Alkan's engagement with the etude genre came relatively late.J.-B. Cramer's publication of 84 etudes (1804, 1809), etude collections generally came to be written in ternary form based on repetitive figuration. However, entering the 1830s, virtuosos began to pursue extreme performance techniques through etudes, transcending the practical purpose of mere practice. In Paris,Chopin (1833, 37), Hummel (1833), Hiller (1834), Kalkbrenner (1835, 39), Thalberg (1837, 38), Henselt (1838), Taubert (and others), Bertini, Lavina, Rosenhain, Liszt, and E. Wolff (and others) successively published etude collections, opening up possibilities for piano performance technique and musical expression.  Amidst this trend, Alkan, while avoiding the term "etude" until 1840, independently explored the possibilities of performance technique and composition. An example of this is the series of collections published in 1837 under the series title "12 Caprices" (Opp. 12, 13, 15, 16).  However, by the late 1830s, etudes written in sonata-like forms with multiple thematic melodies, such as Liszt's 24 Grandes Études (S 137, though only 12 were actually published), No. 10, and etudes based on variation form, such as Henselt's 12 Études de Salon, Op. 5 (1838), No. 6, had begun to be written. The framework of the etude genre had expanded by 1840, becoming a field for the pursuit of even more diverse and rich possibilities of piano musical expression. The publication of Alkan's Trois Grandes Études precisely coincides with the period when the etude genre was established as an ambitious genre for virtuosos.  From a formal perspective, each piece is written, in order from No. 1, as a fantasy with characteristics of both rondo and variations, a set of variations, and a rondo. On the other hand, Alkan was also conscious of the original meaning of the etude genre. This is evident in the fact that each piece was written for the left hand, right hand, and both hands, respectively.Louis Adam's official method for the Paris Conservatoire (1804), piano education at the Conservatoire had been conducted under the idea that all ten fingers must be made independent and that both hands must acquire equal performance ability, a concept that had become established as a foundation of French piano performance education. The concept of hand independence is directly reflected in the title "for each hand separately, and for both hands." The third piece is written for both hands, but it is written entirely in unison, with the primary purpose of demonstrating the performer's complete and homogeneous control over their hands and fingers.  Thus, in this work, Alkan aimed to demonstrate his own prowess and originality as the foremost pianist and composer of his time, building upon the Conservatoire's orthodox methods while adding his own exceptional performance ability and compositional skill.