An Etude is an instrumental musical composition usually short, of considerable difficulty, and designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill. In this case it would be the piano because there are no lyrics in the piece. The music is polyphonic and it has a slow and sad melody. He tries to recreate the lyrical song with the piano, which you can tell in the first part of the piece. As you listen throughout the song the music is very slow which could signify sadness and longing. It sounds like a love song though. There are no words in the music, but the emotions are portrayed through the piano. The rhythm speeds up around 1:30 and then there is some dissonance until 2:18 and then the music’s rhythm slows down and it goes back to being a majestic love song.  During the times of dissonance it must have portrayed a distance or anger with missing and loving home or maybe a time when something did not go as well as planned at home. The middle part is also the most intense.

It still has the lyrical tone, which is what the first part of the piece has too. Within the first opening seconds the theme is introduced to the piece. The theme is very important throughout the entire piece because it is underneath the entire song. Also the piece progresses there are two melodies at the same time. That means that the left hand and the right hand are playing two different melodies, which makes it a very difficult piece for many pianists. At the end of the piece the theme that was presented at the beginning of the piece is reintroduced at the end. It is like a ritornello, the repetition of themes that was introduced in Bach. Chopin has said that it was his best melody and it contrasts with the other pieces in his set. According to a few sources the song is nicknamed “Tristeese” which means sadness, the piece is apparently for Chopin’s love and nostalgia of his homeland, which was in Poland. Another source says it was his love for Constancia Gladkowska because they emigrated from Poland together. They were married and he wrote this Etude at one of the happiest times of his lives and she was one of his only loves. This etude has a lot of passion and fervor and it.