Étude Op. 10, No. 2 (Chopin)

[5] The melody consists of rapid chromatic scale figures played by the outer right-hand fingers, accompanied by chord attacks.

The middle section brings a dramatic increase with the dynamic climax exactly in the center of the piece, bar 25.

The final dominant seventh chord of each sequence leads to the next one by means of a deceptive cadence.

Chopin demanded that the chromatic scale be played sempre legato, a direction mentioned seven times throughout the score.

A copy by Józef Linowski of Chopin's autograph reads cut time (alla breve) for No.

[10] The transparent texture of nonstop semiquavers accompanied by a light "dancing" bass has its forerunners in Bach's Prelude No.

5 in D major (BWV 850) from the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier and resembles other virtuoso pieces from around 1830 such as Paganini's Moto Perpetuo for violin and piano.

But Leichtentritt describes its sound effect as the "murmuring and blowing of a gentle wind",[10] French pianist Alfred Cortot (1877–1962) mentions its "gliding and vaporous character"[12] and Alfredo Casella talks about a "character of swift, aerial and unsubstantial mysteriousness".

[13] The American music critic James Huneker (1857–1921) writes that "the entire composition, with its murmuring, meandering, chromatic character, is a forerunner to the whispering, weaving, moonlit effects in some of [Chopin's] later studies".

Leichtentritt believes that Chopin in this étude revives an old fingering habit (that of not using the thumb) from the pre-Bach clavichord time of the 17th century which had already long been regarded as obsolete.

The technical significance of this étude for Chopin is proved by the extensiveness of his fingerings, an effort he did not apply to any other piece.

[18] Von Bülow orders "the middle harmonies to be played throughout distinctly, and yet transiently [flüchtig]".

[9] Galston suggests to accentuate all the upper notes of the two-note chords (played by the 2nd finger) while practicing the right hand.

Kogosowski reports that even "the imposingly powerful Sviatoslav Richter, who possessed the most awesome technical equipment of any pianist in the world, would quake before this tiny piece.

In the course of this study the chromatic scale and the two-note accompaniment chords appear in all kinds of permutations given to the right to the left and to both hands simultaneously.

Scottish composer Alistair Hinton likewise combines Chopin's A minor Études Op.