Frédéric Chopin - Nocturne for piano in C sharp minor. Wladyslaw Szpilman, piano, 1997.
00:00 Nocturne for piano in C sharp minor
03:38 Documentary
Wladyslaw Szpilman (5.XII.1911 Sosnowiec, Poland – 6.VII.2000, Warsaw, Poland) plays Chopin: Nocturne C sharp-minor Op. posth. Recorded in Warsaw at home in 1997. Cameraman Jaroslaw Mazur. Szpilman played this music in the last live broadcast for the Polish Radio on 23.IX.1939. An hour later German bombs destroyed its power supply and the Warsaw Radio closed for long 6 years.
This Nocturne was among the last works Chopin composed before departing Poland on November 2, 1830. Like many of his early compositions, it carries no opus number, and would not be published until well after his death - in this case, not until 1870. Its late appearance in print accounts for its high numbering: chronologically, it was not his 20th Nocturne, but only his second, written probably within a year or two of his initial effort, the E minor (ca. 1829). Both these early works already contain the intimate passion and melancholy character of Chopin's later nocturnes, as well as their unique harmonic sense.
The Nocturne in C sharp minor here opens with a brief introduction, a mixture of the stately and the desolate in its hesitant, ponderous character. The melancholy main theme is then presented, a lovely creation in its graceful trills and dark atmosphere. The mood brightens marginally in the secondary material, but still cannot break with the forlorn character established by the opening melody. The main theme returns in the latter half, now more resolute in its sadness, gradually becoming more despondent as the music gently fades away at the end. Lasting about four minutes, this lovely Nocturne is yet another gem among the many in Chopin's considerable keyboard output.
The second of Chopin's nocturnes, this C sharp minor effort bears no opus number and was not published until 1870, more than 20 years after the composer's death. This was one of the last compositions Chopin wrote before departing Poland, which he would never see again, owing to the political turmoil resulting from the 1830 uprising which left him a political exile, forced to spend his remaining years in France.
After a brief, rather sober introduction, Chopin presents a dark theme whose beauty is both subtle and direct, unfolding sadly in its fluttering trills and gray mists. Towards the middle, the music suggests a certain playfulness, hinting even at joy. But the forlorn main theme returns with its gentle gloom to cast a languorous and lasting pall over the musical landscape. Atmospherically, this is one of Chopin's stronger nocturnes, thanks not only to the imaginative thematic wares, but also to the subtle harmonies, which deftly underpin the melody and help to forge the dark colors and captivating mood of the piece.
Szpilman is widely known as the protagonist of the 2002 Roman Polanski film The Pianist, which is based on the book "The Pianist" recounting his survival of the German occupation of Warsaw and the Holocaust.
