Chopin’s Etude in F Major, Opus 25, No. 3

A ny analytical investigation of Chopin’s Etude in F major, Op. 25, No. 3 will sooner or later be confronted with the problem of how to understand or interpret the B-major section (bars 29–36) in a work in F major. For too long a time we have been satisfied with descriptive statements about the undoubted surprise effect or the so-called harmonic boldness of such passages, without coming to grips with the essential problem— their function and meaning within the tonal organism of the entire work.