Roman Polanski’s successful film "The Pianist" has focused attention on the Nocturne in c sharp minor by Chopin. Our edition presents the work in two versions. One derives from the handwritten copy which was owned by Chopin‘s sister Ludwika. The other is a noticeably different original version found in Chopin’s original draft, now preserved in the Chopin Museum in Valldemosa (Mallorca).
It is your turn to play the music from "The Pianist". This reasonably priced edition is extracted from the volume of complete Chopin Nocturnes (HN 185).
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Preface
The Lento con gran espressione was first published in 1875, a quarter of a century after Chopin’s death. The publisher, Leitgeber in Posen (now Poznap), based his edition on a handwritten copy prepared by Oskar Kolberg. Chopin’s sister Ludwika Jedrzejewicz reported that the composer sent her the “Lento in the style of a nocturne” in 1830. The autograph manuscript is … more
About the composer

Frédéric Chopin
Pianist and composer. His work is concentrated around piano music that enjoys extraordinary popularity and has become an integral part of the concert repertoire. His music influenced subsequent generations in France (Franck, Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Debussy) as well as Smetana, Dvořák, Balakirev, Grieg, Albéniz.
1810 | Born in Żelazowa Wola near Warsaw on March 1. First compositions at age seven, his first public performance at eight. |
1822 | Private instruction in composition. |
1825 | Rondo in C minor, Op. 1, his first published work. |
1826–29 | Studies at the Institute of Music in Warsaw. |
1829 | “Fantaisie sur des airs nationaux polonaise” in A major, Op. 13; Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 8. Travels to Vienna, where he gives two concerts of his compositions and improvisations. |
1829–33 and 1835–37 | Etudes, Opp. 10 and 25 -- a new type of virtuosic etude that also makes aesthetic demands. |
1830 | Premieres in Warsaw of his two piano concerti, Op. 21 in F minor and Op. 11 in E minor. |
1831 | Unable to return to Warsaw due to the Polish uprising, he goes to Paris, where he will remain until the end of his life. |
1832 | Debut concert in Paris to great acclaim. |
1835/38 | “Trois valses brillantes,” Op. 34. |
1836/39 | “24 Preludes,” Op. 28, in a cyclic succession: compactly-designed short pieces. |
1835/39 | Piano Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35, with the funeral march. |
1842/43 | Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52; “Grande Polonaise brillante” in A-flat major, Op. 53; Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54. |
1844 | Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 58 |
1849 | Completion of the mazurkas in G minor and F minor. Death in Paris on October 17. |