This end rings out like the crack of creation. It is
elemental. Kullak calls it a "bravura study of the very highest
order for the left hand. It was composed in 1831 in Stuttgart,
shortly after Chopin had received tidings of the taking of Warsaw
by the Russians, September 8, 1831." Karasowski wrote: "Grief,
anxiety and despair over the fate of his relatives and his dearly-
beloved father filled the measure of his sufferings. Under the
influence of this mood he wrote the C minor Etude, called by many
the Revolutionary Etude. Out of the mad and tempestuous storm of
passages for the left hand the melody rises aloft, now passionate
and anon proudly majestic, until thrills of awe stream over the
listener, and the image is evoked of Zeus hurling thunderbolts at
the world."
Niecks thinks it "superbly grand," and furthermore writes: "The
composer seems fuming with rage; the left hand rushes impetuously
along and the right hand strikes in with passionate
ejaculations." Von Bulow said: "This C minor study must be
considered a finished work of art in an even higher degree than
the study in C sharp minor.
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