An etude (from the French word étude meaning "study") is a short musical composition designed to provide practice in a particular technical skill in the performance of a solo instrument. For example, Frédéric Chopin's etude Op. 25 No. 6 trains pianists to play rapid parallel chromatic thirds, Op. 25 No. 7 emphasizes the production of singing tone in a polyphonic melody, and Op. 25 No. 10 covers parallel octaves. Musical composition is: an original piece of music the structure of a musical piece the process of creating a new piece of music // A musical composition A piece of music exists in the form of a written composition in musical notation or as a single acoustic event (a live performance... Frédéric-François Chopin as portrayed by Eugène Delacroix in 1838. ... A pianist is a person who plays the piano. ... In music theory, an interval is the relationship between two notes or pitches, the lower and higher members of the interval. ... Polyphony is a musical texture consisting of several independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony). ... In music, an octave (sometimes abbreviated 8ve or 8va) is the interval between one musical note and another with half or double the frequency. ...

History and function

Musical studies have been composed since the 18th century, most notably by Carl Czerny, but it was Chopin who transformed the etude into an important musical genre. Etudes can be in many forms and are sometimes grouped into larger schemes — Robert Schumann's Études symphoniques bears the title, in its second version, Études en forme de Variations. [1] (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Carl Czerny (sometimes Karl; February 21, 1791 – July 15, 1857) was an Austrian pianist, composer and teacher. ... Robert Schumann (June 8, 1810 – July 29, 1856) was a German composer and pianist. ... The Symphonic Etudes, Op. ...

Etudes for other instruments have been written as well, for example Rodolphe Kreutzer's etudes for the violin and Villa-Lobos' etudes for the guitar. Rodolphe Kreutzer (November 16, 1766 - January 6, 1831) was a French violinist, teacher, composer and conductor. ... Violin The violin is a stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart. ... Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887 - November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer. ... classical guitar A classical guitar, also called a Spanish guitar, is a musical instrument from the guitar family. ...

The etudes that are most widely admired are those which transcend their practical function and come to be appreciated simply as music. For example, Chopin's etudes are considered not just technically difficult, but also musically very powerful and expressive. In contrast, Czerny's are generally regarded as being only technically difficult. Thus Chopin's etudes are continually performed before appreciative audiences, whereas Czerny's are confined to the practice room.

List of etude composers

For the piano

Born before 1700

• Girolamo Diruta (c. 1554–1610)

Girolamo Diruta (c. ...

Born 1700–1799

• Johann Baptist Cramer (1771–1858)
• John Field (1782–1837)
• Carl Czerny (1791–1857)
• Ignaz Moscheles (1794–1870)
• Henri Bertini (1798–1876): wrote 24 etudes (op. 29)

Johann Baptist Cramer (February 24, 1771, Mannheim - April 16, 1858, London), was an English musician of German extraction. ... John Field (July 26, 1782 – January 23, 1837) was an Irish composer and pianist. ... Carl Czerny (sometimes Karl; February 21, 1791 – July 15, 1857) was an Austrian pianist, composer and teacher. ... Ignaz Moscheles (May 23, 1794–March 10, 1870) was a Bohemian composer and piano virtuoso. ... Henri Jérôme Bertini (October 28, 1798–1876) was a French classical composer and pianist. ...

Born 1800–1850

• Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)
• Robert Schumann (1810–1856): wrote the Études symphoniques.
• Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849): wrote 24 etudes in two sets of 12 etudes each (his op. 10, op. 25), plus three more, for a total of 27.
• Franz Liszt (1811–1886): wrote the set of Transcendental Etudes, with its two revisions; six etudes on themes by Niccolò Paganini (among them the famous La Campanella); and five concert etudes (one set of three and another set of two). In contrast with Chopin's etudes, which tend to stress a specific aspect of performance difficulty, Liszt's etudes tend to stress mastery of performance as a whole.
• Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813–1888): wrote etudes in all 12 major keys (op. 35) and in all 12 minor keys (op. 39); and also three Grande Études (op. 76).
• Adolf von Henselt
• Clara Schumann (1819–1896)
• Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884): wrote a concert etude, Am Seegestade - Eine Erinnerung
• Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829–1869): wrote Tremolo and Manchega, two concert etudes.
• Johannes Brahms (1833–1897): including 51 Exercises for Piano published in 1893
• Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921): wrote two sets of 6 etudes each (op. 52 and 111)
• Agathe Backer Grøndahl (1847–1907): wrote 19 Concert Etudes.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy at the age of thirty Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, known simply as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847) was a German composer of the early Romantic period. ... Robert Schumann (June 8, 1810 – July 29, 1856) was a German composer and pianist. ... The Symphonic Etudes, Op. ... Frédéric-François Chopin as portrayed by Eugène Delacroix in 1838. ... Franz Liszt (Hungarian: Liszt Ferenc) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer. ... The Transcendental Etudes (sometimes Études dexécution transcendante or Transcendental Studies) is a series of twelve compositions written for solo piano by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, begun in 1826 and finalized in 1851. ... Niccolò Paganini Niccolò Paganini, (Genoa, October 27, 1782 – May 27, 1840 in Nice) was a violinist, violist, guitarist and composer. ... La Campanella is a piano etude written by virtuoso pianist Franz Liszt as part of a series of the six Grandes Etudes de Paganini (Grand Paganini Etudes), S. 141. ... Franz Liszts Trois Études de Concert are three etudes, composed in 1848 (S144), that are intended not only for the acquirement of a better technique, but also for concert performance. ... Charles-Valentin Alkan (November 30, 1813–March 29, 1888) was a French composer and one of the greatest virtuoso pianists of his day. ... Adolf von Henselt (May 12, 1814 - October 10, 1889), German composer and pianist, was born at Schwabach, in Bavaria. ... Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Wieck Schumann (September 13, 1819 – May 20, 1896), wife of composer Robert Schumann, was one of the leading pianists of the Romantic era as well as a composer. ... Bedrich Smetanas statue in Plzen Smetana monument in Litomyšl Bedřich Smetana listen ▶(?) (March 2, 1824 Litomyšl, Bohemia,Czech Republic, (then Austria-Hungary) - May 12, 1884 Prague) was a Czech composer, whose best-known composition is the symphonic poem Vltava (The Moldau), second of a cycle of... Louis Moreau Gottschalk pictured on a 1864 Publication of The Dying Poet for piano Louis Moreau Gottschalk (May 8, 1829 – December 18, 1869) was an American composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano pieces. ... Johannes Brahms (May 7, 1833 – April 3, 1897) was a German composer of Romantic music, who predominantly lived in Vienna, Austria. ... Charles Camille Saint-Saëns (IPA: [ʃaʁl. ... Agathe Backer Grøndahl Agathe Backer Grøndahl (December 1, 1847–June 4, 1907) was a Norwegian pianist and composer. ...

Born 1850–1899

• Moritz Moszkowski (1854–1925): wrote 15 Études de Virtuositié (op. 72), 12 studies for the left hand alone (op. 92), and 20 technical studies (op. 91).
• Sergei Liapunov (1859–1924): wrote Duoze études d'exécution transcendante in memory of Liszt
• Edward Alexander MacDowell (1860–1908): wrote 12 etudes (op. 46)
• Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
• Gabriel Pierné (1863–1937): wrote a concert etude (op. 13)
• Jean Sibelius (1865–1957)
• Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924): wrote six etudes (op. 16)
• Leopold Godowsky (1870–1938): wrote 60 paraphrases on Chopin's etudes, of which 53 are published; three original Concert Studies (op. 11), and the Etude Macabre.
• Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915): wrote 26 etudes (op. 2, 8, 42, 49, 56 and 65)
• Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943): wrote two sets of Etudes-Tableux (op. 33 and 39).
• Charles Ives (1874–1954)
• Josef Hofmann (1876–1957)
• Ernö Dohnányi (1877–1960): wrote six "Concert Etudes" (op. 28).
• Béla Bartók (1881–1945): wrote three etudes (op. 18)
• Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971): wrote four etudes (op. 7)
• Karol Szymanowski (1882–1937)
• Alfredo Casella (1883–1947)
• Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953): wrote 4 etudes (Op. 2)
• George Gershwin (1898–1937): wrote 7 Virtuoso Etudes on Popular Songs

Moritz Moszkowski (b. ... Sergei Mikhailovich Lyapunov (November 30, 1859 - November 8, 1924) was a Russian composer. ... Edward Alexander MacDowell (1861-1908), American musical composer, was born in New York City on the December 18, 1861. ... Claude Debussy Achille-Claude Debussy (August 22, 1862 – March 25, 1918) was a composer of European classical music. ... Henri Constant Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937) was a French organist and composer. ... Sibelius Jean Sibelius (December 8, 1865 – September 20, 1957) was a Finnish composer of classical music; he also studied the violin as a young man. ... Ferruccio Busoni Dante Michaelangelo Benvenuto Ferruccio Busoni (April 1, 1866 – July 27, 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, music teacher and conductor. ... Leopold Godowsky (Leopold Godowski) (February 13, 1870–November 21, 1938) was a Polish pianist, composer, and teacher. ... Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Скря́бинь; sometimes transliterated as Skryabin or Skrjabin) (January 6, 1872 – April 27, 1915) was a Russian composer and pianist. ... Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (Russian: , Sergej Vasilevič Rahmaninov, April 1, 1873 – March 28, 1943) was a Russian-born American composer, pianist, and conductor. ... This photo from around 1913 shows Ives in his day job: he was the director of a successful insurance agency. ... ... Ernő Dohnányi, also known as Ernst von Dohnányi or Dohnányi Ernő (July 27, 1877 – February 9, 1960) was a Hungarian conductor, composer, and pianist. ... Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a composer, pianist and collector of Eastern European and Middle Eastern folk music. ... Igor Fyodorovitch Stravinsky (Russian: ) (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971) was a Russian-French-American composer of modern classical music. ... Karol Szymanowski Karol Maciej Szymanowski (October 6, 1882 - March 28, 1937) was a Polish composer and pianist. ... Alfredo Casella (Turin, July 25, 1883, Rome, March 5, 1947) was an Italian composer. ... Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Russian: , Sergej Sergejevič Prokofev, 15/April 271, 1891–March 5, 1953) was a Ukrainian-born Russian composer who mastered numerous musical genres and came to be admired as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. ... George Gershwin photograph by Edward Steichen in 1927. ...

Born after 1900

• Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992)
• Witold Lutosławski (1913–1994): wrote two etudes (1940-1941)
• Robert Starer (1924–2001): wrote The Contemporary Virtuoso, a set of 7 etudes
• Einojuhani Rautavaara (born 1928): wrote six etudes ASDF (op. 42)
• György Ligeti (born 1923): wrote three volumes (1985, 1988–1994 and 1995)
• Philip Glass (born 1937) (1994–)
• Nikolai Kapustin (born 1937)
• Marc-André Hamelin (born 1961): wrote a set of 12 etudes in minor keys

Olivier Messiaen (IPA: or ; December 10, 1908 – April 27, 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist. ... Witold LutosÅ‚awski at his home. ... Robert Starer (1924–2001 ) was an Austrian composer born in Vienna. ... Einojuhani Rautavaara (born October 9, 1928) is a Finnish composer of classical music, probably the best known Finnish composer of his generation. ... György Sándor Ligeti (born May 28, 1923) is a Hungarian composer (now living in, and a citizen of, Austria), widely seen as one of the great composers of instrumental music of the 20th century. ... Philip Glass looks upon sheet music in a portrait taken by Annie Leibovitz. ... The Russian composer and pianist Nikolai Kapustin [Капустин] (born 1937 in Gorlovka, Ukraine) studied piano with Avrelian Rubakh (pupil of Felix Blumenfeld who also taught Simon Barere and Vladimir Horowitz) and, later, Alexander Goldenweiser at the Moscow Conservatoire. ... Marc-André Hamelin Marc-André Hamelin (born September 5, 1961) is a French-Canadian classical pianist and composer. ...

For other instruments

• Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766–1831): for the violin
• Matteo Carcassi (1792–1853): for the guitar
• Francisco Tárrega (1852–1909): for the guitar
• Julius Klengel (1859–1933): for the cello
• Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959): for the guitar
• Andrés Segovia (1893–1987): for the guitar
• Joachim Andersen (1847–1909): for the flute