Frédéric Chopin - Etude in B Minor, Op. 25, No. 10

Right after the ‘fluttering’ music of the G flat major Etude, a new, utterly different, tone enters the opus 25 set of Etudes, henceforth reigning supreme till the end: a serious tone, of exalted, monumental features. On account of its ‘octave’ texture, the tenth Etude, in B minor, strikes the listener with its remarkable loudness and power. Triplets of double octaves galloping along in chromatic motion and in unison unleash a volume of sound that the piano has never experienced before. Jachimecki heard in this music ‘a hurricane threatening death and destruction’; Niecks – ‘a real pandemonium […] finally hell prevails’. The insertion of a singing trio in B major into this demonic music (a method that Chopin had employed previously in the B minor Scherzo) was quite simply a psychological necessity. Its simple, diatonic beauty brought a contrast that is slightly tinged with irony. Author: Mieczysław Tomaszewski [Cykl audycji "Fryderyka Chopina Dzieła Wszystkie"] Polish Radio, program II