. 3 by the composer Frédéric Chopin who lived from 1810 to 1849.
The piece was published in 1832 and is included in Chopin's Etudes.