Chopin scholar Simon Finlow observes that a very similar passage occurs a decade before Chopin in the rondo of Johann Nepomuk Hummel's Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 85. In Hummel though the purpose of the semiquaver figure is to "decorate a chromatic sequence" whereas in Chopin the figure "embodies a motivic structure that permeates the entire composition" and reaches a "dramatic apotheosis" in the Coda. Another remarkable trait is the upbeat character of the motif likewise permeating the entire piece. Like in the first two études of Op. 10, a rough copy autograph reads cut time (alla breve), further supported by the metronome mark  = 88 referring to half notes (rather than  = 176 referring to quarter notes).