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The Clear Stream (Le Courant limpide), Op. 100 No. 7

Friedrich Burgmüller (1806–1874) · sheet music

  • Key G major
  • Time 4/4
  • Levels 4–9
  • Passages 7

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Friedrich Burgmüller, German-French romantic (1806–1874). The reading release has 7 passages from this piece at levels 4–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 9–10 for the left hand alone.

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 The Clear Stream (Le Courant limpide), Op. 100 No. 7.

  1. Left hand alone · bars 9–10 level 4
  2. Hands together · bars 1–4 level 8
  3. The hardest bars · bars 1–8 level 9

How to play The Clear Stream (Le Courant limpide), Op. 100 No. 7

  1. Tempo:It is marked Allegro vivace, but learn it at a gentle pace first. The goal is a smooth stream, so the speed should come only after every triplet is even.
  2. Right hand:Play the melody notes (the first note of each triplet) with the first finger and a bit of weight, and keep the other two notes of each triplet as soft as you can.
  3. Left hand:The left hand plays quarter notes on the beat. The challenge is keeping them soft but full, with a core to the sound; practicing them at a louder level first can help you find the right feel.
  4. Hands together:Coordinate the left-hand quarter notes with the first note of each triplet, which is where the melody sits. If they do not line up, slow down and tap beats on the lid.
  5. Fingering:One suggested left-hand pattern is about 5-2-5-2, except in the middle section. Use whatever keeps your hand quiet and avoids unnecessary shifts.
  6. Dynamics:Keep the whole piece in the soft range and shape phrases with small waves. A little rubato, or flexible timing, keeps the stream from sounding mechanical.
  7. Practice:Practice the right hand first with only the melody notes, then add the soft filler notes. Loop the middle section separately, listening for which hand carries the tune.

Common mistakes

  • Playing all the notes of each triplet at the same volume. Fix: Practice with the first note of each triplet louder, then fade the others to a whisper.
  • Letting the left-hand quarter notes fade or sound thin. Fix: Practice them louder, then bring them back down while keeping the same finger energy.
  • Treating the middle section like the opening. Fix: Decide which hand has the melody there and balance toward it.
  • Rushing because of the Allegro vivace marking. Fix: Start slow and increase the tempo in small steps, only when the triplets are even.

Structure: ternary (A-B-A)

A repeated opening section in G major ends at a Fine marking, a contrasting middle section follows in D major, and a da capo instruction sends you back to the opening, which closes the piece. Steady triplet motion in the right hand runs through all of it, while the melody moves between voices.

A · The murmuring stream (G major)
The melody lives on the first note of each right-hand triplet, played by the thumb, while the other notes stay as quiet as possible over steady left-hand quarter notes. New to read here: a tune hidden inside an arpeggio.
B · Voices separate (D major)
The left hand takes over a singing line in quarter notes while the right-hand triplets ripple around a repeated A above it. Listen for which voice is leading.
A · The stream returns (da capo) (G major)
The opening is played again up to the Fine, so you meet the same murmuring surface with a fresh, softer touch.

About The Clear Stream (Le Courant limpide), Op. 100 No. 7

Friedrich Burgmüller (1806-1874) was born in Regensburg and settled in Paris in 1832. He published his 25 Études faciles et progressives, Op. 100, in Paris in 1851 with the subtitle 'composed and fingered expressly for small hands'. The set is aimed at early-intermediate students, with later sets, Op. 105 and Op. 109, for more advanced players.

Le courant limpide, number 7, paints a quiet brook. The right hand ripples in triplet arpeggios beneath a melody, and the opening carries the marking mormorendo, meaning murmuring. Commentators have compared the accompaniment pattern to the piano part of Schubert's song 'Wohin?' from Die schöne Müllerin, another picture of flowing water.

The piece is a study in balance. A tune has to sing out of the first note of each triplet while the other notes stay hushed, and the left hand has to sound steady and rounded at a very soft level.

  • The opening instruction is mormorendo, which means murmuring or whispering.
  • PTNA's commentary gives the original tempo as quarter note = 176, a brisk pace for such a soft, murmuring piece.
  • A commentary compares the accompaniment to the one in Schubert's song 'Wohin?' from Die schöne Müllerin.
  • The Op. 100 title page says the studies are composed and fingered expressly for small hands.

Why the first passage is level 4

That passage is level 4 rather than 3 because it reaches 2 ledger lines.

Seven graded passages here run from level 4 to level 9, in 4/4 with one sharp. Triplet arpeggios and the melody tucked inside them are the main reading challenge.

Questions about The Clear Stream (Le Courant limpide), Op. 100 No. 7

How hard is The Clear Stream (Le Courant limpide), Op. 100 No. 7 to play?
Its passages grade from level 4 to 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 The Clear Stream (Le Courant limpide), Op. 100 No. 7 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 4, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 9–10 for the left hand alone, the level-4 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 4 because it reaches 2 ledger lines.
What key and time signature is The Clear Stream (Le Courant limpide), Op. 100 No. 7 in?
The Clear Stream (Le Courant limpide), Op. 100 No. 7 is in G major, 1 sharp. The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
Who composed The Clear Stream (Le Courant limpide), Op. 100 No. 7?
Friedrich Burgmüller, German-French romantic (1806–1874). Friedrich Burgmüller (1806-1874) was born in Regensburg and settled in Paris in 1832.
Can I practice The Clear Stream (Le Courant limpide), Op. 100 No. 7 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 7 graded passages from The Clear Stream (Le Courant limpide), Op. 100 No. 7 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
What does Le courant limpide mean?
It is French for the limpid, or clear, stream. The English title on this page is The Clear Stream.
What else is in Burgmüller's Op. 100?
Op. 100 is a set of 25 easy and progressive études, published in Paris in 1851. Burgmüller later wrote the more advanced sets Op. 105 (12 études) and Op. 109 (18 études).
Which Schubert song is the accompaniment compared to?
A PTNA commentary compares the accompaniment pattern to the second song of Die schöne Müllerin, 'Wohin?', which also pictures flowing water.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 7 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 4
bars 9–10 left hand
Level 8
bars 1–4 both hands · bars 9–16 both hands · bars 9–12 both hands · bars 13–16 both hands
Level 9
bars 1–8 both hands · bars 5–8 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

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

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