The Revolutionary Etude, an intense, tempestuous work that sounds like a chaotic battle, is the twelfth and last piece in Chopin's first set of Etudes. It was written in 1831 at about the same time as the November Uprising, Poland's failed revolt against Russia. As this etude's alternative title suggests, Chopin seems to have written it as a response to the Polish revolt, and he poured many of the emotions that he was feeling at the time into the work.
Until the time of Chopin and Liszt, etudes were written as educational exercises intended to focus on and improve technique, but the etudes written by these composers were intended as fully developed pieces intended for concert performances. Like most of Chopin’s Etudes, the Revolutionary is very difficult to play, but unlike most of the others, the difficulties are mainly in the left hand. A heroic, fanfare-like melody is played by the right hand while the left hand creates an impression of chaos and intensity by making continuous fast runs up and down the keyboard.
One of the more interesting aspects of the piece is its abrupt ending. It ends with a descending sweep in both hands that ends in a C major chord, supposedly brighter and more positive-sounding than the rest of the piece, which is in c minor. However, the arrival of this chord is so abrupt that the effect is anything but soothing. An unexpected touch to one of Chopin's more intense works, and possibly an allusion to the end of the first movement of Beethoven’s Sonata op 111, which Chopin is known to have admired.
Just for fun, I picked my way through this for the first time last night. Even if I can't ever play it well, it seems like it may be fun to try.
Anyway, there is literally only one chord in the entire piece that my small hands will never be able to reach - measure 27, that Eb-F-A natural-D in the right hand. As I see it, there are three options for cheating: Leave out the Eb, leave out the F, or roll the entire chord. Which of these seems the least offensive?
It's Finally here! A recording of Chopin's Revolutionary Etude in octaves!!
(at least entirely in octaves, with some thirds and sixths thrown in)
on the Youtube channel extremepianochannel
.....plus Chopin's etude, op. 10,#2 in 60 seconds, and possibly the loudest (and most violent!) performance of the finale from Prokofiev's seventh Sonata
....and more. Only on EXTREMEPIANOCHANNEL (written exactly like that, with no spacing between the words)
Next year I'd like to Play on a concert but I can't decide wich one I should play and why? Both are interesting pieces and resemble each other. Do you know maybe other good concert pieces?
Hello, I recently took up the Revolutionary Etude and I discovered for it not too be too challenging. I need some advice on learning and interpreting this etude. All help is much appreciated.
Also, what is the level of this etude in comparison to other etudes? I was considering learning a different one, but this particular melody has always been a favorite of mine.
Hello everyone Im playing the piano for 2 years. I had started revolutionary etude and I finished 1 and half pages already in 160bpm speed. I've got some problem with legato in LH!! What should I do??? Should I practice it slower?? Any suggusted etudes before this etude? By the way, is playing chopin etudes good after 2 years? Here's some of pieces and books that I leaned: Czerny op.299 Some of moszkowsky etudes Chopin nocturnes op.9 no.1, nocturne in C-sharp minor, nocturn in C minor
Hi there, I am 18 years old and have been playing piano for about 9 years. I am right now working on Chopin's Revolutionary Etude. I have most of it memorized and have it about 2/3rds up to speed. I am going to be performing this in May, so I'm pretty much just looking for some tips from those of you who have played this and similar caliber songs.
First off, What is the best way to practice to gain more endurance? Like I said, I can play this 2/3rds speed fine, but when I try to play this up to speed, my left arm will start to tense up about halfway through it. I play hannon everyday; are there any other exercises that I should be doing to help me with speed and endurance?
Any other practicing tips for this song? Any advise would be appreciated
Can someone please untie what on earth is happening with the harmony here for me please . Did the music just modulate several times, or is he using a whole bunch of chromatic notes. You can tell my music theory sucks...balls
I'm 17 and my question is about the Revolutionary Etude, Chopin. I have been studying this piece since a year ago. One of the most big difficulties in this etude for me is the left hand (of course) but not the notes and velocity. My big problem is that in the middle of the piece, left hand and left arm starts to get very very tired and without strength, and the fingers start to block and sound and notes gets very dirty ... what's the problem? I try to relax arm and wrist, my sitting and wrist position are good, so, how i can increase my resistance and my stamina? How I can relax more to play the entire piece with no tired arm? I just watch Evgeny Kissin playing this and is never get tired (his interpretation is really amazing)! just a note: I am thin, and my arm is thin, so this aspect decreases resistance? have strong pianists more resistance and stamina?
Better than my other video if anyone remembers that one. It's a bit static and I can do some more with it. Speed is not an issue. It's more the interpretation, creating contrast and more layer of colors.
My piano teacher has asked me to learn this etude in order to 1) get me to really think about the pedalling, and 2) to ensure that clarity is kept in the left hand and to really keep the left hand accurate in playing.
I submit my recording of a Chopin Etude, I ask that if any of you have any advice, no matter how small, I would greatly appreciate it.
(And no, I didn't learn this simply because Costicina did - my teacher asked me to start learning this 3 weeks ago).
Birba's passionate performances of Beethoven and Rachmaninov made me feel like playing something stormy, so I resumed the Revolutionary from the 'quarantine'.... In spite of the many flaws, it gave me satisfaction to play this piece again. At least, the memory didn't fail me....
:(Here is my second take of this Etude. It’s far from satisfaying , but – I hope – slightly better than the previous one.
Needless to say, I owe to your generous help and your precious advices whatever improvement, if any, happened to occur. Any feedback will be most appreciated (I’m getting quite disheartened ) Thank you in advance
Are Chopin Etudes all about how fast one can play? This is the fastest I can play the Revolutionary Etude. It's a few seconds slower than Richter and Yundi Li.
Should the focus be on the music or the speed?
Chopin'Etude April 09, 2011, 12:38:38 PM by adusha
Hello,
Let's say that you just started to study Chopin's Etude No12, Op. 10 "The Revolutionary Etude". How much time do you need to study it? Can you play it in concert after 2 weeks?
I keep spamming the Audition room with recordings.
So I made some recordings of this chopin etude. Ofc, I'm not happy with any of them (always these bloody details!!), but this one is probably the one I like the most. It's a bit rushed, and it got a bit too dry in the sotto voce... But it's always like that, and if we'd try to make perfect in every way, we wouldn't post a lot, would we?
Hi there i am about grade 5 in piano and was wondering if the revolutionary etude is easy piece.I heard it was one of the easiest etude written by chopin and was wondering if i should give it a go. I printed out the first page and although a little hard to keep the speed consistent , could play the first page. I found the first pages challenging for a while and soon it became easy. If i were to continue could you please tell me what i can do to improve my performance? p.s I do not want my teacher to know i played this piece , i want to surprise her for her birthday.
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Frédéric Chopin - Etudes :
Piano score: PS Urtext (612 kB) 
. Did the music just modulate several times, or is he using a whole bunch of chromatic notes. You can tell my music theory sucks...balls 
At least, the memory didn't fail me....
