Etude in A-flat major, Op. 10 No. 10

Instrumentation

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Musical Terms (5)

• con fuoco Italian
  With fire — in Chopin, indicating passionate, impulsive energy with a specific brilliance of tone.
  In Chopin, con fuoco (as in the C minor Nocturne Op. 48 central section) implies an urgent, almost desperate intensity. The fire is internal as much as dynamic.
• leggermente Italian
  Lightly — a characteristic instruction in Chopin's ornamental passages indicating a feather-light touch.
  Chopin's ornamental figurations (as in the nocturnes and ballades) should float over the sustained bass harmony. The fingers barely brush the keys; the sound is gossamer.
• mesto Italian
  Sad, mournful — a characteristic emotional marking in Chopin, indicating a specific quality of melancholy.
  Not merely slow or soft. Chopin's mesto has a particular colour — the sadness of remembrance rather than acute grief. A slightly veiled tone and restrained dynamic are typical.
• sotto voce Italian
  Under the voice — in a hushed, intimate undertone.
  Softer and more private than piano. A sotto voce passage in Chopin speaks to itself; the audience almost eavesdrops.
• tempo rubato Italian
  Robbed time — in Chopin's style, the melody flows freely while the accompaniment maintains a steady, regular pulse.
  Described by contemporary accounts of Chopin's own playing: the left hand keeps strict time like a conductor; the right hand sings freely around it, ahead or behind the beat. The two hands are not mechanically synchronised.