List of etude composers

An étude is a short musical composition designed to provide practice in a particular technical skill in the performance of a solo instrument.

For the piano

Born 1700–1799

*Johann Baptist Cramer (1771–1858)
*John Field (1782–1837)
*Carl Czerny (1791–1857)
*Ignaz Moscheles (1794–1870): wrote 12 character studies (Op. 95), three concert etudes (Op. 51)
*Henri Bertini (1798–1876): wrote 24 etudes (Op. 29)

Born 1800–1850

*Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)
*Robert Schumann (1810–1856): wrote the Studies (Op.3) and Etudes (Op.10) after Paganini's Caprices; and the "Symphonic Etudes/Études symphoniques" (Op. 13, in three revisions: 1834, 1852, and posthumously 1893).
*Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849): wrote 24 études in two sets of 12 etudes each (Opp. 10 and 25), plus three more (a little easier), for a total of 27.
*Franz Liszt (1811–1886): wrote the set of "Transcendental Etudes", with its two previous versions being Etude en douze exercises and Douze Grandes Etudes; six etudes, also with an earlier set, on themes by Niccolò Paganini (among them the famous "La Campanella"); and six concert etudes (one set of three, another set of two and Ab Irato which also has an earlier version). In contrast with Chopin's etudes, which tend to stress a specific aspect of performance difficulty, Liszt's etudes tend to stress mastery of performance as a whole. Liszt also wrote 12 books of Technical Studies (S.146) between 1868 and 1880.
*Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813–1888): wrote Trois Etudes de bravoure (Op. 16); etudes in all 12 major keys (Op. 35) and in all 12 minor keys (Op. 39); and also three "Grande Études" (Op. 76).
*Adolf von Henselt (1814–1889): wrote 24 etudes, Opp. 2 and 5.
*Clara Schumann (1819–1896)
*Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884): wrote a concert etude, "Am Seegestade - Eine Erinnerung"
*Julius Schulhoff (1825–1898)
*Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829–1869): wrote "Tremolo" and "Manchega", two concert etudes.
*Johannes Brahms (1833–1897): including two sets of variations on a theme by Paganini (op. 35, 1866) in the "also music" tradition, and "51 Exercises for Piano" published in 1893, of the "hardly music" kind.
*Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921): wrote two sets of 6 etudes each (Opp. 52 and 111) and 6 etudes for the left hand (Op. 135)
*Agathe Backer Grøndahl (1847–1907): wrote 19 "Concert Etudes".

Born 1850–1899

*Moritz Moszkowski (1854–1925): wrote three concert studies (Op. 24), "Ecole des doubles notes" (Op. 64), 15 "Études de Virtuositié" (op. 72), 12 studies for the left hand alone (op. 92), and 20 technical studies (Op. 91).
*Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov (1855–1914)
*Sergei Liapunov (1859–1924): wrote "Douze études d'exécution transcendante" in memory of Liszt
*Edward Alexander MacDowell (1860–1908): wrote a concert etude (Op. 36) and 12 etudes (Op. 46)
*Georgy L’vovich Catoire (1861–1926): wrote one etude (Op. 8).
*Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
*Emil von Sauer (1862–1942)
*Felix Blumenfeld (1863–1931): wrote 18 etudes.
*Gabriel Pierné (1863–1937): wrote a concert etude (Op. 13)
*Jean Sibelius (1865–1957)
*Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924): wrote six etudes (Op. 16); an Etude en forme de variations (Op. 17); and Six Polyphonic Etudes.
*Charles Tournemire (1870–1939): wrote "Études de chaque jour" (Op. 70)
*Leopold Godowsky (1870–1938): wrote 60 Studies on Chopin's etudes, of which 53 are published; three original "Concert Studies" (Op. 11), and the "Etude Macabre".
*Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915): wrote 26 etudes (Opp. 2, 8, 42, 49, 56 and 65)
*Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943): wrote two sets of "Etudes-Tableaux" (Opp. 33 and 39).
*Charles Ives (1874–1954)
*Józef Hofmann (1876–1957)
*Ernő Dohnányi (1877–1960): wrote six "Concert Etudes" (Op. 28).
*Béla Bartók (1881–1945): wrote three etudes (Op. 18)
*Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971): wrote four etudes (Op. 7)
*Karol Szymanowski (1882–1937): wrote 4 etudes Op. 4 and 12 etudes Op. 33
*Alfredo Casella (1883–1947)
*Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953): wrote 4 etudes (Op. 2)
*Samuel Feinberg (1890–1962): wrote a Suite (Op. 11) "In Etude Form".
*Kaikhosru Sorabji (1892–1988): wrote 100 "Transcendental Studies" (1944)
*George Gershwin (1898–1937): wrote 7 "Virtuoso Etudes on Popular Songs"

Born after 1900

*Lennox Berkeley (1903–1989)
*Louise Talma (1906–1996): wrote "Six Etudes" (1954) for piano
*Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992): wrote four "Etudes de rythme"
*John Cage (1912–1992): wrote "Etudes Australes" and "Etudes Boreales"
*Maurice Ohana (1913–1992): wrote "Douze Etudes d'interprétation"
*Witold Lutosławski (1913–1994): wrote two etudes (1940-1941)
*George Perle (born 1915) wrote two sets of Etudes
*György Ligeti (1923-2006): wrote three volumes of Etudes (1985, 1988–1994 and 1995)
*Robert Starer (1924–2001): wrote "The Contemporary Virtuoso", a set of 7 etudes
*Einojuhani Rautavaara (born 1928): wrote six etudes (Op. 42)
*Pierre Max Dubois (1930–1995)
*Philip Glass (born 1937): wrote his first volume of etudes in 1994
*Nikolai Kapustin (born 1937): wrote "Eight Concert Etudes" (Op. 40), "Three Etudes" (Op. 67), "Five Études in Different Intervals" (Op. 68)
*Bill Hopkins (1943–1981): wrote nine "Etudes en série" (1965–72) in three "Cahiers"
*Brégent, Michel-Georges (born 1948): wrote "16 Portraits, Études Romantiques pour piano"
*Pascal Dusapin (born 1955): wrote "Etudes for piano (1998-99)"
*Ezequiel Viñao (born 1960): wrote his first book of etudes in 1993
*Marc-André Hamelin (born 1961): wrote 6 (of 12 planned) etudes in minor keys; and a "Triple Etude" after Godowsky
*Daisuke Asakura (born 1967): wrote seven etudes, one for each disc of his Quantum Mechanics Rainbow series

For other instruments

In chronological order

*Girolamo Diruta (c. 1554–1610) for the organ
*Jean-Louis Duport (1749–1819): for the cello
*Federigo Fiorillo (1755–1823): for the violin
*Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766–1831): for the violin
*Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer (1783–1860): for the cello
*Matteo Carcassi (1792–1853): for the guitar
*Theobald Boehm (1794–1881): for the flute
*Friedrich Grützmacher (1832–1903): Op.38 Etudes for the cello
*Franz Wohlfahrt(1833–1884): wrote 60 Studies for Violin (Op. 45)
*David Popper (1843–1913) : for the cello
*Joachim Andersen (1847–1909): for the flute
*Francisco Tárrega (1852–1909): for the guitar (Douze Études)
*Julius Klengel (1859–1933): for the cello
*Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959): for the guitar
*Andrés Segovia (1893–1987): for the guitar
*Lillian Fuchs (1903–1991): for the viola
*John Cage (1912–1992): wrote "Freeman Etudes" for the violin
*Angelo Gilardino (born 1941): wrote five volumes of "Studi di virtuosità e di trascendenza" for guitar
*Robert deMaine (born 1969): wrote Études-Caprices for cello

By instruments

Organ

*Girolamo Diruta (c. 1554-1610)

Flute

*Theobald Boehm (1794-1881)
*Joachim Andersen (1847-1909)
*Marcel Moyse (1889-1984)

Guitar

*Matteo Carcassi (1792-1853)
*Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909)
*Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
*Andrés Segovia (1893-1987)
*Angelo Gilardino (b. 1941)
*Leo Brouwer (b.1939)

Violin

*Federigo Fiorillo (1755-1823)
*Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766-1831)
*Nicolò Paganini (1782-1840) wrote nothing he called études, but e. g. his Caprices can readily be used as such (as witnessed also by transcriptions etc. under "For piano").
*Franz Wohlfahrt (1833-84)
*John Cage (1912-92)

Viola

*Lillian Fuchs (1903-91)

Cello

*Jean-Louis Duport (1749-1819)
*Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer (1783-1860)
*Friedrich Grützmacher (1832-1903)
*David Popper (1843-1919)
*Julius Klengel (1859-1933)
*Robert deMaine (b. 1969)
*Rudolf Matz (1901-1988)
*Sébastien Lee(1805-1887)
*Auguste Franchomme (1808–1884)
*Carlo Alfredo Piatti (1822–1901) wrote nothing he called études, but e. g. his op. 25 Twelve Caprices for cello solo, can readily be used as such