with the LH), although it’s also fine before the beat. Use the final RH G flat of bar 7 as a springboard to get ‘over’ the bar line onto the first beat of bar 8. This is mirrored in the LH by an A natural (the third semiquaver in bar 5) and B flat (third semiquaver in bar 6), so try to point these out gently. Does it bump? Is it beautiful? The first phrase is heading towards the A natural in bar 5, so the make sure to match the B flat resolution in bar 6. Chopin marks it ‘dolce’, so aim for a mezzo piano sound on this first statement, always listening as hard as you can to your sound. As this opening melody is stated three times, think about projecting each one in a different way. When the right hand enters in bar 2 I begin with a third finger and then substitute it with the fifth finger, as it’s hard to get control of the fifth finger on the very first note. You don’t want anything that doesn’t flow and evolve. There are many recorded versions of this piece with various tempos –therefore it’s all personal taste. And because of the frequent stretches down to lower bass notes, the better you know it, the easier it’ll be in the long run. Where better to start than the left hand (LH)? I’d recommend trying to master the LH part before you even attempt to add the right hand (RH). There’s the eternal question of rubato and how best to achieve that – so there’s a lot to think about! And there are some very tricky passages, too. This is the technique of control, of balance, of voicing and perhaps most importantly, of real overlapping legato. How best to approach a piece like this? Firstly, the technique here is not technique in the virtuosic sense. Somehow no one before or since him has captured that elusive essence of the mysteries of night with such hypnotic lyricism. Of all the works associated with Chopin and his genius, the nocturnes, for me, are at the top of the list.
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