Real Sight Reader
Piano sound
Browser piano

Play your MIDI keyboard through this device’s audio output. Plug headphones into this device and turn down your piano’s own speakers.

← All pieces

L'Adieu (Farewell), Op. 100 No. 12

Friedrich Burgmüller (1806–1874) · sheet music

  • Time 4/4
  • Levels 9
  • Passages 2

Your turn · both hands

 

 

Loading passage…

Preparing your passage…

Friedrich Burgmüller, German-French romantic (1806–1874). The reading release has 2 passages from this piece at level 9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–8 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 at level 9.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of L'Adieu (Farewell), Op. 100 No. 12.

  1. Hands together · bars 1–8 level 9

How to play L'Adieu (Farewell), Op. 100 No. 12

  1. Tempo:The Collection Litolff edition marks it Allegro molto agitato, but a steady tempo that keeps every triplet even sounds more urgent than a rushed one. Pick a speed where you could still add a note without losing control.
  2. Right hand:In the main section the right-hand triplets circle around a few notes, so think of each beat as one small turn of the hand. Lean slightly on the first note of each group and keep the other two light.
  3. Left hand:In the main section the left hand walks in quarter notes like a second melody; shape it rather than just marking time. In the middle it takes over the triplet arpeggios, so practice those alone until they flow without accents.
  4. Hands together:Count three per beat aloud and check that every left-hand quarter note lands exactly with the first note of a right-hand triplet. Slow practice with a metronome clears up most coordination slips.
  5. Dynamics:Manage three moods: the soft, slowing introduction, the agitated main section with its forte, accented ending, and the singing espressivo middle. Mark them with a colored pencil so you can see each change coming.
  6. Practice:Isolate the coda, where the arpeggio figure jumps between octaves, and loop it slowly with the arm guiding each jump. Raise the metronome only after five clean repetitions.
  7. Reading:With no key signature, every G-sharp of A minor is written in as an accidental, and the introduction adds an A-sharp. Circle them on your first read-through.

Common mistakes

  • Turning triplets into uneven groups of two and one. Fix: Practice with the metronome at a slow tempo and say the word tri-pl-et on every group until the evenness is automatic.
  • Letting the left-hand walking line go flat and mechanical under the triplets. Fix: Play the left hand alone first and give its quarter notes a gentle rise and fall.
  • Missing the octave jumps in the coda because the eyes stay on the keys. Fix: Look ahead to the target note on the staff, then glance down only to confirm the hand shape.

Structure: ternary with introduction and coda (Intro–A–B–A–Coda)

A brief, sighing introduction slows to a halt, and then the main section sets right-hand triplets over a walking left hand and ends with accented falling triplets. A contrasting espressivo middle puts a quarter-note melody in the right hand over left-hand triplet arpeggios that lean into C major and touch F minor. The main section returns unchanged, and a coda tosses an A minor arpeggio figure through three registers before two loud closing chords.

Intro · The sigh
A falling right-hand line over soft left-hand chords, with a sudden accent and a marked slowdown before the real tempo begins. Read the accidentals (G-sharp, A-sharp) carefully.
A · Triplet storm (A minor)
Right-hand triplet eighths circling a few neighboring notes, over a left hand walking in quarter notes; the section ends with accented, falling triplets. New to read: fast groups of three against a steady beat.
B · Espressivo arpeggios
Roles swap: a singing right-hand melody in quarter notes over flowing left-hand triplet arpeggios, marked espressivo, with a brief A-flat for darker color.
Coda · Last look back
An A minor arpeggio figure answered in lower and higher octaves, then two forte A minor chords to close.

About L'Adieu (Farewell), Op. 100 No. 12

L'Adieu is the twelfth of Friedrich Burgmüller's 25 Études faciles et progressives, first published in Paris in 1851. Burgmüller was born in Regensburg and settled in Paris in 1832, where he wrote salon music, two ballets and studies for young pianists.

The title means farewell, and the music behaves like a hurried parting. A short, sighing introduction ends in a slowdown marked dim. e rall., then the tempo picks up and the right hand runs in triplet eighths that circle a few notes while the left hand walks below in quarter notes. The Collection Litolff edition marks it Allegro molto agitato, and the middle section, marked espressivo, swaps roles: the right hand sings while the left hand rolls through triplet arpeggios.

Its main challenge is keeping the triplets even and light while the other hand has its own line to shape, then switching which hand carries the melody.

  • L'Adieu is one of only six minor-key studies in Op. 100, along with Nos. 2, 15, 16, 18 and 20.
  • The Collection Litolff edition prints the title in three languages: L'Adieu, Abschied and Farewell.
  • After Op. 100 the composer wrote a more advanced set of 12 études, Op. 105, and an 18-étude set, Op. 109.

Why the first passage is level 9

That passage is level 9 rather than 8 because it leaps a fourth plus an octave, the clef changes partway through.

No key signature: this is A minor, so watch for written-in G-sharps. The right hand climbs into ledger lines above the staff at the end of the main section, so name those notes before you play.

Questions about L'Adieu (Farewell), Op. 100 No. 12

How hard is L'Adieu (Farewell), Op. 100 No. 12 to play?
Its passages grade from level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of L'Adieu (Farewell), Op. 100 No. 12 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 9, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–8 for both hands together, the level-9 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 9 because it leaps a fourth plus an octave and the clef changes partway through.
What key and time signature is L'Adieu (Farewell), Op. 100 No. 12 in?
The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
Who composed L'Adieu (Farewell), Op. 100 No. 12?
Friedrich Burgmüller, German-French romantic (1806–1874). L'Adieu is the twelfth of Friedrich Burgmüller's 25 Études faciles et progressives, first published in Paris in 1851.
Can I practice L'Adieu (Farewell), Op. 100 No. 12 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 2 graded passages from L'Adieu (Farewell), Op. 100 No. 12 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
What does L'Adieu mean?
It is French for farewell. Editions also print the German title Abschied and the English Farewell.
Which studies come before and after L'Adieu in Op. 100?
No. 11 is La bergeronnette and No. 13 is Consolation.
Which other Op. 100 studies are in minor keys?
Arabesque (No. 2, A minor), Ballade (No. 15, C minor), Douce plainte (No. 16, G minor), Inquiétude (No. 18, E minor) and La tarentelle (No. 20, D minor).

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 2 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 9
bars 1–8 both hands · bars 17–24 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (mutopia-ly), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

Keep training on your phone Practice with your own pieces — free on the App Store