Compare performersFrédéric Chopin
Chopin, Nocturne Op. 15 No. 2, in five recordings
Nocturne in F♯ major, Op. 15 No. 2
Five recordings, two of them by Paderewski, play the ornamented melody, the faster middle section and the return.
Recordings in
this comparison
Choose a recording and press Play. Selecting another card continues playback from the matching point in that recording.
Eugen d’Albert
Kempff recalled that d’Albert could make a single A♯ tremble like a human voice.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
In his Victor recordings Paderewski often spread chords and let the two hands enter at different moments.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
The pianist who defended rubato returned to the nocturne twenty years after his New York recording.
Luke Faulkner
Faulkner studied piano and composition at Chetham’s, then trained in music for the screen at Edinburgh.
Patrizia Prati
A pupil of Aldo Ciccolini and András Schiff, Prati recorded this nocturne at Madrid’s Museum of Romanticism.
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Each strip shows changes in volume within one recording.
The F♯ major melody is heavily ornamented, and the middle section is faster. Chopin marked it doppio movimento, twice the motion, and asked for the opening of that passage to be played sotto voce. Paderewski’s recordings, made twenty years apart, are listed here alongside those of Liszt’s pupil d’Albert and the younger pianists Faulkner and Prati.
Tempo map
Time taken compared with Luke Faulkner: above 1×, the performer takes longer over the same music; below it, less time.
- Eugen d’Albert, 1916
- Ignacy Jan Paderewski, 1917
- Ignacy Jan Paderewski, 1937
- Luke Faulkner · reference
- Patrizia Prati, 2015
Passages compared
Each version plays in card order, for up to 12 seconds of reference music or until the next marked passage, whichever comes first.
- 01
Opening melody
0:05 in the referenceThe right hand plays small flourishes around a sustained melody, and evenly spaced bass notes and chords sit beneath the phrase.
- 02
F♯ minor phrase, dolcissimo
1:14 in the referenceThe F♯ minor phrase falls from its high notes, its little runs marked dolcissimo — very sweetly.
- 03
Middle section, dotted melody
1:26 in the referenceA dotted tune sits above quick notes in the same hand. The bass leaps beneath it. The opening is quiet.
- 04
Climax of the middle section
1:50 in the referenceThe dotted rhythm continues, the piano grows louder and the middle section reaches its climax.
- 05
Pause before the opening returns
2:08 in the referenceThe repeated figure slows and dies away. After a pause the opening melody returns.
Length of each recording
- Eugen d’Albert, 19163:07
- Ignacy Jan Paderewski, 19173:27
- Ignacy Jan Paderewski, 19373:41
- Luke Faulkner3:23
- Patrizia Prati, 20153:38
These times include the lead-in and final fade. Cuts, repeats and disc-side breaks also affect a recording’s length.
Recording notes
Eugen d’Albert, 1916
Kempff recalled that d’Albert could make a single A♯ tremble like a human voice.
Eugen d’Albert
1916
Ignacy Jan Paderewski, 1917
In his Victor recordings Paderewski often spread chords and let the two hands enter at different moments.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
14 May 1917, New York
Ignacy Jan Paderewski, 1937
The pianist who defended rubato returned to the nocturne twenty years after his New York recording.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski, piano
30 January 1937, London
Luke Faulkner
Faulkner studied piano and composition at Chetham’s, then trained in music for the screen at Edinburgh.
Luke Faulkner
Listening notes & recording detailsOriginal recording source ↗Patrizia Prati, 2015
A pupil of Aldo Ciccolini and András Schiff, Prati recorded this nocturne at Madrid’s Museum of Romanticism.
Patrizia Prati, piano
24 November 2015, Madrid
Further reading
- Paderewski — London recording, 30 January 1937
- Paderewski — Tempo Rubato (1909)
- Prati — museum recording, 24 November 2015
- d’Albert historical recording dossier
- Paderewski 1917 recording dossier
- Mieczysław Tomaszewski — F♯ minor, the quick middle and the return
- Chopin — Op. 15 No. 2, Breitkopf & Härtel first edition
- Mark Mitchell and Allan Evans — d’Albert’s Liszt studies and Kempff’s recollection
- Jonathan Woolf — Paderewski’s playing and Victor session dates
- Luke Faulkner — piano and composition studies
- Patrizia Prati — teachers and museum recordings
- Rubén Ojeda — Prati’s museum session, recorded without an audience
How the recordings are matched
The matching follows sequences of pitches, using a method called dynamic time warping. Every recording is mapped to the reference, so switching between two versions goes through that shared clock. Where several reference times match one point, the middle time is used.
- Eugen d’Albert, 1916: match score 0.895. Matched passages available.
- Ignacy Jan Paderewski, 1917: match score 0.817. Check the matched passages by ear before using these timings.
- Ignacy Jan Paderewski, 1937: match score 0.936. Matched passages available.
- Patrizia Prati, 2015: match score 0.967. Matched passages available.
Switching stays within the matched span, and trimmed recordings keep their original clock times. Match scores describe similarity in the sound.