Étude, Op. 25 No. 5

1. 0:00
   Semitone clashes, right hand

   The right hand repeatedly sounds notes a semitone apart, which produces quick minor-second clashes against the E minor theme. Chopin marked the music scherzando (joking) and broke its phrases into short, lightly played gestures.

2. 0:54
   Più lento in E major

   The Più lento is slower and in E major. The melody moves to the left hand, in the range of a cello, while the right hand plays rising and falling figuration above it.

3. 1:27
   Dedication of Op. 25, 1837

   The twelve études of Op. 25 appeared in 1837 with a dedication to Marie d’Agoult, the companion of Chopin’s friend Franz Liszt.

4. 2:00
   Sitsky’s First Piano Sonata

   Larry Sitsky, one of Neeman’s teachers, wrote his First Piano Sonata for him. Neeman made its first recording on his debut album of 2016, where it appeared alongside Rachmaninoff.

5. 2:28
   Return of the opening section

   The opening in E minor returns at its quicker pace. The low melodic line stops, and the piano resumes its broken rhythms and brief dissonances. The hands play short exchanges.

6. 3:06
   Coda in E major

   At the end the dynamic rises sharply. Fortissimo chords and an ascending passage take the piano into E major, the key of the middle section. Both hands play at full strength in the closing bars.

Joins

1. 0:54
   Più lento in E major

   The E minor scherzando closes and the Più lento begins in E major. The left hand plays a sustained melody in the cello’s range. The right hand plays rising and falling figures in place of the clipped chords and semitone clashes of the opening.

2. 2:28
   Return of the E minor opening

   The E major section closes, and the quick E minor opening returns. The left hand gives up its long melody, and the piano resumes the short broken chords and semitone dissonances. The marking scherzando again applies to the clipped exchange between the hands.

3. 3:06
   Coda in E major

   The E minor scherzando music returns and leads into a forceful coda. Fortissimo chords and a rising flourish on the piano establish E major, the key of the middle section.

1. 0:00
   Érard piano, 1851

   Goldstein played an Érard built in 1851, two years after Chopin’s death. The recording comes from her survey of the études for Pandora Records and is preserved in the Al Goldstein collection.

2. 0:58
   Middle section in E major

   The middle section moves to E major and Più lento. Its melody lies low, in the range of a cello, while the right hand plays rising and falling figures. The phrases are long, following the clipped semitone clashes of the opening.

3. 2:06
   Return of the E minor theme

   The E minor theme returns with its quick dissonances. Chopin’s scherzando writing alternates between broken chords and short figures. Each figure is released quickly after the sustained melody of the middle section.

4. 2:44
   Final chords in E major

   The close moves into fortissimo chords and an upward flourish in E major. The right hand ends on a high G♯ above the bass.