Chopin's Nocturne in E minor was published posthumously, six years after his death, with some evidence suggesting he wrote it as young as age seventeen.
Performer Biography
Jan Lisiecki, the pianist on this album, was introduced to Chopin at a young age through his first Nocturne (Op. 9/1) and spent many hours searching for its hidden secrets.
Compositional Technique
Chopin's Nocturnes often combine melancholy with solace, using simple lines with exquisite adornments and soaring melodies over rich harmonizations.
Compositional Technique
In the second Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 55, Chopin demonstrates masterful counterpoint, leading individual voices in a way that evokes Palestrina, Bach, and Mozart.
Composition History
The nocturne, a short instrumental piece paying tribute to the evening or night, was a relatively young musical form introduced by Irishman John Field.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Chopin believed that "Simplicity is the final achievement," and that after playing many notes, simplicity emerges as art's crowning reward.
Composer Biography
In 1829, Frédéric Chopin received a testimonial from the Warsaw Conservatory calling him an "Exceptional talent, musical genius."
