Frederic Chopin - Nocturne Opus 27 no.1 C# minor, Piano score and music

The Nocturne in C# minor of Op. 27 is arguably one of Chopin's most emotionally powerful Nocturnes. In many ways, it seems to be a struggle between two opposing forces - darkness and light. In its creeping, almost morbid outer sections, a pleading melody sings like a frail, lonely bird over the blackness of the left hand's unusually widespread arpeggios. Open fifths and subtle dissonances in the left hand reinforce the atmosphere, with only the slightest hint of a ray of hope occasionally shining through, even as a counter-melody joins in, turning the main theme into a sorrowful duet. It is not until the middle section that catharsis arrives in the form of an anxious, vehement crescendo exploding with astonishing power into a huge, triumphant climax, which is followed by a moment of sunshine. However, despair soon overtakes joy, leading back to the opening material. Only in the coda does light finally extinguish the darkness, the melodies of the duet lovingly cradling each other into the ending on a Picardy third
Music sheets: imslp.org
Pianist: Luke Faulkner (Copyright: imslp.org/wiki/IMSLP:Creative...)