25 Easy Studies, Op. 100: L’Arabesque

About this work

L’Arabesque, the second study in Op. 100, sets the right hand’s quick figures against short left-hand chords. This A-minor Allegro scherzando remains light when the semiquavers keep their direction and each chord releases immediately after the attack.
Let the figures turn without rushing
Isolate each group of four semiquavers and check the thumb crossings at a reduced tempo. Then join the hands in two-bar units. The middle section changes register and colour, but not pulse; that stability makes the return of the opening theme feel natural.
The Mutopia Project offers Bas Wassink’s typesetting from the Collection Litolff edition in the public domain. Repeats, fingering and accents fit on a single sheet. The MIDI is particularly useful for checking that each new burst leaves the metre undisturbed; further piano studies are available from LesPartitions.info.