Nocturne in D-flat major Op. 27 No. 2

Frédéric Chopin · Level 5 (Advanced) · Romantic · Piano

One of Chopin’s most refined nocturnes (1835): a bel canto melody, more ornate at each return, over wide left-hand arpeggios. A work by Chopin, the poet of the Romantic piano. D♭ major, 6/8, 77 bars (about 3 minutes), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• The grace notes, mordents and trills of the source are not written here, but the long small-note fioriture are: play them freely, without counting every note. Supple, precise left hand and singing melody; rubato only once the notes are secure. Key signature with 5 flats: name them aloud before playing and spot the places where accidentals cancel them. In 6/8, count the beats as groups of three eighths (dotted beats) to keep the lilt.

More pieces by Frédéric Chopin

• Prelude Op. 28 No. 9 in E major
• Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E minor
• Prelude Op. 28 No. 6 in B minor
• Prelude Op. 28 No. 20 in C minor
• Mazurka in G-sharp minor Op. 33 No. 1
• Prelude Op. 28 No. 10 in C-sharp minor
• Prelude Op. 28 No. 11 in B major
• Prelude Op. 28 No. 14 in E-flat minor

Source : Mutopia Project · CC BY-SA 3.0