25 Easy and Progressive Etudes (Op. 100)

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9. La Chasse (Hunting Song) in C Major

The previous two studies were about delicacy and control of sound in the softer dynamic levels; La chasse has all the energy and colour of a hunt, with a dynamic range from pp to f. The form is rondo (A-B-A-C-A), with an introduction and a coda. We clearly hear the hunting horns and the galloping of horses’ hooves, and we feel the excitement of the occasion. Do we also detect a certain compassion for the poor fox in the troubled B section (dominant minor, poco agitato) and the expressive C section in the relative minor, marked dolente (sadly)?

The staccato chords in introduction need our consideration. As we build the crescendo from p to f, give the crotchets more length and more weight than the quavers. The octave jumps in the right hand of the A section pose a technical problem. I recommend Burgmüller’s own fingering (5-2-1), and suggest practising the right hand alone in different rhythms - YA-ta-ta, YA-ta-ta (to encourage energetic propulsion away from the 5^th finger, and a secure link from the thumb back to the next 5^th finger), and ya-TA-ta, ya-TA-ta (to ensure the spring-off from the 5^th finger lands us firmly into the 2^nd finger). The rhythms would be written as “quaver-semiquaver-semiquaver” and “semiquaver-quaver-semiquaver” respectively, but all notes would be played short. The left hand’s top notes carry the melody line (easy to bring out if you use the thumb on each); the accents indicate that each four-bar phrase peaks in the second bar on the first beat, the second phrase an echo of the first. A legato can be achieved in the right hand of bar 15, etc., if the 3^rd finger is released just before the second beat, the legato connection produced from the 5^th finger.

The harmonic progression in the C section (bars 29-36) is worth exploring, possibly as the basis for improvisation. In the key of A minor, we find: i – iv – i – V7/iv – iv – ic (i6/4) – V7 - i. Block out the left hand, noticing that the rate of harmonic change in bar 35 is twice as fast as in other bars.

The coda introduces a new term – perdendosi, which means dying away.

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