Chopin - Nocturnes

[hermanberntzen]

Hello forum!
I can play Frederic Chopin's 20th Nocturne, 19th Nocturne & 21th
Which Nocturne am i ready for next? Except for the Opus.9 No.2, the famous one. To overplayed, so i dont wanna learn it!

[larapool]

You should really reconsider Op. 9 No. 2...  It is an absolutely beautiful romantic piece and I can't recommend it enough.  SO much room for expression and working on many aspects of technique...

[pytheamateur]

Why not Op 9, No 1?

[chopinlover96]

Op 9 No.1 is a good suggestion. What about Op 32 no1 .Op 37 No. 1 or Op 55 No.1??

[zezhyrule]

Op 9 No.1 is a good suggestion. What about Op 32 no1 .Op 37 No. 1 or Op 55 No.1??

I agree with all of these. It's funny how the first Nocturne in an opus is usually my favorite  

[lovevision]

[candlelightpiano]

I haven't played any nocturne yet but was thinking of starting Nocturne in F minor.  I was wondering why don't we make this thread our Chopin Nocturne work in progress thread?  We could post videos of the nocturnes we're working on, in any stage or in all stages??  Like I say, I haven't begun yet but what do you think of this idea?

[austinarg]

I haven't played any nocturne yet but was thinking of starting Nocturne in F minor.  I was wondering why don't we make this thread our Chopin Nocturne work in progress thread?  We could post videos of the nocturnes we're working on, in any stage or in all stages??  Like I say, I haven't begun yet but what do you think of this idea?

That's a great idea! I'm thinking about starting with Op. 9 No. 2...

[zezhyrule]

I actually just started learning my first Chopin Nocturne (55/1). I really wanted to play a nocturne by Chopin, and this one didn't seem that difficult technically  It's actually one of my favorite nocturnes as well :3

And I agree, we should turn this into a Chopin nocturne progress thread n_n

[jeffkonkol]

19 and 20 are quite accessible.  19 is really quite wonderful. (72 / 1)

number 15 (op 55 / 1) is also accessible, and thus a good one to work with early.

number 16 op 55 / 2) is very challenging in terms of rhythms and voices.

number 7 (op 27 / 1) is wonderful.  I like it much better than 8, though it was challenging.

the other one I played was number 10, (32 / 2) and I highly recommend it.

I might suggest prelude 15 (raindrop) in between some of the nocturnes.  It paints a very similar tonal picture and is perhaps a bit easier than many of the nocturnes.

[candlelightpiano]

I've already played the Raindrop Prelude and two other preludes.  Don't have my book with me so can't give you the exact ones.  But never played a nocturne.  I thought it would be a good breather for me as I'm working on Fantasie Impromptu at the moment and another two pieces.  It's nice to have a relaxing piece to work on amid the storm of FI!  

I'm glad that you guys think it's a good idea to use this thread as a work-in-progress thread.  I haven't begun yet but hope to do so soon but here's Rubenstein with the nocturne I'm planning to learn:

It took me two listens to appreciate this nocturne but now I just love it.  Those tinkling notes, the accelerando at the end ...beautiful!  So hauntingly lovely.   Oh, this is Op 55 No 1, BTW.  

[pytheamateur]

The C minor nocturne, No 21 is not difficult, although there is some suggestion that it was not actually written by Chopin.  Hence you have some pianists who skip it when they record an album for Chopin's nocturnes (such as Pollini and Freire).

[zezhyrule]

I'm glad that you guys think it's a good idea to use this thread as a work-in-progress thread.  I haven't begun yet but hope to do so soon but here's Rubenstein with the nocturne I'm planning to learn:

It took me two listens to appreciate this nocturne but now I just love it.  Those tinkling notes, the accelerando at the end ...beautiful!  So hauntingly lovely.   Oh, this is Op 55 No 1, BTW.  

Nice, same one I'm working on 

I actually bought like 4 different versions of that nocturne on iTunes just to get some different ideas xD Arrau's version is probably my favorite overall, but Dang Thai Son did some great things with it also. and according to my itunes I've listened to this piece 24 times overall... heh...

[candlelightpiano]

That's great! I just sight read the first 2 pages last night so I'm really new at it.  I have been listening to the ones on youtube by Rubenstein and Kissin, so far.  I have some editorial suggestions for this piece from Maurice Hinson.  I'll post it later when I get the chance.  If you have any info on this piece, please post here. 

[zezhyrule]

Here's some interpretation suggestions on the piece from Kullak... Not too much of worth but I thought I'd post it 



(The section he refers to as 'B' seems to be the part with loud triplets in each hand followed by chords, and '*C' is the theme that immediately follows)

[candlelightpiano]

Thank you, Zez!  (if I may call you that).  My name is Choo, by the way.   The Kullak interpretation was really good.  I copied it into my book for reference and now I know why I'm so drawn to this piece:  Kullak could not have described me better!!     a gloomy, melancholy mood, a wanderer who goes her way solitary and sad after taking leave of her beloved home and all her dear ones.  That's me, in a nutshell!

Here's my notes from Hinson:

A - measures 1 - 48
B - measures 48 - 72
A1 - measures 73-77
codetta - 77 - 97
coda - 98 - 101

Composed in 1843, Chopin dedicated this work to his Scottish student, Jane Sterling.  The outer A section plus the codetta should allow the well-projected melody to flow gently and subtly.  The constantly moving bass notes and chords in the LH provide support for the beautiful melody and should never interfere with it.  The B section is dramatic, intense and pushes ahead piu mosso at measure 48.  Also, push ahead at measure 71 (stretto) and 77 - 97 (molto legato e stretto).  Hold the notes as long as possible to give the idea of a harmonic legato through the implied two part writing at the molto legato section (77 - 84).  The editor recommends arpeggiating the final chord (101) continuosly from the bottom to the top.

[zezhyrule]

Yes, zez works great 

Thanks for those notes Choo, I'll need to copy that for future reference  Sadly my copy of this piece doesn't have any numbered measures. Guess I should get on that

That's an interesting suggestion for the final chord... Not something I think I'll do

[candlelightpiano]

Thanks for those notes Choo, I'll need to copy that for future reference  Sadly my copy of this piece doesn't have any numbered measures. Guess I should get on that

Thank goodness it's not a very long piece like the Appasionata so you can write in the bars.   

How far along are you?  I'm very far behind, I'm sure, having only sight read the first two pages.  Are you taking lessons?  If so, are you learning this piece as part of your lessons? I'm taking lessons but this piece is not one I'm working on as I am working on three pieces already for my lessons so I'm going to have to do this myself, probably.

[zezhyrule]

Yes I'm taking lessons, but just like you (as it seems) I'm learning this in my own time :3

after receiving a Chopin Nocturne album (played by Yundi) as a gift a couple weeks ago, I really wanted to try one. I loved how 55/1 sounded so I started it 

For now it's just on the side of the other things I'm working on, so I really haven't made much progress myself either. I can play the A section pretty well but the rest hasn't gone past sight-reading. Maybe this thread will motivate me to work on it some more 

[candlelightpiano]

Yes, that's what I thought, too.  That's why I thought of making this a work in progress thread.  Well, I'll do the best I can and if I make enough progress with section A where it sounds like a piece of music, I'll post a video here.   

[candlelightpiano]

Here's Ashkenazy's version.  It's a bit faster than Rubenstein. He doesn't use rubato as much.  I still rather like Rubenstein's as I like the rubatos.

Here's one from Arrau:

Lots of rubato here as well.