How to practise it
Arabesque is a short study in A minor and 2/4, marked Allegro scherzando. Its whole difficulty is one figure: four quick sixteenth notes, played lightly, first in the right hand and then in the left, while the other hand answers with short chords.
- Learn the run in the hand that has it before adding the chords: the right hand has it in bars 3–6, 20–23 and 28–32, the left hand in bars 12–17.
- Keep all four sixteenths even at 60% before you speed up. A run that rushes to its last note is the usual fault.
- Play the chords short but soft: lift from the wrist rather than strike. Leggiero means the runs stay light too.
- Add the sforzandi and the crescendos last, once the notes are steady at full tempo.
Agility · Coordination
Where the score comes from
Friedrich Burgmüller, Arabesque, Op. 100 No. 2. Mutopia engraving by Bas Wassink, after Collection Litolff, 19th century, Mutopia-2013/01/12-203, dedicated to the public domain by the typesetter: https://www.mutopiaproject.org/ftp/BurgmullerJFF/O100/25EF-02/. MusicXML edition by Noctave, CC0 1.0: https://noctavepiano.com/partitions/burgmuller-op100-2/. Gradiano: canonical title and provenance metadata added; Noctave editorial tempo of 112 quarter notes per minute retained. Sounding notes and rhythms unchanged from Noctave. Missing source expression words and measure-3 piano dynamic restored. Notes and rhythms are preserved; this is not a facsimile.