Unlike the highly virtuoso Etudes d'execution transcendante by Franz Liszt,
these etudes by Wilhelm Killmayer are written 'in a deliberately anti-virtuoso
manner, without chroma, i.e. with seven tones and largely in two parts'. (Wilhelm Killmayer)

Each of the twelve pieces focusses on a single compositional or technical aspect. Diatonic scales, parallel thirds and major chords are combined with some technically very tricky passages.

Killmayer makes great demands on the pianist's concentration, subtly coloured performance and differentiated articulation. The seventh etude is given the title 'Im Schumann-Ton' - unforced heartfelt music, always somehow "absent" and unpredictable in its modulations.