Chopin, Étude Opus 25 No 2

When you are playing a little tired but are helped with the last three notes...

The twelve Etudes of Opus 25 constitute Chopin's second collection of piano etudes. Dedicated to Countess Marie d'Agoult, Liszt's companion during those years, they were completed between 1832 and 1836, and published in Paris in 1837. Shortly after, they will be published in Germany and England.
As we know, piano études are intended to develop the technique and skills of the budding pianist, and those of the virtuoso as well. Chopin's Études, in particular, fulfilled a long-awaited desire to combine this practical purpose with a high musical content.

To this achievement, in addition to the undoubted genius of the Polish master, the contribution of the 19th century piano, with its seven octaves, felt-covered hammers, and metal harp, capable of producing full and firm sounds in any dynamic, forte or piano, and of responding to expressive demands as well as to those of an overwhelming virtuosity, was no less important. Chopin and his genius arrived at the right moment.

First steps in Paris

By the time he composes Opus 12, Chopin is making his first steps in Paris, after leaving Warsaw in 1830, a city to which he would never return. He is the angel of the musical salons, celebrated by elegant ladies of the Parisian aristocracy and Polish nobles exiled after the occupation of Warsaw by Russian troops. But he has already made a name for himself, a great name. One day he is invited by the Rothschild family, another by a countess, and yet another by an ambassador. He lives from his private lessons, at 20 francs an hour. He has not yet met George Sand, who will suggest raising the price to 30 francs a lesson.

Etude No. 2 of Opus 25, in F minor
On his first tour to Vienna in 1829, Chopin was warmly greeted by the public, and the professional critics also spared no praise. The editor of the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung noted: "...the extraordinary delicacy of his touch, an indescribable technical perfection, his complete range of nuances, all reflecting the deepest feeling".

A minute and a half
It is precisely what is required to properly interpret this brief etude of just over a minute and a half in length. Like most of the etudes, it is written in binary form, A-B-A, that is, it contains a main theme that begins it, then a central section, and after that, the first theme is taken up again.

Little Emilie
The rendition is by Paul Barton, a British pianist who, apart from playing for blind elephants in Thailand, is a well-known YouTuber who gives tips for serious amateurs on his channel. On this occasion, he is accompanied by his little daughter, Emilie, fourteen months old, who intervenes at the end of the piece to delicately press the three C natural, pianissimo, with which this little gem ends.