Recording
- Lento sostenutoFrank Lévy · c. 20146:18
Frank Lévy plays the Nocturne in D♭ major, Op. 27 No. 2, marked Lento sostenuto. Left-hand semiquavers run beneath three statements of the D♭ major melody, and the melody is varied at each statement and at times divided into two voices.
Listening notes · joins
- Opening, left hand alone
The left hand opens the nocturne alone, playing D♭ major arpeggios across the keyboard in groups of six semiquavers. The right hand enters in the next bar on F, marked dolce. Under its first phrase the bass returns repeatedly to D♭.
- Melody in thirds
The melody, a single line until now, is doubled in thirds. B♭ enters in the bass and moves the harmony towards the relative minor. The right hand plays espressivo, and the left continues its wide-spaced semiquaver figures.
- Training and teaching career
Lévy entered the Geneva Conservatory at fifteen and later studied with Maria Tipo and Leon Fleisher. He taught at Juilliard for thirteen years. In 2014 he joined Musopen’s project to record Chopin’s complete works.
- Return of the opening F
After the wandering harmonies, F returns above a deep D♭. The first melody starts again, a tempo and dolce. Its long notes soon take on more ornaments, including a very light run marked leggierissimo.
- Change to A major, bars 33–34
In bars 33–34, D♭ and F in the right hand become C♯ and E. The bass keeps the same sounding C♯, and an A♮ in the accompaniment changes the chord from D♭ major to A major.
- Third statement of the theme
The opening melody returns over D♭. Its continuation now extends into a long written-out ornamental figure, a run of small notes in the right hand that rises to the upper register and descends again.
- D♭ pedal, bars 62–68
The bass returns repeatedly to D♭. Above it the right hand plays a descending chain of paired figures, each starting high and falling. Chopin marks the passage dolcissimo, very sweetly.
- Mendelssohn’s letter to Fanny, 1835
In September 1835 Chopin played this nocturne at Friedrich Wieck’s house in Leipzig. Mendelssohn was there, and wrote to his sister Fanny about the “lovely new notturno”, a considerable part of which he had learnt by ear.
- Ascending sixths, bars 75–77
Sixths ascend through two groups of seven. The marking is dolcissimo e diminuendo, very sweetly and growing softer. The passage ends on a D♭ major chord.
Joins
- B♭ minor duet in thirds
The D♭ major phrase ends on F. The bass moves to B♭ and the right hand adds D♭ below the F, so the new phrase begins in B♭ minor with two voices in thirds. Beneath them the left hand continues the same six-note figure. Chopin marks the duet espressivo.
- A♭ resolves to D♭
The bass reaches A♭, and with C and G♭ above it forms the dominant seventh of D♭. The right hand climbs towards F as the chord resolves onto a low D♭. The opening melody returns, marked a tempo and dolce, and the left-hand semiquavers continue without a break.
- F falls to E
In bars 33–34 the duet’s D♭–F pair changes to C♯–E. D♭ and C♯ are the same key on the piano, so the lower note keeps its sounding pitch while F falls a semitone to E. A♮ enters the left-hand arpeggio and makes an A major chord over C♯. The paired melody continues above the semiquavers of the accompaniment.
- Falling run leads back to the melody
In bars 45–46 a right-hand run falls across the keyboard while the left hand reaches A♭ dominant-seventh harmony. The bass then drops to D♭, and the melody begins on F for the third time. The forceful accents of the preceding passage are followed by dolce.
- D♭ held in the bass
In bars 61–65, the A♭ dominant harmony resolves onto D♭ in the bass. The right hand then plays a high D♭ that falls to G and continues downwards in similar pairs, marked dolcissimo. The chords change above a D♭ that is held underneath each of them. The left hand keeps moving, and its lowest note stays on D♭ throughout.
Other performances
Historical and comparison recordings, outside the concert’s running order.
- Nocturne in D♭ major, Op. 27 No. 2Vladimir de Pachmann, piano (his own Baldwin) · 26 June 1925, Hayes4:36
Pachmann recorded the Nocturne in D♭ major, Op. 27 No. 2, on his own Baldwin piano at Hayes in June 1925. The critic who reviewed the disc that December praised its phrasing and noted that the famous pianist stayed silent between the notes.
Listening notes
- Opening bars, left hand
For one bar the left hand plays alone, spreading D♭ major into groups of six semiquavers. The melody then begins on F. Chopin marks it Lento sostenuto, a slow, sustained song above an unbroken accompaniment.
- Melody in thirds, bars 10–13
The right hand doubles the melody in thirds as the bass moves to B♭. The new phrase is marked espressivo, and both voices share its short rests and ornaments.
- Review in The Gramophone, 1925
The critic signing K.K. in The Gramophone, December 1925, welcomed this record with relief: “he does not utter a word the whole time”. He praised the playing (“What a fine builder he is!”) and complained about the recorded piano.
- Recording session, Hayes, 1925
Pachmann brought his own Baldwin to the Hayes session on 26 June 1925. The new electrical process recorded the piano clearly enough for the reviewer in The Gramophone in December to note that some notes sounded splendid and others clanged. The critic nevertheless praised the pianist’s spirit.
- Third statement of the opening melody
A falling run brings back the low D♭ and the opening melody. The right hand begins its third statement on the same F. The melody then turns into a long run of small notes.
- Pedal on D♭, bars 62–68
The bass holds D♭. Above it the chords change while the right hand descends in pairs of notes, marked dolcissimo, and the left hand continues its semiquavers across the keyboard.
- Rising sixths and final chord
The right hand rises in sixths, marked dolcissimo e diminuendo (very sweetly and growing softer). The final D♭ major chord is held under a fermata.