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Chopin: Complete Nocturnes

Classical / Romantic · 1965–67

Chopin: Complete Nocturnes

Arthur Rubinstein

쇼팽: 녹턴집 (19곡) · 아르투르 루빈스타인

Why listen

Ornamental change and dramatic expansion take different forms within one pianist’s nineteen-nocturne programme.

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English editorial edition

Album story

Chopin’s nocturnes do not all behave like quiet background music. Op. 48 No. 1 challenges that expectation, while attending only to forceful moments can obscure the changing decoration of Op. 9 No. 2. Rubinstein’s sequence places such differences within the sound of one piano. Instrumentation remains constant; the ways a tune develops or a passage gains weight do not.

This is the original nineteen-piece programme from Rubinstein’s Rome recordings of 1965–67, not a performance of twenty-one nocturnes. Most were recorded in August and September 1965, with Op. 55 No. 2 following in February 1967. Opuses 9 and 15 each contain three pieces; later opus groups come in pairs, followed by Op. 72 No. 1. Familiar individual works acquire neighbours within that order.

Changing a remembered melody

Chopin scholar Mieczysław Tomaszewski describes Op. 9 No. 2 as a single theme developed through changing ornaments and figurations. A recognizable return need not reproduce an identical moment. The difference between what the listener remembers and what has been added can carry the piece forward. Decoration becomes part of the tune’s unfolding identity, rather than something detachable from an otherwise finished song.

Weight is not the same as duration

In Op. 48 No. 1, Tomaszewski draws attention to chorale-like writing and the force of intervening octaves. The piano can suggest a collective weight as well as a singing line. Yet this is not the longest nocturne in the delivery. Its roughly six minutes precede the more than seven minutes of Op. 48 No. 2. Dramatic impact and elapsed time measure different things.

Keeping the neighbours

A nineteen-piece programme preserves more relationships than a short selection of famous melodies. The two pieces of Op. 27 and those of Op. 62 remain together, offering changes of key and proportion within a shared heading. With one pianist throughout, attention can move towards the differences among the works. The collection allows an unfamiliar neighbour to alter the impression left by a much-loved piece, rather than asking one nocturne to define the whole genre.

The album through its tracks

Compare the changing decoration around Op. 9 No. 2’s returning theme with the growing chordal weight of Op. 48 No. 1.

  1. Nocturnes, Op. 9: No. 2 in E-Flat Major

    The E-flat major nocturne is second in the sequence and lasts about four minutes thirty seconds. Tomaszewski’s account emphasizes a single theme changing through ornamentation. When a recognizable melody returns, its surroundings can make that return a new event rather than a repetition of an already completed statement. This offers a concrete meaning for the familiar idea of a singing piano: a remembered line keeps acquiring different inflections. Rubinstein’s programme also leaves the third piece of Op. 9 immediately afterwards. Keeping that neighbour in view prevents this popular second nocturne from becoming an isolated souvenir and gives the larger set a purpose beyond gathering recognisable tunes in one place.

    Reference · Fryderyk Chopin Institute / Mieczysław Tomaszewski — Op. 9 No. 2

  2. Nocturnes, Op. 48: No. 1 in C Minor

    The thirteenth piece lasts about five minutes fifty-five seconds. Tomaszewski’s attention to its chorale-like chords and octave writing suggests why the word nocturne need not promise an unbroken atmosphere of calm. One piano can carry both a singing line and a much greater weight of sound. Rather than waiting only for a loud event, consider how the preceding material makes expansion possible. That dramatic scale is not a claim about being the longest performance here: the next nocturne, Op. 48 No. 2, lasts longer. Comparing the pair separates the impression of concentrated force from the simple amount of time a piece occupies, revealing different kinds of breadth within one opus.

    Reference · Fryderyk Chopin Institute / Mieczysław Tomaszewski — Op. 48 No. 1

Listen next

Continue with Zimerman’s Chopin ballades and Barcarolle to compare how melody and tension are organised within larger individual piano works.

Chopin: Ballades & Barcarolle ↗
References & editorial note

Written for English readers. Album facts are referenced below; listening suggestions are editorial interpretations. AI-assisted editorial review; not independently human-reviewed.