F. Chopin - Nocturne in C minor Op. 48 no. 1 - analysis - Greg Niemczuk's lecture

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Concert pianist describes and analizes Chopin's Masterpieces for the piano.
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[@PedroStreicher]

I wish I could forget this piece and have the chance of listen to it for the first time, in this day I would fall in love for the Piano one more time...

[@gregniemczuk]

Thanks for this beautiful comment. It's so deep and beautiful! I think I agree with you!

[@kiwii.8385]

I wrote this kind of comment to something else but I forgot what it was 🥲

[@elsavancaester1679]

Thank you for this gift Absolutely sublime

[@ilpianoforte]

Thank you for sharing this deep, profound lesson which was so complete and touching. I am 54 right now, and I wonder what I would have done with piano if I had the possibility of hearing such masterclasses on KZbin when I was 14. It's like going to conservatory without having attended it. It's so lucky for all of us and for humanity itself that you and many other great artists, men and musicians, are willing to share your knowledge and emotions with us. We all grow together. Thanks a lot!

[@gregniemczuk]

I'm trying to make the world more beautiful place! Thanks for your words!!

[@harrisonpeyerl6460]

Thank you so much for this great Master class. Thankyou for sharing with all of us this deep impressions. Im surge it Will get my interpretation one level above thaks tô your generosity. I hope tô see your performance here in Brazil in Rio some Day. I wish you The Best.

[@paolafuchs2050]

@@gregniemczuk beautiful ❤️

[@marialaurabaez3733]

I cannot stop crying when I listen to this piece of music, specially if interpreted with such a passion. Not everyone can play it well

[@finnianreilly1831]

It seems fate has brought me to this piece. I wanted to learn Op15 No. 3, but I accidentally downloaded the score for Op 48 No.1 and started playing it. Hey, I thought, this is not the piece I am looking for, but it sounds amazing and I have definitely heard it before. A very iconic piece. I felt compelled to keep learning and within a couple of days learned to play the introduction (the first 2 pages in my edition). It's definitely one of the most satisfying pieces of music I have ever had the pleasure to play. As Greg said "it comes straight from the composers soul". Probably I lack the pianistic skill to learn the whole piece, but the introduction is quite enough for me. I am in heaven.

[@gregniemczuk]

Yes!!! Do play it!! It makes us happier. Even just the first part!

[@liviane109]

to me, you are the greatest music teacher Mr.Niemczuk. Thank you so so much for the music, teaching, storytelling, and motivation!! One of the greatest emotional achievements of piano music and technique.

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you so much!!!! You have no idea how much it means to me and how special and satisfied you make me feel. Music, performing and teaching is all the love of my life!

[@Jon77Levy]

Really interesting analysis. Playing the matching phrases of the first and third sections is an excellent idea, to show the parallels. You also play alternative ways the music could have been written (e.g. 7:52 and 18:14) which really helps me understand the music better. I don't think I've seen other people do this. I like the Wodzinska interpretation (though I'm not well read on Chopin's life) because this piece seems, to me, to express an unutterable loneliness. I imagine Chopin alone some night, sitting at a cafe overlooking the Seine, thinking of her marriage to someone else. For what it's worth, this is how I see it (timings are from this video): 42:20 - 42:38: I'm so lonely. 42:38 - 42:59: I'll be this lonely until I die. 42:59 - 43:40: Some fond memories of her. 43:40 - 44:15: Memories bring quiet tears. Second section starts with acceptance - it's for the best - she's happy - I'm managing. But the sorrow and grief well up with the interrupting octaves, and no matter how hard he tries to hold on to the thin serenity, it breaks down into an emotional crisis (46:01) and uncontrolled weeping (third section). In the coda (47:46), the notes going up are his hopes, escaping into the air, leaving him only with sorrow (47:56) Needless to say, this does not speak well of George Sand.

[@gregniemczuk]

Fantastic and very emotional, thorough and beautiful interpretation!

[@kjurpjdpihe9096]

when I listen to this piece, I imagine someone whose heart has been broken, standing behind the railing of a bridge, ready to jump. Suddenly, he starts to recall good memories, and then wonder if life could be worth living after all. but he realizes that in every moment of joy he recalls hides the overwhelming presence of the loved one, wich now gives all those happy memories a bitter taste, constantly reminding what was lost. This realization turns his dispair into anger, frustration and finally determination. And enventually, the helpless lover end up jumping...

[@gregniemczuk]

Unbelievable description....... congratulations

[@danielperry6893]

Shit!

[@Ricky-es9vg]

I love the way you describe Chopin’s music, I feel that you share his artistry in such wonderful words. I have recently begun teaching myself this piece, and the sheer weight of it makes it an especially emotional one for me.

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you Ricky!

[@mickizurcher]

Bravo Monsieur! Excellent! I love the drama and your interpretation inspires me to learn this piece. Your story about your lesson reminded me of the last lesson that I had where I left in tears never to return and I wish I had known what your friend had told you that you met on the street, I might have taken things a little differently. Needless to say, I have not had a lesson for two years because of that, it was very intimidating, everything that could be criticized was criticized, my tone, dynamics, articulation, time, my shoes…he criticize my shoes! I mean really! I left feeling like a bull in a china shop! The more lessons I had with him (I worked with him for about nine months) the worse I got, the more distracted I got and felt more and more worthless. We had one ongoing battle where he would never help me with any kind of technical difficulties he only wanted to do interpretations and I felt I couldn’t do the interpretations unless I could play the damn notes! The interpretations were just the icing on the cake, I wasn’t worried about that. And if all that was really complementary then I must be one hell of a pianist! Anyway I’m glad I’m not alone. 😂

[@gregniemczuk]

Hahahaha, wow... Yeah, so you understand me! But I don't approve such way of teaching at all!! Criticising shoes (!!!) Is definitely way too much!

[@alisongray6786]

This was the piece that opened my previously closed heart to Chopin and was a portal for me into the world of classical music in general. It was like being plunged into the richest and most magnificent realm of intense and powerfully wide ranging emotion, deeper that anything I'd preciously experience listening to music, almost transcendent in fact, and I was determined to learn the piano in the hope of one day playing this nocturnten years on I now have a growing list of pieces I aspire to play but your superb, and beautifully articulated tutorial helped me understand why my soul felt/feels so connected to this particular piece and the doors it opened within me - to play it is still my ultimate goal , maybe one day I'll get there. Your concert performance was really wonderful ❤ I've only just discovered your channel , what a rich source of expertise and knowledge you are sharing, thank you so much.

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you! Welcome to my music world! Indeed, for a Chopin lover you can find such analyses of almost every single Chopin's piece of music! It was a long journey during the dark times of COVID-19..... Enjoy!

[@professordodo1]

Yes Greg. Absolutely right that it blows you from the first hearing. In the 50s I bought, a second hand 78 of. Rubinstein playing this nocturne and I’ve been hooked ever since. Unbelievably incredible composition which never fades with repeated listening.

[@Verinia]

Great lecture. I was especially moved because I came across this piece shortly after my own breakup and it really spoke to me during that time. It was the sound of my grief. I had no idea until now that it was written in a similar moment of Chopin's life. What a masterpiece.

[@gregniemczuk]

Thanks for the comment!

[@petersz7322]

Thank you for the analysis. This video was really helpful to understand the story behind this piece. I would say that if the doppio movimento part is a run, then the ending is just the pure tiredness of Chopin's. At least that is what I feel when I play the end of this Nocturne, tiredness and pain that is caused by something terrible that happened in the past. Greetings from Slovakia :)

[@vex9896]

Your interpretation of this piece is beyond amazing. I truly feel like you captured the soul of Chopin in every moment of this video. Beautiful and wonderful as always Greg! I think I am going to binge all the Chopin videos you've uploaded ha

[@gregniemczuk]

Wow!! Wonderful! Thank you so much, I appreciate these words! Have fun, there are like 200 of them! I hope you'll enjoy them!

[@pyrokinetikrlz]

The performance at the end of the video was amazing! Thanks for sharing!

[@jordifernandez131]

GOAT nocturne from the whole universe by far.

[@s.n.b5511]

Thank you for sharing your personal story alongside your analysis of this nocturne. I’m not musician, and my acquaintance to Chopin is quite recent. I regret not having discovered this world long time ago. I have planned to watch all of your back numbers in your YT channel. Greetings from Norway

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you very much!

[@caraher]

Love your passion for the piece. Taking each section and really diving into the thought, emotion & state of mind of Chopin, is very helpful for those of us trying to learn more than just the notes on the page. Many thanks and enjoyed your performance at the end. A+

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you so much!! You're invited to my other videos as well. Greetings from Poland!

[@lea5559]

thank you for the lecture, as I currently don't have a professor to guide me and started to learn op 48 n 1 on my own.

[@gregniemczuk]

Oh, I see... It can be hard. But keep going!! Love towards the music and Chopin will guide you!

[@inigodiazderabago9254]

Aand finally, the best nocturne and personally my favorite of all of chopin's c minor pieces (Revolutionary, ocean...). Great analysis!

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you so much!

[@elias7748]

I don’t think there is a best nocturne. It’s very subjective when it comes to grading Chopin’s work.

[@chopinaddict1787]

The biggest mistake I hear many pianists make is trying to duplicate the left hand from the intro in the recapitulation, where you have this pronounced, loud “boom-Boom” throughout, as in the A Section. I think the better way to approach this is to have it more subtle in the background, and maybe emphasize it in select bars. Many years ago I went on a mission to find the best Op 48 no 1. I listened to over five dozen professional performances. What I found is that many people do well in the intro, but the last section is bad, and often the middle, too. So when I was assessing them, I placed more attention on the last part. And the performance that shined over everyone else was Fou Ts’ong. It’s very virtuosic, passionate, technically flawless. It is on KZbin, but it’s low bitrate and not satisfying like the CD.

[@joannawronska4100]

SO WONDERFUL AS ALWAYS AND IMPORTANT!!!!! Thank you for one of my favourite Chopin's Nocturnes in an excellent rendition and for your analysis/tutorial, your lesson will be helpful for many pianists (I watch this great video now), again my best regards, have a happy weekend. Joanna

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you dear Joanna!

[@wennyshen7001]

This is my favorite, too! Love your analysis. I can feel the pain in my heart.

[@mypianospacetime9977]

Dear Greg, I thank you very much for the experience you offered us with this lecture. You are friendly taking us by hand helping us to discover the secret and subtle preciousness folded across the musical structure and texture of this masterpiece. Although joy and pain are dimensions we all share and are consecrated in this nocturne, often our daily grind makes us deaf and “unprepared” to reach that state of soul that allows us to be touched and healed by the poetry and beauty contained in great music like this. You are helping us to recenter with our Inner self to become able to be touched by the balsamic beauty of this music. I am mostly grateful and admire your artistry and generous spirit 🙏

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you very much!!!!

[@applewitheveryone]

This video was randomly recommended to me and I'm glad I saw it! This is personally one of my favorite pieces because it really brings out that sense of tragedy and loss. With this piece, I've always imagined a narrative of someone like a dishonored warrior trying to redeem himself: the piece starting slowly with internal struggles over past failures, slowly working up the inspiration for one final battle in the middle section, and then going all out in a blaze of glory in the doppio movement where he finally redeems himself but also falls in the process, ending with - as you say - a sort of calm ascent up to the heavens. Very insightful analysis! I shared a lot of the same sentiments you presented while learning a whole lot more!

[@gregniemczuk]

Beautiful description. You must be a very sensitive person to like and understand this piece so deeply. Thank you for your comment!

[@richardyu4881]

Your analysis is as always, so insightful! Thanks for playing the slow beginning and the “fleeing” section back and forth, it’s wonderful to be able to compare them side by side.

[@KeesVenema]

I have been sitting here for 48 minutes and 22 seconds hanging on your words, that does not happen often, a stellar performance. It was fascinating and inspiring. Really a great lecture, one of those that you will remember forever, you are so passionate, it is contagious. Thanks a lot, but now I have to go practicing.

[@gregniemczuk]

I am so happy to read that!!! Thank you so much! It keeps me going and making new videos!

[@allaneby6559]

You have changed my approach to the first section by saying it is a March. The cording in the last section shows Chopin's genius. So rich and satisfying. Thanks for this lesson.

[@shayanpazhandi1799]

This video is the most precious gem itself. Thank you tremendously.

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you so much!!!

[@gregorgrendel8750]

Hi Greg, what a fabulous explaination. I wished having such explaination during my childhood. You are a great inspiration. All the best for you and please go on…

[@Seleuce]

This Nocturne is a close second after Ballade 1 for me. I think it radiates dignity through and through. Dignity in very difficult circumstances, when hope is gone, when your cause is lost, when the ship is sinking, standing broken, yet dignified against all the odds. As a real Gentleman/Lady, no screaming, no complaining, no visible tears. You can be ridiculed, you can be beaten and shunned. But what remains is your dignity till the very end. Picking up your speculation about Wodzinska, this fits even better. :) All that Frederic had left after he got refused by the Wodzinski family was his dignity. He had lost against a Skarbek which must have humbled him a lot, he was put into his place. So he walked off, humiliated, but carrying his head in dignity. Metaphorically spoken. I'm not hoping to play this precious gem of a piece any time soon (still practising op. 28/15 :D). But one can dream, and I really love the new perspectives I get from your analysis videos!

[@gregniemczuk]

Amazing. Thank you so much for this precious comment!

[@gorbeenatter]

It’s such a joy listening to your videos

[@GiorgiMamaladze]

Thank you for this.....awesome explanition! Love your way of interpretate it.

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you dear Jorge! I appreciate your comment. Feel invited to watch other analysies as well!

[@elisabethmartini8222]

I will meditate with the end. But it is like poetry. It evaporates in the sky.............Thank you dear Greg.

[@elisamartini1694]

Thank you Greg for playing Chopin as you do and explaining the way you explain Chopin. I will meditate on this Nocturne. I am taking a few days off, a little holiday. I will be back. See you again soon.

[@rayane_rhapsody]

Thank you for this analysis, I’m practicing this piece and I really want to interpret this in its whole complexity.

[@gregniemczuk]

It deserves to be performed like you say! Wonderful! It's very deep. Good luck with that!

[@immanueldobler3645]

Your analysis is so much fun, inspiring and just makes sense! Thanks so much! Now I just want to play this mind-blowing music all day long

[@gregniemczuk]

It's so wonderful to hear!!! Thank you!

[@nibbleniks2320]

Bravo...oh... I had my copy of Eigeldinger's book open and then searched for you here. Your lesson opened windows to a deeper appreciation of Chopin's music and the man. Priceless. Thank you.

[@gregniemczuk]

Great!!!

[@Hawatt11]

Thank you so much for this video. I am including this nocturne on a program I am performing next month and the Chopin has been challenging for me. My teacher says he thinks I'm playing it really well and he loves much of my interpretation (although of course there are always endless notes on what to do better), but you have given me some new ways to think about it and I appreciate this. My program is all nocturnes, although only one is Chopin. I so want to make it the best that I can.

[@gregniemczuk]

Bravo!! It sounds very exciting! I'm happy to be an inspiration. Find your story behind this music. I'm sure it will be wonderful!!! Let me know how it went!

[@beatlessteve1010]

Here I am, again😮 on Jan 11, 2024 and here in Indiana we are expecting 12" of snow which will provide the perfect atmosphere for watching this awesome analysis video..Why? Because the music of Chopin is so moving and beautiful...But I can listen to Chopin on many different channels so why this one?..Because Greg's enthusiasm and understanding of Chopin's music is deep and articulates both in words and in playing in a way that seems to fit me like a puzzle piece...perfectly!😂

[@gregniemczuk]

You made me smile so much!!! Thank you so much for this comment and being so sincere and enthusiastic! I am grateful!!!

[@laurie7357]

The fight between light and evil... This is so accurate! It gave me goosebumps! 😱

[@BarneyPowell]

Thank you so much. Great video.

[@gregniemczuk]

Thanks

[@nicholaslagrega5519]

Hello Greg! OMG...I stumbled upon your site and so enjoyed listening to your lectures. I am currently revisiting Chopin's Nocturne in c sharp minor and loved the history regarding his writing of this piece. You are truly a wonderful teacher and pianist and I look forward to your videos. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your time and talent...all the best to you...Nick

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you Nick! I appreciate your effort to write this comment and express your feelings. It's the best prize for the ahead work which I have done creating those videos. Thank you and enjoy them!!! Good luck!

[@音楽教室講師]

It's not like Nocturne, but it's my favorite song in Nocturne. Is it a chorale style while intense emotions are increasing steadily? Choir? light? of I feel melancholy and sadness in such a part. Thank you for your wonderful analysis video.

[@shahriyar85]

Thank you so much, it’s always something new and productive in your videos. 🌹🌹🌹

[@nicklm]

LOVE. IT. ❤

[@zdzislawmeglicki2262]

No, on listening to it yet again... I don't think it's all this tragic. My reading is as follows. Part A: a summer night with a huge moon in the sky, a leasurely walk through a beautiful garden full of flowers and smells. Part B: a distant thunder, a storm is coming. Part C: we run hurriedly back home through heavy pummeling rain. Coda: we arrive just as the rain stops... Everything slows down, we catch our breath.

[@gregniemczuk]

Awesome!

[@lorrainesilvers]

I hear it as an elegant tango!

[@davisatdavis1]

​@lorrainesilvers elegant? Tango? I can kind of see it in the beginning but only the beginning. For the whole piece I have a hard time seeing any of that. What do you hear that's making you think that? Do you see the whole piece that way?

[@zdzislawmeglicki2262]

@@davisatdavis1 I hear thunder, I hear rain.

[@nilsragnar1347]

29:17 Almost sounds like roadwork outside of the church ;) Jokes aside, I love this nocturne and I love this series. 32:37 Has to be one of my favorite moments in all of Chopin's music. Thank you for inspiring pianists all around the world and spreading the music of Chopin!

[@gregniemczuk]

Thanks for being here and commenting! Hope to see you watching my other episodes as well! Best wishes!

[@nilsragnar1347]

@@gregniemczuk I definitely will! greetings from Sweden

[@beatlessteve1010]

Greg absolutely fabulous anecdote on your life and experience in Ny city, also I love your referral and direct quote from the Chopin book on his students' opinion on 48 no 1. I have been watching your lessons and videos because I love the music and where I live there is nobody else who can enjoy this genre like me. I am not very good at playing piano but it is a wish of mine.

[@gregniemczuk]

Oh, than you can be a prophet!!! You can make people in your area fall in love with this music again!!! I hope you can do it

[@reginahay5211]

I think it is a name repeated with longing and anger and resignation. It need not be the name of a specific person. It may even be the name of his life.

[@bigl5343]

Have you done analysis of the preludes and etudes yet? If not, I am looking forward to it.

[@joannawronska4100]

Me too, my best regards!

[@gregniemczuk]

Not yet. Preludes will be published in October, and Etudes in late November and December/January

[@monsieur171]

FYI: In the very first published edition of this piece the doppio movimento section does not have a diynamic marking! The pp was added by later publishers.

[@gregniemczuk]

Interesting!!!

[@CarolynDowns]

good analysis!

[@HannaSilver]

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge, insight and love for this music :)

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you!

[@alineboyd983]

Great video! Thank you so much

[@gregniemczuk]

You're welcome!

[@lithia481]

made me cry

[@arieltamir4565]

Wow, what a beautiful interpretation. thanks for that great video

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you Ariel for your comment!

[@Lisa-jk9re]

Greg, thank you a lot for one more amazing video! It is so interesting to watch your analysis. You’re so emotional and so sincere! The way you treat music is inspiring! I liked so much the story about your lesson. I think every student pianist has faced problem like this. That one day some teacher shouting at you so much, you feel like the worst musician in the world😅 This nocturne is so tricky in technical way. It seems not super hard to play like etude op25, 11 for example. But I’m studying doppio movemento like I’m studying octave etude😅

[@gregniemczuk]

Yes! It's like the etude... But so beautiful!! Thank you for understanding and for your comment. I wish you all the best!

[@alexandrenunes7513]

Tremendous!!! Incredible. Thank you!!

[@annazully2680]

thank you so much for all your lovely videos, i appreciate them very much!

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you Anna

[@davisatdavis1]

My teacher gave me this nocturne to work on. I wanted to play it for a long time. But I've always been too sensitive. Often when I get to the final climax, I resist putting more emotion into it because it's just too heavy for me. I've only been able to take it when performing with an audience. Truly a kind of music that cannot be recreated.

[@jeglop]

Thank you so much for this channel! It's like a breath of fresh air. It's one thing when a piece of music touches your soul and you intuitively feel that it's great without understanding why. It's quite another level of perception when you actually understand why you feel this way and what's great about it. So sad (and surprising) to see so few likes for the videos in this channel. :((( I'd give this a thousand likes if I could! It would be so great (I would be very keen to watch) if you could also analyze some of Chopin's works for piano+orchestra, especially piano concerto #1 and phantasy on Polish airs. Thank you for doing / having done this!

[@beatlessteve1010]

I watched this again because it is my favorite, and I can really imagine how difficult this is to play if it for demonstration purposes..so this would require 100 % concentration.

[@dascrazybro895]

such a passionate analysis maestro, i really wanna listen to your interpretation of my favourite composer Ravel

[@gregniemczuk]

I want! I personally recommend Vlado Perlemuter!

[@Roubainx]

Unbelievable. Polak tłumaczący Chopina po angielsku, fantastique! Pozdrowienia od Polaka w Ameryce.

[@gregniemczuk]

Pozdrawiam serdecznie!

[@natalijadrazovic5104]

Could you do an analysis on Rachmaninoff's Piano sonata no.2, 2nd movement? Thank you in advance😉😉😊😊🥰🥰

[@gregniemczuk]

When I finish my Chopin project I will think about it!

[@natalijadrazovic5104]

@@gregniemczuk Ok, thank you very much😊

[@zdzislawmeglicki2262]

No, I don't buy the Wodzińska story. By 1841 Chopin had been with George Sand for some three years, and he had known since 1837 that Wodzińska's parents would not have agreed to the marriage. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it turned out that behind all the drama of the nocturne was some trivial domestic quarrel. Recall Mozart's "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen." Such Wagnerian drama! Yet the idea for the aria, it is said, arose from an argument with either Mozart's mother in law or his landlady, I don't remember, who shouted at the poor man at the top of her voice.

[@gregniemczuk]

All is true, but Wodzińska got married in 1841 and for Chopin it was terrible news and it's a fact, we know he got quite depressed because of that, one can find this in his letters... For Chopin composing process was much slower and longer than for Mozart.

[@francolim8712]

Very Nice!

[@poplife123]

For me the recapitulation has a real sense of aggitation and underlying terror.....i heard a verson on polish chopin radio which perfectly relaid this... sadly have no idea who was playing it.....

[@nicolascuyubamba]

I love this

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you Nicholas!

[@artirjaj-l3481]

47:44 Wspaniale osadzony dźwięk.. tam jest jego miejsce . mistrzosko wykonane brawo wielkie brawa ode mnie spóźnione ale pierwszy raz widzę więc ... Po prostu brawo

[@hurley3000gt]

Great job

[@vaibhavgawde11]

thanks for this channel

[@luissanabio]

Over the years, this nocturne has been presented and recorded by great pianists in a single edition (no difference in notes). But in recent years, younger pianists present an edition in which an octave of G is replaced by B. This happens in the first part of Noturno and in the recording of SR. Greg Niemczuk's appears at 21:12 and then 43:39. I must say, first of all, that dear Greg Niemczuk’s plays the Nocturne well. Congratulations. But considering that all the great pianists in history (EX: Arthur Rubinstein, Maurizio Pollini, Alexander Brailowsky, Adam Harasiewicz, Nelson Freire, Arthur Moreira Lima, Martha Argerich, Cláudio Arrau, etc.) adopt the octave G in their recordings, it wouldn't be better follow them? What is your OPINION? Could you analyze this question?

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you very much for this comment. I'm using the newest critical Jan Ekier Polish National edition, which is also recommended by the Chopin Institute to use especially for the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. And there we can read as follows: In the first German edition F. Kistner from 1832 which was based on a proof copy of First French Edition revised by Chopin himself there is an octave B. In the first impression of Schlesinger, Paris 1833 this octave was mistakenly printed as B-G (!!!) And later in second impression it was altered to G-G. And after that many other editions repeated this mistake. Also in a few copies of Chopin's students there are an octave B. Another proof is bar 64 which is analogous (in part A') there is evidently a note B. Therefore, even though when I was younger I played G, I decided to change it. All the great pianists you mentioned were using different, unfortunately most likely wrong, edition. And they were not aware of it. At the end: is it such a big difference? At first it Disturbed me personally, but now after the years I accept both versions.

[@luissanabio]

@@gregniemczuk Hello Mr. Greg Niemczuk's, Thanks for the comment. Before analyzing its interesting historical arguments, it seems that there was a mistake in its dates, as the Nocturne opus 48 nº 1 was composed by Chopin in 1841 and published in 1842 (according to reports from Wikipedia, etc.). The dates you provided may be related to the three Nocturnes op. 9 (composed between 1830 and 1832). In the end: is this octave such a big difference? I think it depends on the listener. I prefer the octave GG because I feel it closes the melodic phrase better. I also found the octave BB strange because I am a pianist “by ear”. I can't read sheet music. Even so, I studied this Nocturne because I love Chopin and I received influences from my family's classical music. To study this piece, I had to write down “note for note” and then memorize everything. I'm a pianist who likes to play old movie music (from my parents' youth: 40's and 50's). I recently followed the Chopin Contest (broadcast online). On the jury was the great Adam Harasiewicz who recorded this Nocturne (see You Tube) and who won the competition in 1955. Also present was the Brazilian pianist Arthur Moreira Lima (2nd prize in 1965). Still in relation to the octave GG or BB, I would not feel good about contradicting the great 20th century pianists that I have listened to and loved so much and that despite the serious historical revisions you have revealed. I believe in the validity of historical revisions, but in this case they seem late to me and it is very strange and difficult to admit that for more than a century the great pianists have unconsciously played wrong. Perhaps for this reason and due to the strength of tradition, it is possible to choose between these two octaves. A free choice of the interpreter. But there is still another problem regarding the interpretation of this Nocturne. Arthur Rubinstein recorded the nocturne at two different times (30's and 50's). In the first version, he usually plays according to the traditional score. But in the 1950s he made a recording in which he includes two octaves (descending) that don't exist in the score. Was it a distraction? Any other issues? In this case, no other pianist has repeated this. So I don't think it was an editing problem. Was it Rubinstein's personal choice? I believe we will never have an exact answer. Regardless, I've always considered Rubinstein to be Chopin's best performer, due to his emotional balance when playing the piano. In the case of the octaves he added, this can be seen here in this video at 3:36 minutes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/npDZi6emn7N-jKc I plan to re-record the nocturne in the near future. But it won't be very good as I don't have a very good quality piano. I don't have a Steinway and this piece demands a lot of clarity due to the great sound of the octaves. Thank you for your attention and forgive the Portuguese/English translation errors. Luís Eugênio Sanábio e Souza (Brazilian pianist)

[@gregniemczuk]

@@luissanabio thank you! I will send you the photo of the commentary from my edition by email.

[@luissanabio]

@@gregniemczuk Yes I received. Thank you very much.

[@miguelisaurusbruh1158]

0:27 you catched me!!!, i was thinking exactly that xdd

[@gregniemczuk]

👍👍👍🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

[@fsantosneto]

If Chopin had only produced this nocturne in C minor op. 48 throughout all his life, he would still have been the great and fantastic composer that he was.

[@amezcuaist]

This is like my problem with Chopin. There are so many beautiful feelings in each composition but I have to try hard to remember which feeling is which just before I play a note . Also was the Brahms violin concerto a story of unrequited love ? I think so .

[@allaneby6559]

I love your videos. A question about the Nocturne op 32 no 1. My Schirmer addition has the last cord as manor but i have heard recordings that are not major. Sounds terrible. What do you do? Thanks. Ps played this op 48 #1 and learned the 2nd Scherzo. Love Chopin!

[@gregniemczuk]

I prefer minor!

[@danieljunior7821]

Very very nice lecture !!!Thank you!!! /// For me I'm just too afraid of triplets on left together with sixteenths on right hand ...!!!

[@larghedoggo9607]

36:30 I guess it is easier to do that Pianopianissimo in Chopin's time. The pianos are louder today 😀

[@gregniemczuk]

👍100% true

[@monsieurbrochant7528]

I'm amazed that this video is 48 minutes long. Chance?

[@andrews68]

Love your interpretation and performance! I play Dflat on bar 3 beat 3 RH instead of natural D idk why that sounds better to me lol

[@gregniemczuk]

Interesting!

[@andrews68]

@@gregniemczuk try it ! once you give it a go you can’t un-hear that D flat lol and my biggest take away from your analysis and I totally agree w it: the rhythm should be fairly steady as written and does not have as much wiggle room as typical nocturnes … and 💯 like your tempo… some pianists are a little too slow imo

[@MsAsiyahNour]

Dear Greg, so clear and truthfull explanation of this masterpiece! Thank you! Greatings from Karlovac!☺️

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you!!!! Great to see your comment here!!!!!

[@hpcrew3461]

Bardzo dziękuję za to doskonałe wyjaśnienie. Więcej nauczycieli takich jak ty. Pozdrowienia z Ostrawy p.s. Skąd kupowałeś tę statuetkę Chopina, którą masz na pianie?

[@gregniemczuk]

Dziękuję! Statuetka jest prezentem od jednego z moich fanów

[@Seleuce]

Oh, you have a copy of the Dantan bust on your piano. I'm looking for one for such a long time, hard to find, I'm envious! I lovelovelove this particular Nocturne, a piece that always represented dignity for me, dignity despite tragic events, despite evil powers around you trying to humiliate and belittle you. Reading Chopins correspondence right now, and I just read the letter from November 1841 in which he sent Fontana his opus 46-49 to be copied and then offered to the publishers. The letters before this one from July to Sep of both, Chopin and G. Sand, contain a lot of domestic conflict because of a certain, apparently extremely gossipy Mademoiselle, Mille de Rozières, who seemed to have caused Chopin quite a lot of personal, social embarrassment and anger with her garrulous tongue (his irate descriptions of her to Fontana are - for him very unusually - harsh, Sand, being friends with Rozières, wrote to her how furious he was and how he could not stand her). I wonder if some of those conflicting feelings ended up in that Nocturne.

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you for this enriching comment. Yes the bust was a gift from one of my fans at the beginning of this project of analyses of all Chopin's music which I started in the pandemic in 2020! I'm so lucky

[@elisamartini1694]

I like the comparaison of the old man. I hope I can learn this Nocturne.

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you! Yes you can. You love it. Good luck!

[@elisamartini1694]

@@gregniemczuk Yes I just love it. It is going to take some time. But never mind. I don't count the time it will take me to learn it. It appears like a mountain to climb. But I will do my best to learn it.

[@sunareekaewnat8967]

Greg the only aspect of your Tokyo performance that I did not like was seemingly ignoring the “riten” at 3:47 of the video. It was very surprising given your admirable penchant for closely adhering to Chopin’s notation. Is there a particular reason you do not slow it down as much as many interpretations do?

[@gregniemczuk]

I'm sorry, I don't know which moment are you talking about. The timing you mentioned is my talking, not playing....

[@sunareekaewnat8967]

@@gregniemczuk I apologize for the lack of clarity. The time reference was for the video of the performance you posted 5 years ago. It is the series of 4 chords in both hands right before the first set of descending octaves.

[@gregniemczuk]

Ok, now I see it. Well, I did a little ritenuto at the end of the bar. Maybe it should indeed be more. It was the moment of performance which I felt like it. My performances are always different, never the same. But you made a good point. Bravo and thank you!

[@sunareekaewnat8967]

@@gregniemczuk For me the most important ritenuto in the nocturnes is the repeated musical figure in the second B major nocturne.

[@sunareekaewnat8967]

@@gregniemczuk One disappointment I had attending all of the Van Cliburn competition performances, including the preliminaries, was how few nocturnes were played. Indeed throughout there was more Scriabin than Chopin!

[@brunogripp]

I like Very much your analyses, but I have a slightly different reading of this Nocturne, specially the first part. Don't you think Chopin is thinking, as usual in the nocturne, in a plucked instrument like the guitar, and the left hand plays the bass note on the lower stings. And even in the chorale the chords are so big they remember guitar chords.

[@gregniemczuk]

Hmmmmm.... Could be! But the character is sooo deeply sad!

[@SwagDawg]

36:07 turn subtitles on

[@gregniemczuk]

LOL!!! Omg... I have to change that if possible, hahahahaha

[@ericrakestraw664]

This is one of the most difficult of the Chopin Nocturnes. How anyone can play the rapid repeated chords in the Doppio Movimento agitato section (beginning at 46:22) pianissimo is beyond me.

[@gregniemczuk]

This is possible with the relaxed hand and wrist

[@robertlockett5381]

If not an escape, perhaps a resignation.

[@lorrainesilvers]

Just listen to Seong -Jin Cho and you’ll learn a lot.

[@gregniemczuk]

👎

[@lucascury2003]

It is awesome to listen to the music of my favorite composer by such a smart guy Hugs from Brazil Perfect video as always

[@gregniemczuk]

Obrigado!

[@AndrewBabin]

I semantically interpret this piece much differently, and I don't feel that it's depressing or evocative of evil at all. I agree the first part is expressing morbid statements, but that emotion comes mostly from the sad march, like you explained. It's C minor, but Chopin constantly plays on the ambiguity with E♭ major. The movement upward, and the flourishes suggest silver linings, before it drops to the bottom C and moving on, again not settling unambiguously on major or minor. Then the poco piu lento part - which no one seems to ever focus much on, but I think it's the most beautiful thing Chopin wrote and I tear up every time I hear it - it's blissful but also modulates upward towards something. I find it less "eternity in heaven" and more "pastoral" - hopeful of a bright future. When the aggressive triplets set in, I don't feel that it's a evil creeping in, but a newfound confidence in that hope, like an epiphany. What was a subtle build up suddenly flares up into a euphoric climax, asserting the "light" with as much force as one could muster. And as if there's nothing else to add after that, it unceremoniously returns to the originally morbid motif, but now there's life and energy. It's not euphoric, sure, but it's not so sad, dark, hopeless. It's back to reality, but the hope, the spirit, the spark - whatever you want to call it - remains. Eventually, we know an end is coming and it's difficult, but this is a fact of life. The last melody remembers the journey contentedly, with a little curiosity of what could come next... and then a simple, peaceful death.

[@nandovancreij]

hmm i just cant interpret fast chromatic octaves as hope

[@gregniemczuk]

It's very beautiful what you're writing. The beauty of music is that everyone can feel it differently and.....everyone is right!! ☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️

[@nandovancreij]

i found a very interesting interpretation somewhere on youtube a while ago, it stated that the piece is the reversed story arc of a soldier which makes a lot of sense to me

[@AndrewBabin]

@@nandovancreij The hope is the meandering climb from C major to D to G, with all sorts of diminished and minor color in between that gives it so much substance. The chromatic repetition is an existential push, borne out of the hope, which remains till the end of the piece. Yep, this is just my perspective.

[@nicolasiovu6584]

As an early intermediate player, these videos are so fascinating to me and I always learn so much from them. Thank you so much sir for continuing to make these amazing videos.

[@allaneby6559]

Sorrt last cord major.

[@sylvestercoffee7212]

I have been working on this for about a month and a half and I find it sad and beautiful. Thank you for educating us on what was going on in Chopin's life. Whenever I begin practicing a new piece I'm always wondering what was going on in the mind and emotions of the composer. Since the death of my father it seems some of these nocturnes match that sense of sadness abd loss. Love your story too about your difficult piano lesson.

[@gregniemczuk]

Yes! This is definitely a correct approach. We should try to express composer's emotions at first and enrich them with our experiences!

[@chrischris4373]

By rozumieć Chopina trzeba sie urodzić w Polsce ......❤

[@islaadele1212]

It's like a volcano of a piece, isn't it? The smooth and terribly sad beginning, the beautiful chorale always makes me think of lying in the sun on a summer afternoon, dragging your fingers through glassy water , but THEN! The rumblings coming up through the ground... the emotions fighting to get up to the surface like lava. Then it erupts! Love your discussion points and love for the piece. Thank you!

[@gregniemczuk]

Yeeees!! Such a beautiful and poetic description!! I love it!! Thanks for watching!

[@ficuslee489]

Thanks really for this amazing analysis. I like this nocturne a lot and it always touches my heart. There should be some reasons behind. You tried to tell me some stories and interpretations which behind the notes. Thanks again for these detail explanations.

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you for watching!

[@ForeverFall]

Amazing video. Though I have to say that I don't agree that the evil wins in this nocturne. There is a struggle between angels and demons in the middle going on for the soul of the "protagonist", but in the doppio movimento section, I get the sense that the protagonist now starts moving through the same suffering as before but with renewed vigour. Still with pain, but at least he is now moving again. It ends sad, because the suffering is still there, but he is still living and pushing through. The same is true for Bach's Chaconne from violin partita 2 (which you absolutely must listen to if you haven't; it is in my opinion Bach's greatest romantic work, way ahead of his time). In the Chaconne, you get the sense that Bach is expressing a great personal suffering (possibly the death of his first wife), and in the middle section you can almost feel how Bach describes God comforting Bach, almost like a musical embrace. Despite this, the music ends on a dark and tragic note. I highly doubt that Bach meant to portray a despair so strong that it implied that evil won, considering that he was a devout Christian to the end. Rather, it is an acceptance of the truth that we must live on through suffering towards our true goal (heaven), knowing that we won't always feel that comforting embrace, but at least we'll know from our memory that God is always there.