Chopin Nocturnes easiest to hardest

[jorley]

Hi! I have seen so many threads with discussions about the order of difficulty of Chopin's Scherzi, Ballades, Etudes, Preludes etc. but I have never seen one about the Nocturnes. So, I wonder, how would you rank the Chopin Nocturnes from easiest to hardest?

[zezhyrule]

Hardest: 48/1

And... Well the rest is relative 

[pytheamateur]

If the hardest is Op 48 No1, then the easiest I think is also in C Minor: No 21, published posthumously.

On the easier side I think are Op 9 Nos 1& 2, the 2 G Minor ones, the F Minor one and Op 32, No1.

[turangalila]

Here's how the difficulties are rated by Rolf Koenen for Henle:

4+ Nocturne c minor KK IVb no. 8
4+ Nocturne g minor op. 15 no. 3
5  Nocturne (version 1) c sharp minor KK IVa no. 16
5  Nocturne (version 2) c sharp minor KK IVa no. 16
5  Nocturne B major op. 32 no. 1
5  Nocturne e minor op. post. 72 no. 1
5  Nocturne g minor op. 37 no. 1
5+ Nocturne E flat major op. 9 no. 2
5+ Nocturne b flat minor op. 9 no. 1
5+ Nocturne f minor op. 55 no. 1
5+ Nocturne f sharp minor op. 48 no. 2
6  Nocturne A flat major op. 32 no. 2
6  Nocturne B major op. 62 no. 1
6  Nocturne D flat major op. 27 no. 2
6  Nocturne E flat major op. 55 no. 2
6  Nocturne E major op. 62 no. 2
6  Nocturne G major op. 37 no. 2
6  Nocturne c sharp minor op. 27 no. 1
6+ Nocturne B major op. 9 no. 3
6+ Nocturne F major op. 15 no. 1
7  Nocturne F sharp major op. 15 no. 2
7  Nocturne c minor op. 48 no. 1

[beebert]

Having played many of the Nocturnes, this is how I would rank them, from hardest to easiest.

1. Op 48 1
2. Op 9 no 3
3. Op 15 no 2
4. Op 27 no 2
5. Op 62 no 1
6. Op 15 no 1
7. Op 27 no 1
8. Op 62 no 2
9. Op 37 no 2
10. Op 55 no 2
11. Op 32 no 2
12. Op 48 no 2
13. Op 9 no 1
14. Op 32 no 1
15. Op 55 no 1
16. Op 72 no 1
17. Op 9 no 2
18. Op 37 no 1
19. Op posth. C sharp minor
20. Op 15 no 3
21. Op posth. C minor

[williampiano]

I often hear many people claim op. 48 no. 1 as the hardest, but I'm inclined to believe both the op. 62 nocturnes are more challenging. Anyone else think so?

[alsimon]

Here's how the difficulties are rated by Rolf Koenen for Henle:

4+ Nocturne c minor KK IVb no. 8
4+ Nocturne g minor op. 15 no. 3
5  Nocturne (version 1) c sharp minor KK IVa no. 16
5  Nocturne (version 2) c sharp minor KK IVa no. 16
5  Nocturne B major op. 32 no. 1
5  Nocturne e minor op. post. 72 no. 1
5  Nocturne g minor op. 37 no. 1
5+ Nocturne E flat major op. 9 no. 2
5+ Nocturne b flat minor op. 9 no. 1
5+ Nocturne f minor op. 55 no. 1
5+ Nocturne f sharp minor op. 48 no. 2
6  Nocturne A flat major op. 32 no. 2
6  Nocturne B major op. 62 no. 1
6  Nocturne D flat major op. 27 no. 2
6  Nocturne E flat major op. 55 no. 2
6  Nocturne E major op. 62 no. 2
6  Nocturne G major op. 37 no. 2
6  Nocturne c sharp minor op. 27 no. 1
6+ Nocturne B major op. 9 no. 3
6+ Nocturne F major op. 15 no. 1
7  Nocturne F sharp major op. 15 no. 2
7  Nocturne c minor op. 48 no. 1

The Henle grades are quite different from ABRSM however. They are usually lower, for instance the c major Invention is grade 3 Henle, grade 5 ABRSM etc.

[chopinlover96]

Beebert-Just out of interest which nocturnes gave you played and in wha order did you learn them??

[beebert]

williampiano, I have nothing against your opinion that op 62 ones are more challenging, but according to me the op 48/1 is the most challenging nocturne by far, and just as difficult as many of the Chopin Etudes.

chopinlover96, I have played Op 15 no 1, Op 15 no 3, Op 27 no 1, op 27 no 2, Op 32 no 2, Op 37 no 2, Op 48 no 1, Op 55 no 1, Op 62 no 1 and 2. I would not recommend learning them in the same order as I did though, I started out with op 27 no 1, and then I went on to Op 48 no 1. Even though it went well, It's is certainly strange to start with two of the hardest ones...

[iratior]

I'll say opus 15 no. 3 is the hardest, just to irritate the people who may have thought -- wrongly -- that I couldn't possibly be playing any of the etudes, because of having listed opus 10 no. 5 as one of the hardest.  Oh, and while I"m at it, the hardest etude is opus 10 no. 6.

[turangalila]

The Henle grades are quite different from ABRSM however.

Agreed. I was just trying to fulfill the original poster's request for a list from easiest to hardest, for which the absolute numbers do not matter.

[transitional]

Here's how I would rank them, easiest to hardest (ABRSM scale). Take this with a grain of salt, they're just ideas as I haven't played all of them:

Grade 4:
Op. 55 No. 1

Grade 4.5:
Op. 15 No. 3

Grade 5:
Op. Post. Cm

Grade 5.5:
Op. 37 No. 1

Grade 6:
Op. 72 No. 1

Grade 6.5:
Op. Post. C#m

Grade 7:
Op. 9 No. 2
Op. 48 No. 2
Op. 32 No. 1

Grade 7.5:
Op. 9 No. 1
Op. 32 No. 2

Grade 8:
Op. 55 No. 2
Op. 37 No. 2
Op. 27 No. 2
Op. 15 No. 2

Grade 8.5:
Op. 9 No. 3
Op. 62 No. 2

ARSM/DipABRSM:
Op. 27 No. 1
Op. 48 No. 1
Op. 62 No. 1

LRSM:
Op. 15 No. 1

[piabanoch]

i think the hardest would be op 9 n 3, i think op 48 n 1 is not hard as most person think, but this is my opinion.

[sarovah]

Well I recently have been obsessed with these nocturnes, and I already have about 2 done, I’m going in order from 1 to 20 and I am currently learning the 3rd op 9, don’t know if I should continue learning these in this order

[dizzyfingers]

There's also this site for gauging difficulty.  I've heard from colleagues that they like it better than Henle's.

https://www.pianolibrary.org/difficulty/chopin/

[essence]

As always, this is so subjective. I don;t think, in terms of playing the notes, that any nocturne is as difficult as the scherzos or ballades or sonatas. But to play them well....

For example, op 48 no 1 is not that difficult, no big jumps or anything, but playing the start of the last section pp whilst singing the top is hard.

Similarly, playing filigree ornamental passages without sounding like an elephant is hard.