Recording
- Vivace — Black KeysEdward Neeman1:51
Edward Neeman plays the Étude in G♭ major, Op. 10 No. 5, marked Vivace and known as the Black Keys étude, in which the right hand plays across the five black notes while the left hand plays chords and the bass line. The final run in octaves also stays on the black keys.
Listening notes · joins
- Opening, right-hand triplets
The right hand plays semiquaver triplets on the piano’s five black notes, and the left hand plays detached chords and octaves below. In the opening phrase the dynamics change quickly between forte and piano, with a loud statement followed by a soft reply.
- Set Chopin Free project, 2013
Edward Neeman was among the pianists who recorded Chopin for Musopen’s Set Chopin Free project. The project was launched through crowdfunding in 2013 to make new recordings that anyone could download, share and use.
- Coda in G♭ major
The coda brings the middle section’s figure back in G♭ major. Wide arpeggios cover the keyboard, then both hands play detached octaves on the black keys. The closing marking is fortissimo.
Joins
- The triplets continue into D♭ major
The opening modulates from G♭ major to its dominant, D♭ major. The right-hand triplets continue without a break, and the left hand changes the bass and the chord pattern. In the middle section the regular four-bar phrases of the opening are extended to irregular lengths.
- Return to G♭ major
At bar 49 the left hand’s short figures lead back to G♭ major and the opening figure. The right hand continues its black-note triplets, and the bass restores the original harmony. Soon after the return the markings change to delicatissimo, pianissimo, smorzando — very delicate, very quiet, dying away.
- Cadence into the G♭ major coda
A soft cadence leads into the coda in G♭ major. The figure from the middle section returns in the home key. The hands then move apart into wide arpeggios over a rising bass. The étude ends with octaves on the black keys in both hands, marked fortissimo and played detached.
Other performances
Historical and comparison recordings, outside the concert’s running order.
- Black Keys, followed by Butterfly — complete disc sideAlfred Cortot · 22 April 1920, Camden2:43
Alfred Cortot recorded the two G♭ major études, Op. 10 No. 5 and Op. 25 No. 9, on this complete 1920 Victor disc side, playing the running triplets of Black Keys and then the clipped leaps of Butterfly. The pause between the two pieces is kept as it was in the original pairing.
Listening notes · joins
- Black notes, two hands
Black Keys begins with right-hand triplets above detached left-hand chords. Chopin writes quick changes from loud to soft: the opening phrase is loud and is answered lower down the piano. The running notes are marked legato.
- Letter to Julian Fontana, 1839
On 25 April 1839 Chopin wrote to Julian Fontana from Marseille to ask whether Clara Wieck had played this étude well. He called it “the least interesting” of the études for anyone who did not know it was meant for the black keys, and wished she had chosen something better.
- Cortot’s working edition, 1915
Cortot also edited the étude and taught it on paper. In his 1915 working edition he gave the aim as “legato brillant, nommé jeu perlé”, brilliant legato, called pearly playing. His exercises prepare the hand to shift between widely separated positions.
- Second étude, Op. 25 No. 9
The second étude is Butterfly, Op. 25 No. 9, also in G♭ major. Its right-hand groups mix short slurs with detached notes and octaves, after the continuous triplets of the first étude.
- Dedications of Op. 10 and Op. 25
Chopin dedicated all of Op. 10, published in 1833, to his friend Franz Liszt. The second set, Op. 25, which includes this Butterfly, appeared in 1837 with a dedication to Marie d’Agoult, Liszt’s companion.
Joins
- D♭ major under the running triplets
The first étude modulates to D♭ major. The right hand continues its triplets on the black keys while the left hand changes the bass and the chords. Later in this middle section, short left-hand figures sound beneath the right hand’s sempre legatissimo.
- Return to G♭ major and the coda
From bar 49 the left hand leads back to G♭ major, and the first étude’s opening figure returns. The dynamic falls to pianissimo. The coda follows with broad arpeggios and ends with a run of black-key octaves in both hands.
- Between two G♭ major études
Black Keys ends in G♭ major and the piano stops. Butterfly begins in the same key, marked Allegro assai. The triplets are replaced by short right-hand groups, some slurred and some detached, over a light accompaniment.