What is "etudes"

n. (plural of etude English)

Études is French for "studies". It is used as a name for several music or dance works, including:

• Études, three sets of studies for the piano by Frédéric Chopin, composed between 1829 and 1839
• Études, a set of 12 piano études composed in 1915 by Claude Debussy
• Études, a 1948 ballet by Harald Lander
• Études, 18 piano studies composed between 1985 and 2001 by György Ligeti

A number of musical works include the word Études in their title:

• Trois Nouvelles Études for piano written by Frédéric Chopin in 1839
• Trois Études de concert, a set of three piano études by Franz Liszt, composed between 1845 and 1849
• Grandes Études de Paganini, a series of six études for the piano by Franz Liszt, in 1851
• Études d'exécution transcendante, a series of twelve compositions for solo piano by Franz Liszt in 1852
• Études-Tableaux, two sets of piano études composed in 1911 by Sergei Rachmaninoff
• Études australes and Études boréales, two sets of études for cello and/or piano composed by John Cage between 1974 and 1978
• Études transcendantales, a song cycle in 9 movements for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble composed by Brian Ferneyhough between 1982 and 1985

The word Études also appears in the academic world:

• École pratique des hautes études, a prestigious research and higher education institution in France
• Institut des hautes études scientifiques, a French institute supporting advanced research in mathematics and theoretical physics, located in Bures-sur-Yvette just south of Paris
• École des hautes études commerciales is the name of prestigious business schools in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, etc.
• Études celtiques, a French academic journal of Celtic Studies, based in Paris, founded in 1870
• Revue des études juives, a French quarterly of Jewish studies, founded in 1880

The Études by Frédéric Chopin are three sets of solo studies for the piano published during the 1830s. There are twenty-seven compositions overall, comprising two separate collections of twelve, numbered Opus 10 and 25, and a set of three without opus number.

Études is a one-act ballet choreographed by Danish dancer and choreographer Harald Lander to piano studies by Carl Czerny arranged for orchestra by Knudåge Riisager. It is considered Lander's most famous choreographic work and brought him international fame. The work premiered on 15 January 1948 at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen with the Royal Danish Ballet, with scenery and costumes by Rolf Gerard and lighting by Nananne Porcher.

Études is considered an homage to classical ballet training. It begins with traditional ballet exercises at the barre and ends with spectacular bravura displays.

The original cast included: Margot Lander, Hans Brenaa, Svend Erik Jensen, Inge Sand and Inge Goth. Its ABT premiere at the 54th Street Theatre in New York took place on 5 October 1961 and featured dancers Toni Lander, Royes Fernandez, Bruce Marks, Eleanor D'Antuono and Elisabeth Carroll.

Claude Debussy's Études ( L 136) are a set of 12 piano études composed in 1915. The pieces are extremely difficult to play, and Debussy described them as "a warning to pianists not to take up the musical profession unless they have remarkable hands". They are broadly considered his late masterpieces.

1. Étude 1 pour les cinq doigts d'après Monsieur Czerny (five fingers, "after Monsieur Czerny")
2. Étude 2 pour les tierces ( thirds)
3. Étude 3 pour les quartes ( fourths)
4. Étude 4 pour les sixtes ( sixths)
5. Étude 5 pour les octaves
6. Étude 6 pour les huit doigts (eight fingers)
7. Étude 7 pour les degrés chromatiques ( chromatic degrees)
8. Étude 8 pour les agréments ( ornaments)
9. Étude 9 pour les notes répétées (repeated notes)
10. Étude 10 pour les sonorités opposées (opposing sonorities)
11. Étude 11 pour les arpèges composés (composite arpeggios)
12. Étude 12 pour les accords ( chords)

Etudes is an album by the American jazz bassist Charlie Haden recorded in 1987 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.

The Hungarian composer György Ligeti composed a cycle of 18 études for solo piano between 1985 and 2001. They are one of the major creative achievements of his last decades, and one of the most significant sets of piano studies of the 20th century, combining virtuoso technical problems with expressive content, following in the line of the études of Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, Claude Debussy, and Alexander Scriabin but addressing new technical ideas as a compendium of the concepts Ligeti had worked out in his other works since the 1950s. Pianist Jeremy Denk wrote that they "are a crowning achievement of his career and of the piano literature; though still new, they are already classics."

Einojuhani Rautavaara's six Etydit (Études), Op. 42 were composed in 1969. According to the composer, the intent in writing these works, each of which explores a single interval, was to "...reintroduce a sonorous, broad piano style using the entire compass of the keyboard, presenting this wonderful instrument in its full abundance." Matambo, in her study of the composer's solo piano works, noted that the composer also referred to the works as "interval experiments", and that with the exception of the first of the études () all of the pieces exploit dissonance.

1. (Thirds)
2. (Sevenths)
3. ( Tritones)
4. (Fourths)
5. (Seconds)
6. (Fifths)