Nocturne in g-sharp minor | Nicole DiPaolo | performed by Charles Szczepanek

[@DiPaoloPiano]

I'm honored to have had my composition treated to such a beautiful performance. Thank you, friend! And to everyone who enjoyed this work, I encourage you to check out the other 22 Nocturnes as well. Lots of gems in the book and there's still some stylistic diversity even given the "for Chopin" title.

[@callmeqt1269]

it was strikingly beautiful - i agree that, though you can certainly hear the chopin inspiration, this is still clearly your work i wish you the best in your composing

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks for writing such a beautiful piece, Nicole!

[@JariSatta]

Beautiful indeed!

[@nymbusDeveloper86]

I'm glad people still compose in this genre. Beautiful music.

[@DiPaoloPiano]

@@nymbusDeveloper86 Historical composition is a growing--or at least an increasingly widely accepted--field of musical study. About 1/3 to 1/2 of my private online studio at any given time is made up of historical composition students. Studying historical composition is also incredibly useful for educational composers (of which I am mostly one these days), church music composers, and even film composers.

[@utsavganguly6629]

Usually when you come across a piece by a relatively unknown composer, you may find a lot of people scrolling past this video. Thanks to the almost “clickbaity” title, a lot more people will stumble across this masterpiece. Truly reminiscent of Chopin, it’s beautiful.

[@JoeLinux2000]

It is clearly in the style of Chopin, but entirely fresh. It's as if it belongs with the originals by Chopin.

[@antoniomaccagnan7200]

Refreshing to listen to beautiful music from new composers.

[@earlwgreen]

Thank you for sharing these lovely pieces.

[@mailywong9612]

Thank you for sharing , indeed it is beautiful and lovely

[@lolsup9817]

Incredibly beautiful piece. If I didn’t know most of Chopins compositional output I would think this piece is by him. First rate composition and playing!

[@lucynagawlikguitar8128]

Absolutely amazing music Nocturn and awesome performance 🎶🎹👏👍congratulations

[@joycefry4664]

Beautiful piece beautifully played.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thank you, Joyce!

[@bethanywakim6175]

This is beautiful! I remember hearing about this project last year; it’s great to hear you play one of the pieces. I thought I could hear little quotes/motions from various nocturnes, but everything ties together extremely well. Really great structure and strongly evocative of Chopin.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks, Bethany!

[@JoeLinux2000]

Beautiful Nocturne and a fabulous performance reminiscent of the subtle artistry displayed by Ivan Moravec, and Maria João Pires. Wonderfully well recorded. I bought the book which is an excellent value. Hopefully the others are as well crafted as this one.

[@PianistAcademy1]

A very high compliment indeed, thank you! I think you'll enjoy much of the collection, and especially the very last one of the set.

[@MotifMusicStudios]

So very wonderful to hear you present Nicole's beautiful Nocturne! Thank you for this lovely gift of music!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks for listening, Amie!

[@bonjovi1612]

Beautifully played Charles. Watching the left hand work yet remain in the background was mesmerising. 👍

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thank you!

[@EVCMusic]

Thanks so much, Charles, and greetings from the UK! Your performance is so sincere, and hearing your playing is an absolute pleasure!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thank you so much for listening! And thanks for publishing such a wonderful collection of music by women composers!

[@TroelsNybo1st]

One more little night music... Thanks for sharing.

[@marie-christineauzeau1208]

Thank you for sharing

[@Incredible_Piano]

Beautiful 💟 I’ve never heard this before, nice to find it💟

[@jessp9137]

That was lovely! Thank you!

[@keyamusica]

Definitely very Chopin-esque: romantic touching melodies and mesmerizing embellishments, excellent performance too 👏👏👏

[@ricardo_veiga]

Devine piece, stunning performance !

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks, bud!

[@EyeOfScrutiny]

Beautiful indeed. Thank you.

[@mikebel74]

Gorgeous piece. Your playing has great passion and sensitivity. Graceful, elegant, melancholy. A tour de force. Bravo, sir.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thank you, Mike!

[@janeS9773]

Beautiful!! Thanks so much!!! xo

[@MaryDiPaolo-r7c]

Absolutely beautiful....so grateful for talent you have been blessed with

[@backtoschool1611]

Lovely!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thank you!

[@classicallpvault]

Great stuff, didn't know this composer but need to check out more of her work! Are you familiar with the Nocturnes by Thomas Tellefsen? He was Chopin's most gifted pupil, and the most significant composer among them, albeit less influential as a teacher and source on Chopin than Mikuli, he did do his own Chopin editions but Mikuli's longevity and countless reprints of his Chopin editions by Schirmer etc. meant he had a bigger influence on later generations of pianists. Tellefsen really sounds like Chopin himself. He also composed 2 piano concerti which were released earlier this year on Hyperion, with Howard Shelley as the soloist.

[@PianistAcademy1]

I was not! Thanks for mentioning Tellefsen's work. I'm listening to the F major Nocturne now and will probably check out the concerti soon!

[@JohnHanses7]

This gave me chills and the hair stood up on my arms. Beautiful. Should be for a love story movie.

[@fabiandeonfulsom]

So enchanting!! Thank you for sharing 💌

[@ArgoBeats]

Very humble title.

[@Xzy_158]

Very Chopin-esque, very beautiful!

[@Tonyd5996]

Absolutely gorgeous - perfection.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks so much, Tony!

[@denaro572]

Sublime piece and so chopinesque! We definitely need more female influence in the classic realm of music! 🔥

[@hastensavoir7782]

Chopin and some Spanish composer blended into one.

[@Raspberriesberries]

Classic

[@tessbooth7439]

Stunning ❤

[@RhodesyYT]

Its amazing but its very hard to live up to the standard chopin set with his nocturnes this is still a great piece

[@PianistAcademy1]

You'll have to stay tuned for next week's video because it addresses a bit of what you mentioned here :-)

[@JoeLinux2000]

If this composition is inferior, I don't hear it. It's far closer to Chopin than most. If it has a weakness, it's that it sounds as if it were an actual Chopin composition that has just recently been discovered. Therefore it could be considered somewhat like a Replica Car rather than one that is completely original in design. Whatever the case it is lovely and Chalres's performance does it complete justice.

[@teodorb.p.composer]

Try Stanchinsky's nocturne, it's one of the greatest also!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Wasn't familiar but just listened now!

[@perevicco]

The piece is so beautiful! Listening multiple times

[@lettersquash]

How is the piano tuned? It sounds very pure around that G#m key, and I'm wondering if it's not 12TET. Anyway, absolutely beautiful performance!

[@PianistAcademy1]

To be completely honest, this wasn't recorded on a fresh tune! I practiced and made a slew of other videos since the previous tuning a bit over a month ago. If you hear this piece right after my tech left, it would have sounded even more pure tone than this. I'm not sure exactly what stretch he uses, but I typically like a touch more stretch in the octave than what is 'standard.' I also allow the piano to "float" across the year and with weather changes and such, so A isn't always exactly 440. I've found that, since I don't need to record anything other than solo piano, if I allow the piano to sit where it wants to with the seasons (sometimes nearer 442 or sometimes nearer 438) then it's much more stable between tunings.

[@lettersquash]

@@PianistAcademy1 Thanks. It's weird, I didn't have my piano tuned for maybe 20 years and it just seemed to stay right, and lately I've had it tuned about once a year, because, you know, you're supposed to, and now it sounds out to me. I wish I'd left it alone. The last time I actually got the tuner back because it was out, he agreed and tweaked, didn't charge for that, but it sounds worse if anything! I'll have to get someone else next time. Amazing old technology, an upright from about 1910 that was my grandmother's, then my mother's. I've been watching videos on different systems and now don't know whether to ask a piano tuner for something different from 12TET (I assumed they all basically did that, although maybe adjusting the stretch slightly), or try one of the alternative tunings - Victorian, Kirnberger, Thomas Young, etc. Any thoughts?

[@datalore6187]

What is it about the sound of the E-flat note that makes it more melancholy than the A-flat note?

[@PianistAcademy1]

Very likely that's it's a touch out of tune! 🤣

[@OziCastle]

Sounds like Glinkas nocturne

[@PianistAcademy1]

Perhaps in shades and in how the roles of the hands are delegated, but Glinka's sounds very hopeful to me with only moments of slight turmoil. Whereas I feel this piece hits very differently emotionally.

[@olgakomm2170]

agree 🎉

[@YihaoChen-db4yy]

In my opinion op 48 no1 is most beautiful and difficult😭💀

[@AcousticBruce]

Valentina Lisista has the best interpretation I have heard of 48 no 1 piece.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Yup that one is a magnificent piece. I love all of the variation and the turmoil that ensues later in the piece. Most pianists aren’t truly able to sing the melody there and also convey the forward momentum the thick repeated texture lays out. Almost always, one is done better than the other.

[@seancloser]

I wanna publish some of mine too. But it s probably not worth it. No one will listen or play...

[@PianistAcademy1]

You should go for it! If even just one person wants to play your music it's worth it!

[@ATZ09ful]

*most beautiful nocturne* in title ... *doesn't play chopin* ... come again? Didn't think you'd stoop so low as to using clickbait titles.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Well I must respond to this... if the title says "you've never heard" it's 100% NOT going to be any of Chopin's repertoire. That's super obvious because all of his repertoire is incredibly well known. And I also would consider some of the Nocturnes written by other composers to be at least "as beautiful" if not moreso than Chopin's. Respighi's comes to mind immediately for me... that's probably my favorite nocturne of all of the pieces in the repertoire with that term in the title. So I'm going to argue that while it's a very clickable title (I wanted that since... if I titled it "Nocturne in g-sharp minor by Nicole DiPaolo... I would have gotten 0 clicks lol), it's actually not clickbait... the video DOES deliver a Nocturne that 99.999% of the world has never heard (since it was just composed last year) and that I think a great many people would consider to be very beautiful writing. Beyond that, part of the reason I'm featuring the collection this Nocturne is from here on the channel is because I think it's a very important addition to the repertoire. Chopin may be the most famous composer of Nocturnes, but a great many others have also written important contributions.

[@Thoys-dh7zm]

Have you heared nocturne n 1,3,7,8,10,12,13,15,16,18,19 by Chopin???? but very good performance

[@tunamusic6540]

most beautiful ? ?

[@falldog9]

Chopin-esque without any of that annoying genius, elegance, structure and originality.