of legato bows and dynamic accents. Kullak prefers
the Tellefsen metronome 80, rather than the traditional 96. Most of the
others use 88 to the quarter, except Riemann, who espouses the more
rapid gait of 96. Klindworth, with his 88, strikes a fair medium.

The verdict of Von Bulow on the following study in A flat, No. 10, has
no uncertainty of tone in its proclamation:

He who can play this study in a really finished manner may
congratulate himself on having climbed to the highest point of
the pianist's Parnassus, as it is perhaps the most difficult
piece of the entire set. The whole repertory of piano music
does not contain a study of perpetuum mobile so full of genius
and fancy as this particular one is universally acknowledged
to be, except perhaps Liszt's Feux Follets. The most important
point would appear to lie not so much in the interchange of
the groups of legato and staccato as in the exercise of
rhythmic contrasts--the alternation of two and three part
metre (that is, of four and six) in the same bar. To overcome
this fundamental difficulty in the art of musical reproduction
is the most important thing here, and with true zeal it may
even be accomplished easily.

Kullak writes: "Harmonic anticipations; a rich rhythmic life
originating in the changing articulation of the twelve-eights in groups
of three and two each. ... This etude is an exceedingly piquant
composition, possessing for the hearer a wondrous, fantastic charm, if
played with the proper insight." The metronomic marking is practically
the same in all editions, 152 to the quarter notes. The study is one of
the most charming of the composer. There is more depth in it than in
the G flat and F major studies, and its effectiveness in the virtuoso
sense is unquestionable. A savor of the salon hovers over its perfumed
measures, but there is grace, spontaneity and happiness. Chopin must
have been as happy as his sensitive nature would allow when he
conceived this vivacious caprice.

In all the editions, Riemann's excepted, there is no doubt left as to
the alternations of metres. Here are the first few bars of Von
Billow's, which is normal phrasing:

[Musical score excerpt]

Read Riemann's version of these bars:

[Musical score excerpt]

Riemann is conducive to clear-sighted phrasing, and will set the
student thinking, but the general effect of accentuation is certainly
different. All the editors quoted agree with Von