What is a virtuosic etude?

Question

And if you know what one is, feel free to recommend one for me to play :)

**For piano**

Answer 1

Virtuoso studies, or études, come in two distinct species: those that address a single technical issue in the most extremely demanding form the composer can conceive of; and those that take such extremes of technical demand for granted and concentrate on musical excellence above and beyond those technical demands or arising quite naturally from them.

Examples of the first category are simply legion, as almost every pianist-composer worth his salt contributed his personal ha'penneth worth to the general pool, as a matter of course. Czerny (his op.365 in particular), Hummel, Hiller, Herz, Kalkbrenner, Heller, Pixis, Henselt, Thalberg, Rubinstein, to name but a few. Liszt's Virtuoso Exercises (nothing whatever to do with his études in any form), Brahms' 51 Exercises, and those by Rafael Joseffy should be included in this category too.

Bang on the cusp of the divide between this first kind of étude and the second, sit the two sets of twelve by Chopin, op. 10 and op.25. Although each fundamentally addresses a single pianistic problem, or complex of problems, they are the first to be conceived of as works of art for public performance and, moreover, with regard to the second set, op. 25, in particular, the absolute first ever to be conceived of as a *cycle* for *public* performance *as a single creative opus*. (Elements of the op.10 set were definitely conceived of in pairs, so to be performed -- Op.10:3 and op.10:4, for example are expressly marked to be played consecutively without a break -- but there is still too much disparity to speak of a cycle as such.)

Schumann, with his Symphonic Studies op.13, takes a quite different viewpoint, combining symphonic gesture (not too much of it) with variation form, the latter element of which, unsurprisingly, Brahms took up cudgels for in his two books of Paganini Variations op. 35: *his* virtuoso 'études', without a doubt, in all but name.

Liszt draws his own conclusions -- unifiying the two genres to a certain degree -- in his towering sets of Paganini studies and the pianistically menacing Transcendental Studies, which absorbs all the characteristics mentioned above and superimposes the ultimate demand of 'transcendance'. This term is often mistakenly assumed to be an attribute of 'difficulty', i.e. these studies' difficulty transcends that of all others. Though not necessarily untrue in practice, that's not Liszt's point. His demand is that the performer's technical armoury is beyond all limitation from the outset in order to transcend all such material boundaries so as to concentrate on the musical complexities completely, quite unfettered. Modest the demand is not...

Following comparable paths of extreme demand are the two monumental sets of Alkan, (op.35 and op.39), Debussy's single set of 12 (an overt and explicit act of homage to Chopin), and the two books of Études Tableaux op.33 and op.39 by Rachmaninoff, while Scriabin's and Szymanowsky's models remain closer to Chopin's on the whole. From then on, into the modern age it's a complete free for all, all types and models being fair game.

To recommend one to play is quite impossible without knowing your capabilities as a player. A poor choice could do a great deal of technical, and thus physical mischief... :-/

Answer 2

All the Chopin Etudes are virtuosic - there are two sets of 12. But honestly I think that if you had any hope of playing them surely you would have heard of them - and surely you would know what 'virtuosic etude' means.

Answer 3

You should explore the works of the following virtuoso pianists/arrangers/composers: Ferruccio Busoni Muzio Clementi John Field Leopold Godowsky Henri Litolff Nikolai Medtner Olivier Messiaen Ignaz Moscheles Moritz Moszkowski Carl Nielsen Ignaz Paderewski Ferdinand Ries (Beethoven's pupil) Anton Rubinstein Alexander Skryabin (Scriabin) Kaikhosru Sorabji Alexander Tcherepnin

Answer 4

Virtuosic means showy and highly technical. Etude is a study of something and is the title of that type of piece. To find one that suits you, go to a library and listen to various Etudes by composers like Chopin, Scriabin, Debussy, Rachmoninov, etc.

Answer 5

Chopin's Black Key Etude

Answer 6

Solfeggietto by C.P.E. Bach. Youtube it.

Answer 7

hi,here you can read it.best wishes,from reiki. http://www.schirmer.com/Default.aspx?TabId=2420&State_2874=2&workId_2874=24477 http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-17250114.html