faure nocturnes-difficulty

[christine612]

can someone help me rank from easiest to hardest of faure's nocturnes?
thanks

[turner]

I have heard the recording of all Faure Nocturnes, but studied only a few of them, so I won't ranking them all.

I do know that most people consider Nocturnes Nos. 3 and 4 the most accessible, and the "easiest" to enter the very elusive and beautiful world of Faure's music. Nos. 2 and 5 are wonderful pieces, but their middle sections present much more advanced technical challenges than Nos. 3 and 4.

No. 6 is deservedly popular, and it is generally considered a milestone where Faure matured and codified his own unique style.

It's difficult to judge Nocturnes Nos. 7 to 13 because they are so "Faure"--i.e. the style too unique to generalize one way or the other. These are highly subjective and you won't find any consistent opinions on them. And in most cases, I believe the difficulties would be musical rather than technical.

[christine612]

thank you for that turner, i really appreciate it 

[adagio1]

With so many sharps and flats most of Faure is hard to read at first compared to other music.  If you can establish patterns or a sense of key then even the most complex are much easier.  There are much harder technical pieces in standard repetoire.... not many with the unique harmonies.  So look at your keys besides reading the notes.... if patterns are there the difficulty level goes down.  Hope this helps....??  A Faure fan here!