VIDEO: Chopin, Nocturne in E-flat Major (op. 9/2)

[lateromantic]

I used to be a fairly regular poster here.  But I've been focusing on chamber music of late and not playing much solo music, so I haven't posted in a while.  I did take the time not long ago, however, to record this famous nocturne.  Actually, I had first performed it as a teenager, in 1966, and although I did not play it again publicly in the half century that followed, it always remained under my fingers - and in my heart.  Then recently I started noticing a lot of questions from early-stage piano students about how the piece should be played, in particular how to execute the rubato tastefully.  That is why I finally decided to record my personal "take" on it.

The piece is technically very easy, except for one tricky place in the cadenza:  the repeating four-note pattern (Cb - Bb - C-natural - A-natural).  My younger self in 1966 had no trouble executing this with the standard 3241 fingering, but this time I experimented with a two-handed approach, and I found one that works well, bringing out the natural accentuation of the pattern.  I take the initial C-flat with the second finger of the left hand. The Bb and C-natural are then taken with 2 and 3 of the right hand, A-natural and Cb with 3 and 2 of the left hand, and so on. The right hand is sopra, hovering over the black keys, while the left hand is sotto and nearer the edges of the keys.

Here is an alternative version of my video where I attached the score:

I look forward to your comments!