The Nocturnes by Chopin – New Urtext Edition

Piano Street has today published a new urtext edition of the Nocturnes by Frédéric Chopin. This new edition attempts to present the most valid version of these pieces following consensus among today’s prominent scholars and pianists. The edition has Chopin’s own fingering only and for anyone needing further advice on fingering we refer to the edition by Herrmann Scholtz, also available from Piano Street’s sheet music library.

Piano sheet music of Chopin Nocturnes to download and print:

“Chopin, in his poetic Nocturnes, sang not only the harmonies which are the source of our most ineffable delights, but likewise the restless, agitating bewilderment to which they often give rise”. Franz Liszt

The Nocturnes span the whole of Chopin’s career, and among them are some of the composer’s most beloved works.
Mention is often made of the influence on Chopin of the Irishman John Field, generally credited as the father of the nocturne. While there is no doubt that links exist between the two, it’s also certain that Chopin’s temperament was quite different from that of his predecessor, as was the range of his modes of expression.