CHOPIN Etude op.10 N12 "Revolutionary" | Nicolas BALDEYROU

Dear Friends, as promised today’s video is a Chopin etude, and one of my favorite, the “revolutionary” etude opus 10 N12, the last one of the studies opus 10 dedicated to Franz Liszt 😊 The piece reportedly emerged after Chopin heard of Poland’s failure in its rebellion against Russia. Chopin was unable to participate due to his poor health, and when he heard that the rebellion failed, he cried, “All this has caused me so much pain. Who could have foreseen it!” During this time period, he produced some of his darkest and most passionate works, such as the Scherzo No. 2 and this etude. Chopin named very few of his own compositions, almost always preferring to refer to them by opus and number. His etudes were no exception. However, due to their passionate, Chopin-esque nature, many of the etudes have nicknames given either by enthusiastic editors or zealous fans. These programmatic titles have been noted where they are present. Again, it is important to note that Chopin himself did not come up with any of these titles, and most likely even disapproved of them. In the beginning, after a strong chord rings out, the left hand runs relentlessly and the melody is further developed in the right hand. Given the context of the piece, one could liken the opening chord to a gunshot. The ensuing tumultuous left hand and impassioned right hand could then be interpreted as a hero fighting a battle in a war. After a hard struggle, the piece ends quite as chaotically and dramatically as it began, yet in C major, leaving us with a sense of ambiguity – we are not sure if our hero prevailed or perished, but we do know that he fought bravely with both body and spirit. Arranging this piece for clarinet quintet was of course quite challenging! managing the global rubato, playing the right hand octaves in tune but still keeping the line, direction of the phrase and a correct synchronisation, working on the busy bass clarinet part etc. But thank you all for proposing this study and giving me motivation to practice, I hope you’ll enjoy the result ! As I often get questions about my clarinets (which I don’t own unfortunately) and setups, here are informations : - 1st clarinet Buffet Légende Green Line (Vandoren BD5, V12 3,5 reed, Vandoren Optimum ligature) - 2nd clarinet Buffet Légende in boxwood - 3rd clarinet Buffet Légende prototype in mopani - Bass clarinet Buffet Tosca 1195R - Contrabass clarinet Buffet from 1935 (generously lent by the Buffet Museum I hope you'll like it and don't hesitate to give me ideas 😁 Take care and stay safe! ❤️