Question about how to interpret..

[pristinepiano]

I am learning Chopin's Etude in E no3 and i come across this bar where the first and last 16th note are not coupled together yet the 6 in the middle are.  Why is it done this way instead of 4 coupled pairs?  Is stress or timing done differently in this representation and how?

I'm sort of thinking it keeps it tidy with the legato connections together with the pairs and it makes no difference in what your playing....

[iansinclair]

As it happens, I haven't played this one personally -- but if I were to do so, I would very slightly emphasize the first of the tied together (slurred) sixteenth notes over the second in each pair -- probably not with a slightly louder note, but rather with a tiny break between each slurred together pair and the next, with the connected pairs perfectly legato.

And find a few really good professional recordings of the piece to listen to!

[pencilart3]

Play it like this: