Changes

An '''etude''' (French: ''étude'', “study”) is a form of musical composition originally intended to aid to improve the technique of the player. As the [[Italian]] ''studio'', there are examples of the form dating back to the first half of the1 8th century. With the development of the modern piano in the early 19th century, and its growing popularity as a household instrument, books of etudes appeared containing pieces, each of which instructed on a particular facet of technique.

An '''etude''' (French: ''étude'', “study”) is a form of musical composition originally intended to aid or improve the technique of the player. As the [[Italian]] ''studio'', there are examples of the form dating back to the first half of the 18th century. With the development of the modern [[piano]] in the early 19th century, and its growing popularity as a household instrument, books of etudes appeared containing pieces, each of which instructed on a particular facet of technique.

The form entered the concert hall with [[Franz Liszt]]’s ''Études en 12 exercises'' in about 1827 (These pieces were to finally become the ''Études d’exécution transcendante'' – or “''Transendental studies''” -  among the most difficult to play of all piano works.); however it is [[Frédéric Chopin]]’s two sets (Opp. 10 and 25, published in 1833 and 1837) that established the etude as an artform; and are the most frequently performed today. Of the various other sets of studies written for the piano, only those of [[Claude Debussy]] have lasting popularity.  

The form entered the concert hall with [[Franz Liszt]]’s ''Études en 12 exercises'' in about 1827 (These pieces were to finally become the ''Études d’exécution transcendante'' – or “''Transendental studies''” -  among the most difficult to play of all piano works.); however it is [[Frédéric Chopin]]’s two sets (Opp. 10 and 25, published in 1833 and 1837) that established the etude as an artform; and are the most frequently performed today. Of the various other sets of studies written for the piano, only those of [[Claude Debussy]] have lasting popularity.